Latin America By: Grace Cox

Sierra Madre Occidental This mountain range is located in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona These mountains measure 932 miles in length and 150 miles in width They are apart of the American Cordillera which is a chain of mountain ranges that are almost a continuous order that runs from western North America, Central America, South America, and Antarctica The Sierra Madre’s climate is warm and damp from each side; they have two wet seasons and two dry seasons every year

Andes Mountains The Sierra Andes are located in Latin America They run along the entire western coast of South America These are the second highest mountain range (Himalayas being the first) These mountains stretch over 4,400 miles from southern Argentina and Chile to northern Colombia; they also sneak over into Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador The climate in these mountains is a little jumbled up; the southern part is rainy and cool and the central Andes are dry. The northern part is rainy and warm and it’s temperature stays at about 64°

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas This sea is located in the Atlantic Ocean It runs 620 miles along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras This sea is approximately 25,216 ft. The Caribbean sea is located north of South America and southeast of North America and Mexico

Panama Canal Waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean The Panama Canal is manmade It was created to shorten long trips for large boats with large loads The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama It is a key channel for international maritime* trade Measures 48 miles in length *maritime: related to the sea, especially in relation to seafaring commercial or military activity.

Gulf of Mexico This gulf is mainly surrounded by the North American continent The Gulf of Mexico was formed approximately 300 years ago as a result of plate tectonics It’s climate consists of humid subtropical weather but the little southwestern part of Florida experiences a tropical climate The five U.S states that border the gulf are Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas The Gulf of Mexico is south of the U.S, west of Mexico, and southeast of South America

Amazon River The Amazon River measures 4,345 meters length and averages 20 to 50 meters in depth; in some places it has been measured to 100 meters deep This river is located in South America and almost runs across the entire top part of the continent The river runs through Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru Over 3,000 known fish species that live in the river’s waters The biggest snake that lives in the Amazon area is the Anaconda which lurks in the shallow waters of the Amazon River

Amazon Rainforest How big is this rainforest? 2.124 million mi² to be exact This rainforest is located in South America The rainforest is bordered by Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana The Amazon Rainforest receives 80 inches – even 430 inches in some places – of rainfall each year More than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest

Atacama Desert This desert is located in Chile, South America It stretches 600 miles; all they from Peru’s southern border into northern Chile This desert is one of the driest places on earth but people still manage to live and work here The climate for this dry place is surprisingly 0-25 degrees Celsius The temperatures during the day can up to 55 degrees Celsius while at night, it can drop to 0 degrees Celsius

Cuba Cuba is located in North America It is south of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica Cuba is a Caribbean island This country is under communist rule The climate here is an average of 77° in the winter and 88° in the summer The average rainfall here is 48.9 inches every year

Haiti Haiti is located in North America Haiti is southwest of the U.S, north of South America, and northwest of Mexico They have a hot and humid, tropical climate Haiti’s capitol is Port-au-Prince

Panama Panama is located on an *Isthmus connecting Central America and South America The Panama Canal cuts through this country Panama’s capitol is Panama City (how creative) It is bordered by Costa Rice (west), Colombia (southeast), the Caribbean Sea (north), and the Pacific Ocean (south) Panama drives on the right side just like we do in the U.S *Isthmus: a narrow strip of land that has sea on each side, forming a connection between two larger areas of land.

Colombia Colombia is located at the northern tip of South America It’s capitol is Bogota The climate there is very warm and tropical, temperatures vary little during the year because of how close they are to the equator Colombia is apart of the Ring of Fire Coffee is a heavily consumed drink there and when you drink your coffee, you always have to drop a cube of salty cheese in there too (yuck!)

Venezuela Venezuela is located on the northern coast of South America It’s capitol is Caracas Their official language is Spanish The climate there is humid lowlands to cool lowlands with an average temperature of 69°F Venezuela receives about 32 inches of rainfall every year; mainly rains from April to December

Bolivia Bolivia is located in Central South America It’s capitol is Sucre The climate in Bolivia is tropical with an average temperature of 86°F Bolivia has 6 regions: The Andes, the Altiplano, the Yungas, the highland valleys, the Gran Chaco, and the tropical lowlands This country’s favorite sport is known to be Futbol, which is very different from soccer and very interesting

Chile Chile is located on the edge of western South America It’s capitol is Santiago The official language is Spanish The country Chile was founded by Pedro de Valdivia Chile measures 248 miles in length

Brazil Brazil is located in South America Brazil is the largest country in South America with 5,328,161 miles of land The climate there varies from hot and dry to humid and sticky and the temperature rarely drops below 68°F The founder of this large country is Pedro Cabral Rio de Janeiro, a popular city in Brazil, was the place where the 2016 Summer Olympics took place

Air Pollution, In Mexico City! The air pollution in Mexico City is extremely bad for your health and the atmosphere. This air hurts your lungs and damages your breathing. It also causes asthma, kills plants, and stops photosynthesis It is cause by car fumes, factory fumes, and all the other crud floating in the air. The way to fix these problems would be to carpool, limit the amount of fumes factories put out, and to filter the air (filters and scrubbers)

Deforestation, In The Amazon! We all love the Amazon Rainforest, exotic animals, beautiful plants, and most importantly, trees. These trees that we don’t pay much attention to, give us oxygen so that we can breathe and live our lives. The Amazon Rainforest has been significantly damaged with 70% of it destroyed. It’s trees are being cut down to find meat and for wood purposes. Animals are losing their homes and soon, we will too; so how to we that? We should lessen the construction and probably stop cutting down trees altogether. If that is not an option, than we should either plant more trees, only cut down certain areas, or focus more of the money on trees.

Oil Pollution, In Venezuela! Oil pollution is terrible for our waters, sea animals, and us. The oil that leaks into our waters kills plants and animals that live in the contaminated areas. The contaminated water can leak into our water sources and hurt us as well. The way to fix these spills is to keep factories away from water, travel in a way that keeps the oil in the containers, and use less oil. I mean c’mon people, do we really need to use that much oil?