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
Urbanization is very common- movement of people from rural to urban areas
Mega City- city with more than 10 million people
Example Mexico City 21million people (greater)
Primate Cities- urban area which dominates the countries economic, cultural and government
Example: Montevideo, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Havana, Caracas
Most Latin America countries are considered “developing or less developed”

5. Bodies of Water Amazon River: Largest river in world (in volume)
Approx: 4000 miles long
Headway – Andes of Peru
Mouth – Atlantic Ocean
Holds 16% of the world’s water
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 (where the ocean tide meets the river current)

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

9. Angel Falls
Lake Nicaragua

10. Landforms Amazon Rain Forest Earth’s largest rain forest
Takes up appx. 1/3 of South America
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
Shelters more species than any other place on earth
More than 150 inches of rainfall a year
Canopy- continuous layer of leaves which blocks sunlight from the forest floor.

12. Atacama Desert Driest desert in the world
Some areas have never received rainfall
Defies the rain shadow effect of the Chilean Andes 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. Amazon River Basin World largest tropical humid climate region
More than 150 inches of rain/year
World’s largest tropical rain forest

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

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

19. 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)

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

21. 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

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

23. Agriculture
Latifundia- large commercial farms meant to produce a large profit (corporations)
Minifundia- small plots of land intensively farmed by rural farmers in order to feed family.
Cash Crop- crops produced in large quantities in order to be sold for profit.
Tobacco, Corn, Wheat, Coffee, Cotton

24. 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)

25. Natural Disasters
Hurricanes
Volcanoes
Earthquakes
STOP
Time for Quiz

26. 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.

27. 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)

28. 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

29. Independence 1804-1825 (19th Century) Haiti 1804 (France)
Venezuela 1812 (Spanish)
Brazil 1822 (Portugal)
**Correlation between language and colonizing country.