1. Latin America’s Physical Geography
Unit 6 Notes
Name: ___________________

2. Latin America is divided into 3 Regions:
Mexico and Central America
Caribbean
South America

3. Bodies of Water Caribbean Sea Gulf of Mexico Pacific Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

4. Mexico and Central America
2,500 miles (about as wide as the US)
Mountains dominate the region
Part of a huge system that extends from Canada, through the US, and all the way to the tip of South America
Central plateau in Mexico
Lies between mountains and makes up more than half the country’s area
Central America is an Isthmus
Isthmus = a narrow strip of land that has water on both sides and joins 2 larger bodies of Land
Many volcanoes in Central America, as a result, their soil is fertile and many people farm lands

5. Mexico and Central America

6. Sierra Madre Mountains
Located in Mexico
Sierra Madre Occidental, Oriental, and Del Sur

7. Sierra Madres – Copper Canyon

8. Caribbean Small islands are made of coral
Skeletons of tiny sea animals, rock-like substance
Larger islands are tops of underwater mountains
Examples: Cuba, Jamaica

9. Panama Canal
Built as a shipping short cut from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

10. More Pictures of the Panama Canal

11. South America Andes Mountains—4,500 miles along west coast
They rise at some points to 20,000 feet—same height as twenty 100 story buildings stacked on top of each other
2nd largest mountains; Himalayas are the 1st
Amazon River Basin—contains the largest tropical rain forest (Amazon Rain Forest) in the world; covers 1/3 of the continent
Atacama Desert (Chile)—one of the driest places on earth; very little rainfall

12. Andes

13. Amazon Rain Forest

14. Atacama Desert

15. South America—Water
Rivers serve as natural highways where it’s hard to build roads; provide food and hydroelectric power
Amazon River—2nd largest river in the world (1st Nile River)
4,000 miles from Peru across to Atlantic Ocean
Contains 20% of all fresh water in the world!

16. Amazon River—view from space