LATIN AMERICA

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LATIN AMERICA

• Introduction
• Mexico
• Caribbean Islands
• Central America
• South America

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Where is Latin America?

• Find Mexico on a World Map...

and move southeastward
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Latin America
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POLITICAL MAP LATIN AMERICA
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WHY is region called Latin America?

• Latin was the Language of Ancient Roman
  Conquerors
• A. The Two Widely Spoken Languages are
  Latin-based

and Spanish just about everywhere else!!!
Portuguese is spoken in Brazil
www.skokienet.org/ festival/cultures.html
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B. CLIMATE

• 1. In Middle America and
• northern South America, climate is TROPICAL.

• Northern Mexico and southern South America, it is
  TEMPERATE
• (there are SEASONS in areas north and south
  of the Tropics)

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NORTHERN / SUMMER HEMISPHERE SEASONS ARE REVERSED
When it is winter in the USA... it is
summer in South America ( southern Africa,
Australia Antarctica)
Also ALTITUDE (Elevation) is a major factor.
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PHYSICAL FEATURES

• C. Mountains in Latin America
• Sierra Madre Mt. Range in Mexico (split along
• Mexicos E W coasts/ either side of the
  Mexican
• Plateau)
• a. Sierra Madre Oriental Mts along
  the EAST Coast .
• b. Sierra Madre Occidental Mts along
  WEST coast (these are the tallest Mts. In Mexico)
• c. Sierra Madre del Sur Mts. come
  together on the southern PACIFIC COAST of Mexico

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Sierra Madre Occidental
Sierra Madre Oriental
Sierra Madre del Sur
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• ANDES Mountains of South America
• a. extend for 3500 miles along entire west
• coast of South America.
• b. longest chain of mountains in the world
• c. 2nd tallest mts. In the world/ formed by
  tectonic plate movement Nazca (ocean) Plate
  colliding w South America (land) Plate
• d. Like the western coast of North
  America
• Mexico, the west coast of South
  America Central American Highlands are a
  major volcanic earthquake zone due to the
  collision and shifting of plates.

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3. TERRACED FARMING Step-like
horizontal fields are cut into steep
hillsides and mountains to prevent soil
erosion. Used by Incas in Peru and Aztecs
in Mexico.

• VERTICAL ZONATION Mountains in Latin
• America are split into Agricultural Zones
  based on elevation.

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Another look at VERTICAL ZONATION in the Andes
Mts..
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D. MAJOR ISLAND GROUPS

• 1. Caribbean Islands (aka the West
  Indies)
• a. The Greater Antilles (Volcanic)
• b. Lesser Antilles (Volcanic)
• c. Bahamas (Coral Cayspronounced
  Keys)
• d. All island groups well known
  for
• agriculture and tourism

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Bahamas
Lesser Antilles
Greater Antilles
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• 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-gos Islands
Does Charles Darwin ring a bell?
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• 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)
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E. GRASSLANDS of SOUTH AMERICA

1. Huge, flat plains in Latin America - known for
   very fertile soil.
2. The Llanos are in the far north of South America
   in the countries of Colombia Venezuela (know
   for farming grazing livestock)
3. The most famous grasslands in So. Amer. are the
   Pampas in Northern Argentina Major products of
   the Pampas are wheat grains and cattle

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or the Pampas of Argentina. where the best beef
cattle in the world are raised!
We are usually found on grassland rancheslike
the Llanos in Venezuela
Llanos
4. Latin American Horsemen of the Pampas are
called Gauchos
Pampas
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• Rainforests
• 1. Found along east coast of Central
  America (especially Costa Rica) and in South
  America in the region known as Amazonia
• a. Costa Rica Has become a major
  area
• of Ecotourism
• b. Amazon River Basin the largest
  rainforest
• in the world
• and the most
• endangered!

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2. Major Problem Trees of the Amazon River are
being cut down and sold for lumber construction
and bulldozed down and burned to make room for
interior farmlands and grazing lands, and to
build new interior cities ( SLASH BURN
AGRICULTURE)
Forests are being cut down and set on fire to
make room for interior farmland construction!
Called SLASH AND BURN Agriculture
http//www.ran.org/info_center/about_rainforests.h
tml
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• Coastal Deserts
• 1. Located on the western coast of
• South America.
• 2. ATACAMA DESERT in Chile one of the
  coldest (b/c of elevation) and driest (1/16
• of precipitation/year) deserts in
  world
• (orographic precipitation).

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RAIN SHADOW EFFECT
ANDES
Pacific Ocean
http//www-cs-students.stanford.edu/amitp/simblob
/rain-shadow.png
Andes Mts. create rain shadow on leeward moisture
blocked.
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5. The RIO DE LA PLATA - Not a river, but an
ESTUARY a large, deep, widened coastal harbor
where fresh water from a river meets and mixes
with the salt water of the sea.
3. Orinoco River
2. Rio Bravo
4. Parana River
1. The AMAZON River System The largest river in
the world!!
Rivers in Latin America
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Arial View The Rio de la Plata
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I. IMPACT OF PHYSICAL FEATURES?

• 1. Location/Areas of urbanization along rivers
  and
• coastlines.
• a. Many countries of Latin Amer. have high
• population growth.
• b. People moved to cities to improve their
  lives.
• 2. SOME PUSH FACTORS that cause people to
  move
• from rural areas
• a. Tenant Farmers/ farming is labor
  intensive work/
• farms often fail
• b. Have low paying jobs
• c. No medical care or education for the
  poor

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• Some pull factors that cause people to move to
  cities
• a. Employment/ higher paying jobs/ less
  strenuous work
• Better schools medical care for families
• A better way of life for their family/ children
• 4. Many large MEGACITIES (20 M people)
• a. Sao Paulo Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  Buenos Aires,
• Argentina Lima, Peru Santiago, Chile
  Mexico City,
• Mexico
• b. Problem unemployment, crime, poverty,
  pollution,
• huge slum cities (favelas) lack of
  adequate
• infrastructure services for so many
  people

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• Major Agricultural Crops exported from Latin
  America
• Agricultural crops are grown in different
  climate regions
• and zones
• a. Sugar Cane
• b. Bananas
• c. Cocoa
• d. Coffee (worlds favorite beverage)
• 2nd most traded global commodity
  after oil. In 2009, coffee exports worth US
  15.4 billion 93.4 M bags were shipped across
  the globe.