Ch. 9-1: Physical Geography of Latin America

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Ch. 9-1 Physical Geography of Latin America
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Regions of Latin America

• Mexico
• Central America
• Caribbean
• South America

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Mountains and Highlands

• The Andes Mountains-
• part of the mountain range that runs through a
  portion of North, Central and South America.
• United States- The Rocky Mountains
• Central America- The Sierra Madres
• South America- the Andes

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Patagonia Southern Andes
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• Many volcanoes
• The longest mountain range in the world, nearly
  5,000 miles long.
• Creates a barrier between the coastal cities on
  the west coast and the interior of the continent.

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Highlands

• The Guiana Highlands
• The Brazilian Highlands

Guiana Highlands
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The Plains of Latin America

• - Well suited for agriculture
• Llanos
• Colombia and Venezuela
• Pampas
• Argentina and Uruguay
• Amazon River Basin
• Brazil

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The Pampas Argentina
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The Amazon River and Other Major River Systems

• Amazon River
• Brazil
• Orinoco River
• Venezuela and Colombia
• Paraná River
• Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina

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The Mighty Amazon

• Amazon Flows 4,000 miles from west to east and
  empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Source is the
  Andes Mountains close to the Pacific Ocean.

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The Orinoco River

• Flows mainly through Venezuela and Colombia. It
  creates part of the border between the two
  countries.

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The Paraná River

• begins in the Brazilian Highlands and flows
  southward through Paraguay and Argentina. It
  meets with several other rivers to create the Rio
  de la Plata

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Islands of the Caribbean

• Three Main Island Groups make up the West Indies
• The Bahamas
• The Greater Antilles
• The Lesser Antilles

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The Bahamas

• Made up of hundreds of islands off of the
  southern tip of Florida.

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The Greater Antilles

• Made up of the largest islands in the Caribbean
  including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and
  Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico.

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The Lesser Antilles

• Includes the smaller islands in the region
  southeast of Puerto Rico.

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Resources

• Gold
• Silver
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Hydroelectric power
• Copper
• Timber
• Agricultural Products

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Climate and Vegetation

• Tropical Wet
• Rain forest
• (Brazil)
• Tropical Wet and Dry
• Llanos and Pampas
• (Venezuela and Argentina)
• Semiarid
• Patagonia- Argentina
• Desert
• Atacama Desert-Chile

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Mid-Latitude Climates

• Humid Subtropical
• Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil,
• Bolivia, and Argentina
• Mediterranean
• West coast of Chile
• Marine West Coast
• Southern Chile, eastern Argentina
• Highlands

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Vertical Climate Zones

• About 15,000 ft Tierra Helada (Mountain Tundra)
  
• Tree Line
• 10,000-12,000 ft Tierra Fria (Cloud Forest)
• 6,000 -6,500 ft Tierra Templada (Wet forest)
• 2,500- 3,000 ft Tierra Caliente (Dry Forest
  and swamp)

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Human-Environment Interaction

• Agriculture
• Slash-and-burn technique used to clear the land
  for farmland in the Amazon River basin.

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Slash and burn- Panama
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Slash and burn agriculture in Peru
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Human-Environment Interaction

• Agriculture Terraced Farming is an ancient
  technique introduced by the Inca for growing
  crops on the side of a mountain. This reduces
  soil erosion.

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Terraced farming - Peru
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Urbanization

• Push and Pull factors People are moving from
  rural to urban areas in search of better
  opportunities.

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Push Factors

• Push factors reasons people move away from
  rural areas
• Ex Poverty, poor medical care, poor educational
  opportunities, low-paying jobs

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Pull Factors

• Pull factors reasons people are drawn to the
  cities.
• Ex Possibilities for work, education, medical
  care.

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Urban Sprawl

• Unemployment
• Crime
• Illegal Drug trafficking
• Slums
• Pollution
• Sanitation
• Shortages of clean drinking water and housing

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Tourism

• Advantages
• Creation of new jobs
• Reduction of the income gap between rich and poor

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Tourism

• Disadvantages
• Congestion
• Pollution
• Strain on local resources
• Resentment and hostility
• Large public debt due to building tourist
  facilities

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The End