Geography of Latin America

Chap. Chap. 11 - Introduction - Introduction

Estim. 2010Population = 574,414,000

Regions of Latin America

Latin America as a Culture RegionLatin America as a Culture RegionChapter 2Chapter 2

Pre-Hispanic European

Other Hallmarks of Latin American Culture

• Politics – Napoleonic Code of Law– Centralized government and bureaucracy

• Social values – Paternalism – Compadrazco – Machismo and marianismo – Feudalism: patrones and peones

Regional Terminology• Latin America = Iberoamérica

– “Middle” America• Mexico• Central America

– Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama

• Caribbean/West Indies – Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico (U.S.)

– South America• The North – La Gran Colombia

– Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador

• The West – Andean countries – Peru, Bolivia

• Southern Cone– Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay

• Brazil

Hispanic America

(Spanish)

Luso-America(Portuguese)

Middle America

South America

Andes

Middle America Terminology

• Central America1. Physical geography

Land bridge from Isthmus of Tehuantepec to Darien Gap

2. Contemporary Political Geography – America Central

Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama

3. Cultural-Historical Region – Centro America• Capitaincy General of Guatemala

– Included modern Mexican state of Chiapas

• United Provinces of Central America– Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica– Excluded Belize (U.K.) & Panama (New Granada Colombia)

Non-Latin Countries• Central America

– Belize• Caribbean/West Indies

– Greater Antilles: Jamaica, Haiti– Lesser Antilles:

• Bahamas, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Dominica, Aruba

• U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Anguilla, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy

• Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curacao, St. Maarten, Saba & St. Eustatius)

• South America– Guyana, Suriname - French Guiana– Falkland Islands

• Mainland & Rimland– Euro-Indian Mainland

• European (Spanish) & indigenous influences

– Euro-African Rimland • West Indies & eastern coastline of Central America • European (British, French, Dutch, Spanish) & African

influences

• Indigenous Culture – Mesoamerica – Mesa Central of Mexico to Nicoya Peninsula of

Costa Rica– Language: Nahuatl (Aztec) & Maya– Food: corn, beans, squash

• Tortillas, tamales, pupusas

The RimlandCay Caulker, Belize

Bluefields, Atlantic Coast, Nicaragua

Manzanillo, Limon, Costa Rica

Central America

Centro America

Mainland & Rimland

RimlandMainland

European sector

European sector

Mestizo sector

Mainland – Rimland Distinction

Mainland vs. Rimland

Location Greater Isolation Greater Accessibility

Climate Highland Tropical lowland

Physiography Mountains Islands

Culture Euro/Indian Euro/African

Race Mestizo Mulatto

Landholding Patterns Haciendas Plantation

MAINLAND RIMLAND

Hacienda vs. Plantation

• Hacienda:– Spanish cattle-holding institution– Purpose was land-holding not profit-generating– Not efficient but high social prestige– Year round jobs; workers lived on the land– Self-sufficient but surplus for domestic market– Diversified crops grown on relatively small

plots of land– Known variously as hacienda, fazenda,

estancia, fondo, rancho

Hacienda vs. Plantation

• Plantation:– Production oriented for export– Efficiency is key– Typically a single cash crop (monocrop)– Seasonal employment– Purpose was commercial profit – Market vulnerability– Capital and technology imported– Labor intensive and labor dependent

Indigenous Culture – Mesoamerica

MesoamericaNahuatl

Maya

Indigenous Culture in South America

• Andean languages: Quechua (Inca) & Ayamara

• Other native languages:– Mapuche

(Araucanian)– Guarani

Andes

Quechua

Aymara

Quechua

Mapuche

Guarani

European sector

African Influences

• Caribbean– Spiritual tradition: Santeria

• Brazil– Bahia & Maranhão states

(West Africa – Hausa, Yoruba, Dahomian, Guinean)

– Rio de Janeiro & Minas Gerais(Congo – Bantu)

– Music: samba– Holidays: Carnival – Food, clothing, folklore

Sosua, Dominican Rep.

African influence

Santiago, Cuba

Other Cultural Influences• Italians– Argentina, Uruguay,

southern Brazil• Germans & Swiss

– Southern Argentina, southern Chile, southern Brazil

• Jewish– Argentina

• Arabs – Lebanese, Syrians – Argentina, Panama

• Chinese – Mexico, Central America,

Peru• Japanese

– Peru• North Americans

– Tourists and expats– Mennonites– Mormons

Italian social club – Lobos, Argentina

Germans

San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

Germans

Pucón, Chile Castro, Chiloe Island, Chile

Germans

Colonia Tovar, Venezuela

SwissColonia Suiza, S.C. de Bariloche, Argentina

Arabs

Caracas, Venezuela Salta, Argentina

Chinese

San Jose, Costa Rica Cañas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Mormons

Nuevas Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico

Tourist EnclavesPuerto Peñasco “Rocky Point”, Sonora,

Mexico

Punta Cana, Dominican Rep.

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Media, Mass Culture & Marketing “Americanization” & Globalization

• Music– Rock, Hi-hop/Reggaeton

• Television– Cable and satellite – DirecTV – Programs – Bay Watch, The Simpsons, Wife Swap – Networks – CNN, Discovery, BBC Worldwide

• Internet• Consumer goods Wal-Mart

– Appliances, cell phones & other electronic devices, clothing• Fast Food

– McDonald’s – In all Latin countries except: Bolivia • 1st outside the USA & Canada – Costa Rica, 1970

– Burger King – All Latin countries except: Cuba (Guantanamo)– Subway – All Latin countries– KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Papa Johns, Schlotsky’s, Church’s, etc.