LATIN AMERICA

IntroductionSOL WG.4

Where is Latin America?

• Find Mexico on a World Map...

…and move southward

Latin Americ

a

WHY is it called Latin America?

• Latin is a language• The two widely spoken

languages are Latin-based

Portuguese is

spoken in Brazil

And Spanish

just about everywhere else!!!

www.skokienet.org/ festival/cultures.html

What physical characteristics do we need

to know?

• In Central America and northern South America, it is

TROPICAL In northern Mexico and southern South America, it is TEMPERATE

CLIMATE

Along with climate,• In the Southern Hemisphere:

• Remember that SEASONS are REVERSED:desrever

• When it is winter in the USA...

…it is summer in South America (and southern

Africa & Australia &

Antarctica)

Physical Features• Mountains in Latin America:

• Sierra Madres split along Mexico’s coasts

• Andes along west coast of South America

• Just like the west coast of the USA, the Andes mountains are

VOLCANIC

Sierra Madres

ANDES MOUNTAINS: The longest chain and 2nd highest mountains in the

world!!

Mountains in Latin America can be split into agricultural “zones” as you move higher up the mountain. This is called “vertical zonation”

Tierra Caliente crops that like hot

temperatures

Tierra Templada crops that like temperate land

Tierra Fria no crops,

just grazing

Snow caps

Another look at Vertical Zonation in the Andes Mts.

• Along with volcanoes, western South America and parts of Central America experience

EARTHQUAKES due to the constant motion of the Earth’s tectonic plates-

Just like in California!!

But California can handle the earthquakes MUCH

better because of building codes and earthquake-

proof structures that are built in the states.

Unfortunately, Chile, Peru, and other countries in

Latin America don’t follow any type of building codes and whole villages can be

wiped out in an earthquake!!!

More Physical Features:

• There are MANY islands in Latin America• The Caribbean Islands are called the “West Indies” or the “Greater and Lesser Antilles”

• The Caribbean Islands are well known for their agriculture and

tourism

Greater (Bigger) Antilles

Lesser (Smaller) Antilles

• The Galapagos Islands (off the west coast of Ecuador) are known for their Tortoises and other scientific studies of plants and animals.

Ga-LAP-ah-goes Islands

• The Falkland Islands are controlled by the United Kingdom

• The British defeated the Argentines in the Falkland Island War of 1982

• These islands have a HUGE military advantage because of the location to the Strait of Magellan...

• ...esp. if the Panama Canal is blocked during wartime

“Falkland Islands (Isla Malvinas)

Administered by the UK

(claimed by Argentina)”

Other Physical Chars.Grasslands: huge, flat plains in

Latin America- known for agriculture

• The Llanos are in Venezuela; the Gran Chaco are in Paraguay;and the most famous are the Pampas in Argentina

Latin American Cowboys are

called Gauchos

Latin American Cowboys are

called Gauchos

We’re usually found in grassland ranches…like the Llanos in Venezuela

Or the Pampas of Argentina….

where the best beef cattle in the world is raised!!

Llanos

Pampas

http://www.ran.org/info_center/about_rainforests.html

Rainforests: Costa Rica and

Brazil~ Amazonia (in Brazil) is the largest

in the world!

“Amazonia”

Unfortunately, we’re being cut down and set aflame to make room for interior farmland and construction!!!!

OUCH!!! This is called “Slash and Burn”

Agriculture

Rainforests• Rainforests cover much of Latin America.

• Rain forests are near the equator.• Amazon rainforest covers almost 2

million acres.

Water fall in the forest

• Coastal Deserts: West Coast of South America ATACAMA DESERT in Chile

One of the hottest and driest places on Earth. 1/16”/yr

www.uni-magdeburg.de/ abp/picturegallery.htm

This clip art is actually “wrong” to use for the Atacama…there are cacti shown!!

THIS is more like it!!!

But why can places be so dry???

The “rain shadow” effect is part of the reason

RAIN SHADOW EFFECT

The Andes Mountains create rain shadows on leeward slopes and cause moisture to be blocked. That’s how we see such dry areas in Latin America. The Andes are so high that they block moisture from the ocean and create grasslands and deserts on the other side of the mountains.

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/simblob/rain-shadow.png

Pacific Ocean

ANDES

Windward side of the mountains

Leeward Side or

“protected” side of the mountains

Rio Grande

Rivers in Latin America

The AMAZON!!The largest river

in the world!!

Parana River

Orinoco River

I'm the Rio de la Plata.I’m actually not a river,

but an estuary… the large water feature where fresh water from a river meets the salt water of the sea.

IMPACTS of Physical Features?:

• Location of urbanization?• People settle along coasts

• High population growth rate?• YES! Arable land means more

food• Large cities are called:

MEGACITIES• Sao Paulo Rio Mexico City

And the MOST important factor from

Latin America???

Of course!!!!Didn’t YOU think

coffee too?

Economic Characteristics• diverse economies• subsistence farming• plantation agriculture• slash and burn agriculture• cash crops and food crops• haciendas• cattle ranches and gauchos

• deforestation• destruction of the rainforests• oil resources--Ecuador,

Venezuela, Mexico• Heavy smog and pollution--

Mexico City

• disparity of income distribution• NAFTA member• diverse mineral resources

–copper in Chile–iron ore in Venezuela and Brazil

Cultural Characteristics• Indian civilizations--Aztec, Inca• African traditions--slaves• influences of European

colonization--Spanish• predominance of the Roman

Catholic religion• rigid social structure—no

movement

• Mestizos-European and Native• location of settlements--coastal in

South America• Megacities with large squatter

settlements• rapid population growth• out-migration

Cultural heritage• music--African influences, steel

drum bands, reggae• traditional dances• Spanish and Portuguese languages

Cultural landscape

• pyramids and cathedrals• haciendas and ejidos (communal

land)• ruins at Machu Picchu• ruins at Tikal

Latin America

in Pictures

SquatterCity in Brazil

Native American heritage

Mayan

Inca

Inca Chieftain

Steel Drums

Steel Drum Band

Cathedral in Mexico

Cathedral in Mexico

Macchu Picchuin Peru

Macchu Picchu is an ancient city that the Inca claimed was the center of the earth.

Tikal in Guatemala

• ancient Mayan city

• ceremonial and civic center • Tikal is the "New York City" of the

Maya, its skyscraper-like pyramids soaring up out of the jungle canopy.

Gauchos in Argentina

ANDES

Peaks in the ANDES

Looking up

Inca city of Machu Pichu

Sierra Madres

Amazon flowing through the rainforest.

Cattle on the Pampas

Shade trees on the llanos

A small pond on the llanos

Atacama

Bahamas

Bahamas from space

The Beach

Warm Blue Water