1. South America
Central America

2. Latin America
“Middle America”- Mexico and the 7 continental Central America countries
“The Caribbean”- The islands in the Caribbean Sea; Example-Cuba, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Hispanola…
“South America”- 13 Southern Countries

3. Central America
South America

4. Basic Statistics
South American country with the largest population is Brazil 191 million people
South American country with the smallest population is French Guiana 209 thousand
Most Latin America countries are considered “developing”
Urbanization is very common- movement of people from rural to urban areas
Mega City- city with more than 10 million people
Example Mexico City 11 million people (2009)
Primate Cities- urban area which dominates the countries economic, cultural and government
Example: Montevideo, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Havana, Caracas

5. Bodies of Water Amazon River: Largest river in world (in volume)
Approx: 4000 miles long
Headwater – Andes of Peru
Mouth – Atlantic Ocean
Holds 16% of the world’s freshwater
Bulk of river flows through the Tropical Rain Forest
Flows through Brazil, Colombia, and Peru

6. “Meandering River”

7. Parana, Paraguay, and Uruguay River Systems
Inland transportation route and hydroelectricity for Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay
Mouth- Rio de la Plata “river of silver” which is an estuary at the Atlantic Ocean

8. Lake Titicaca: Andes of Bolivia and Peru
World’s highest navigable lake 12,500 feet ASL
Lake temperature is never above 60 F (elevation)
Lake Maracaibo: Venezuela
South America’s largest lake
Large oil reserves
Lake Nicaragua: Nicaragua
Largest lake in Central America
Environmental concerns over high levels of sewage
Angel Falls –Venezuela
World’s highest water fall 3,212 feet
President Chavez-"This is ours, long before Angel (US aviator) ever arrived there… this is indigenous property."
Wants to rename it “Kerepakupai Merú.” which means “waterfall of the deepest place”

9. Angel Falls
Lake Nicaragua

10. Landforms Amazon Rain Forest Earth’s largest rain forest
Encompasses 9 nations- Brazil 60%, Peru 13%, and Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana
2.5 million insect species, at least 40,000 plant species, 2000 bird and mammals, 430 amphibians, 380 reptiles, 3000 fish
More than 150 inches of rainfall a year
Canopy- continuous layer of leaves which blocks sunlight from the forest floor.

11. Environmental Concerns
Deforestation and slash n’ burn farming- cutting of forest or burning of forests.
Between % destroyed
Reforestation efforts are currently being used in Brazil.
Global Warming- photosynthesis (vegetation and soil locking up atmospheric carbon)
When forests are burned or cleared, the opposite occurs: large amounts of carbon are released as carbon dioxide (increasing the greenhouse effect)

12. Atacama Desert Driest desert in the world (NASA)
Some areas have never received rainfall
Defies the rain shadow effect because the desert is located on the windward slope.

13. Grasslands Llanos- Colombia and Venezuela
Pampas- Argentina and Uruguay
Raise cattle, grow wheat and corn

14. Andes Mountain Range Longest mountain range in the world
approx: 4,500 miles long
Located in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Formed as a result of Subduction (Ring of Fire)
Consists of Cordilleras – parallel chain of mountains
The high plain or “Altiplano” is located in Peru and Bolivia, and the Andes encircle this area
The flat land or “Patagonia” in located in Argentina
Highest peak Mt. Aconcagua 22,841 feet asl

15. Cordilleras

16. Climate
**Most of Latin America is located b/w ½ degrees north “Tropic of Cancer and 23 ½ degrees south “Tropic of Capricorn”
3 types of climate:
Tierra Caliente “ Hot Land”
Tierra Templada “Temperate Land”
Tierra Fria “Cold Land”

17. Tierra Caliente Located at 0-2500 feet asl (above sea level)
Average temperature – degrees F
Grow: bananas, sugar, rice, cacoa
Brazil is worlds largest producer of Sugarcane

18. Tierra Templada Located at 2,500-6,500 feet asl
Average temperature degrees F
Grow: coffee, maize
Brazil is the world leader in production of “green” coffee (traditional method is planting 20 seeds in each hole but ½ the seeds are eliminated. Brazil raises seedlings in nurseries and then plant them)

19. Tierra Fria
Located at ,000 feet asl
Grow: potatoes, barley

20. Natural Resources
South America's major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum
Venezuela – South American leading producer of Petroleum (6th largest reserves in world)
Chile – World’s largest exporter of Copper
Jamaica – World’s 3rd largest exporter of Bauxite
Brazil- World’s 3rd largest producer of Iron Ore
Peru- World’s 3rd largest producer of Tin
Mexico- World’s leading producer of Silver
Peru, Chile, Argentina- large reserves of Gold

21. Agriculture
Latifundia- large commercial farms meant to produce a large profit (corporations)
Minifundia- small farms meant to produce food for a village or family
Cash Crop- crops produced in large quantities in order to be sold for profit.
Tobacco, Corn, Wheat, Coffee, Cotton

22. Languages Green- Spanish Orange- Portuguese Blue- French
Dialects and Bilingualism are common
Languages
Green- Spanish
Orange- Portuguese
Blue- French
Jamaica, Guyana, Belize major language is English

23. Religion The vast majority of Latin Americans are Christians
About 71% of the Latin American population consider themselves Catholic.
Membership in Protestant denominations is increasing, particularly in Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico.

24. Pre-Colonization Mayan civilization began about 250,
Aztecs and Incas emerged in the 14th century
Aztec empire was ultimately the most powerful civilization known throughout the Americas, until its downfall in part by the Spanish invasion.
Machu Picchu, Peru (Incas)
Chichen-Itza El Castillo, Mexico (Mayans)

25. European Colonization
Hernando Cortes eliminated the Aztec rule
Francisco Pizarro eliminated Incan power
Spain and Portugal colonized the region
Spain all areas to the west
Portugal all areas to the east
Smallpox and measles (brought by Europeans) killed 25-85% of the indigenous population
Indigenous were forced to work on European plantations and mines.
Intermixing between indigenous peoples and the European colonists was common “Mestizos” people of mixed ancestry

26. Independence 1804-1825 Haiti 1804 (France) Venezuela 1812 (Spanish)
Brazil 1822 (Portugal)
**Correlation between language and colonizing country.