Latin America

At a Glance

•Land area 7,885,082 sq mls•Population = 453,000,000•Population density = 58/per square mile•Urban population = 70%•Largest city = Mexico City •Population under 15/over 65 = 36%/5%

•Land area 9,631,420 sq mls•Population = 298,444,215•Population density = 78/per square mile• Urban population = 77%•Largest city = New York City•Population under 15/over 65 = 20%/12.5%

Latin America United States of America

Latin America• a region that was influenced by

Spanish/Portuguese settlers• 1/6 of world’s land surface• Runs for 5,500 miles• From Rio Grande to Cape Horn • In between have

– Mexico– 7 countries of Central America– 13 island nations– 12 countries of South America

• Lies between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

Map of Latin America

Geographical features

• Mountains• Plains• Rivers• Rain Forests • Deserts

Mountains• Dominate much of Latin America• One chain called La Cordillera• In Mexico split and are called

– Sierra Madre Occidental – Sierra Madre Oriental– Sierra Madre del Sur

• South America– The Andes

• 4000 miles/Longest continuous mts chain in the world/back bone of

South America

In Peru

In Argentina

Copper Canyon in Mexico

Problems Mts. cause

– Block communication– Travel is difficult– Loyalties and ties with

region rather then to nation

– Mts are young and still developing = volcanic eruptions/earthquakes/avalanche Earthquake in Mexico City - 1985

Plains

• Coast and inland plains• Two of the most important

– Pampas of Argentina – Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela

Argentine Pampas• Spread almost 500 miles north to the Salado del

Norte River and south to the Colorado River• In the east the Pampas are hot, west they are dry• Domain of the gaucho = person who works with

cattle– Late 1800s way of life disappeared

• One of the breadbaskets of the world– Cereals/cattle/pigs

Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela

• From the delta of the Orinoco River in Venezuela westward into southern Colombia

• Made up of level areas, rolling plains and low mesas (broad flat elevated areas)

• Cattle major economic activity

Rivers

• Five major river systems– Magdalena in

Colombia– Orinoco in Venezuela– Amazon in Brazil– Sao Francisco in

Brazil– Rio de la Plata in

Argentina

Rain Forest

• Mostly near the Equator• Stay green all year-round• Rainy and hot• More kinds of trees and animals than any

other area of the world• Largest/oldest = Amazon Basin

– Covers 1/3 of South America

Deserts• Patagonian and Monte

deserts of Argentina• Atacama Desert in Chile

– One of the driest in the world– No vegetation grows– People in towns have never

seen rain

Patagonian Desert

Atacama DesertAtacama Desert

Antiplano of Southern Peru

Santiago Mayan Women

Igauza Falls, Argentina

Walking Palm Tree, Costa Rico’s Rain Forest

Rain Forest Parrot

Brazilian Rain Forest

Volcano in Ecuador

Andres Mountains, Chile