Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s Landscape Colombia borders the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.  It is almost three times larger than Montana.  The Andes sweep through the western part of Colombia.  Here they become a cordillera, or a group of mountain ranges that run side by side.  Colombia’s capital and largest city is Bogotá. (pages 254–255) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Colombia’s Landscape (cont.) Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s Landscape (cont.) Nearly 80 percent of Colombia’s people live in the valleys and highland plateaus of the Andes.  In northeast Colombia, one finds ranchers living on the hot grasslands called the llanos.  Temperatures are very hot with heavy rains along the coast and interior plains.  Temperatures are cooler in the Andes. (pages 254–255) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Colombia’s Economic Resources Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s Economic Resources Colombia has more coal than any other country in South America, and it has vast hydroelectric power and petroleum reserves.  It is the world’s number one source of emeralds.  Factories produce items such as clothing, leather goods, food products, and iron and steel products. (pages 255–256) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Colombia’s Economic Resources (cont.) Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s Economic Resources (cont.) Coffee is the country’s major cash crop, or a product sold for export.  Other agricultural products include bananas, cacao, sugarcane, rice, and cotton.  Colombia’s problem crop is coca leaves, which are used to make the drug cocaine. (pages 255–256) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Colombia’s Economic Resources (cont.) Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s Economic Resources (cont.) Drug dealers have used their immense profits to build private armies, and they persuade farmers to grow the crop as opposed to coffee.  The Colombian government, with U.S. support, is fighting the drug dealers. (pages 255–256) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Colombia’s History and People Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s History and People Nearly all Colombians are mestizos, meaning they have mixed European and Native American backgrounds.  Most speak Spanish and follow the Roman Catholic faith.  In 1810 Colombia declared independence from Spain.  The struggle for independence was lead by Simón Bolívar. (pages 256–257) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Colombia’s History and People (cont.) Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s History and People (cont.) In 1819, Colombia became a part of New Granada along with Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama.  Later, Colombia became a separate country.  Colombia’s government is a republic with an elected president.  Political violence has scarred the country’s history, though, and the current civil war started in the 1960s. (pages 256–257) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Colombia’s History and People (cont.) Columbia’s Culture and Challenges 9 Colombia’s History and People (cont.) Colombia has a rapidly growing urban population.  Colombian farmers, or campesinos, and their families have journeyed to cities to look for work or to flee the fighting in the countryside. (pages 256–257) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Peru Most of Peru’s farms and cities lie on a narrow coastal strip along the Pacific Ocean.  The Andes run through the center of the country.  Peru has many climates, including dry deserts, frigid mountains, and hot, humid rain forests.  The cold Peru Current keeps temperatures mild along the coast. (pages 266–268) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Peru (cont.) On Peru’s border with Bolivia, you can see Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.  Navigable means that a body of water is wide and deep enough to allow ships to travel in it.  East of the Andes you descend to the foothills and flat plains of the Amazon Basin. (pages 266–268) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Peru (cont.) Foothills are the low hills at the base of a mountain range.  Thick forests cover almost all of the plains area.  Peru has many natural resources.  Peru’s biggest export is copper; its second-largest export is fish.  Most people work on subsistence farms, where they grow rice, plantains, corn, and potatoes. (pages 266–268) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Peru (cont.) Native Americans of the Andes were the first to grow potatoes.  Farmers grow hundreds of varieties of potatoes today, making the potato Peru’s main food crop.  During the 1400s, a Native American people called the Inca had a powerful civilization in the area that is now Peru.  Their empire, or group of lands under one ruler, stretched more than 2,500 miles along the Andes. (pages 266–268) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Peru (cont.) In the 1500s, the Spaniards arrived and conquered the Inca, turning Peru into a Spanish colony.  Peru gained independence in the 1820s. Peru is now a republic.  Lima is the capital and largest city.  In recent years, many people have moved to Lima looking for work. (pages 266–268) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

9 Peru (cont.) About half of Peru’s people are Native American.  Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Peru (cont.) About half of Peru’s people are Native American.  In fact, Peru has one of the largest Native American populations in the Western Hemisphere. (pages 266–268) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

9 Ecuador Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in South America.  Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Ecuador Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in South America.  Its climate is similar to that of Peru.  Ecuador is the Spanish word for “Equator,” which runs right through Ecuador.  Ecuador owns the Galápagos Islands, known for their rich plant and animal life. (pages 268–269) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Ecuador (cont.) Agriculture is the most important economic activity.  The eastern lowlands yield petroleum, Ecuador’s major mineral export.  About half of Ecuador’s people live along the coast.  The port city of Guayaquil is the most populous city.  The other half of the population lives in the valleys and plateaus of the Andes. (pages 268–269) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

9 Ecuador (cont.) Quito is Ecuador’s capital.  Land and People of Peru and Ecuador 9 Ecuador (cont.) Quito is Ecuador’s capital.  Its historic center has Spanish colonial buildings and has been declared a protected world cultural heritage site by UNESCO. (pages 268–269) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

The Bolivians and Chileans 9 Bolivia Bolivia is a landlocked country, having no land that touches a sea or an ocean.  Bolivia also is the highest and most isolated country in Latin America.  The Andes dominate Bolivia’s landscape.  In western Bolivia, the Andes surround a high plateau called the altiplano.  Most Bolivians live on the altiplano. (pages 271–273) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

The Bolivians and Chileans 9 Bolivia (cont.) In 1993 Peru gave Bolivia a free trade zone in the port city of Ilo.  Although Bolivia is rich in minerals, about two-thirds of the Bolivian people live in poverty.  Many villagers practice subsistence farming.  The administrative capital and largest city in Bolivia is La Paz. (pages 271–273) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

The Bolivians and Chileans 9 Bolivia (cont.) La Paz—at 12,000 feet—is the highest capital city in the world.  The official capital is Sucre.  About half of Bolivia’s people are Native Americans.  Another 30 percent are mestizos. (pages 271–273) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

9 Chile Chile averages 110 miles in width, but is 2,652 miles long.  The Bolivians and Chileans 9 Chile Chile averages 110 miles in width, but is 2,652 miles long.  About 80 percent of Chile’s land is made up of mountains.  The high Andes run along Chile’s border with Bolivia and Argentina.  Except in the altiplano area of Chile’s north, very few Chileans live in the Andes. (pages 273–274) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

The Bolivians and Chileans 9 Chile (cont.) Because of the rain shadow of the Andes, the Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the driest places on the earth.  Santiago is Chile’s capital.  Chile ranks as the world’s leading copper producer.  The country also mines and exports gold, silver, iron ore, and sodium nitrate—a mineral used in fertilizer and explosives. (pages 273–274) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

9 Chile (cont.) Agriculture is also a major economic activity.  The Bolivians and Chileans 9 Chile (cont.) Agriculture is also a major economic activity.  Most Chileans are mestizos.  Nearly all the people speak Spanish and most are Roman Catholic.  Some 80 percent of Chile’s population lives in urban areas. (pages 273–274) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.