LATIN AMERICA 3.1 | Environment and Culture

ENVIRONMENT Latin America is huge 3 sub regions Middle America The Caribbean South America Middle America = Mexico and Central America Central America is an isthmus Tectonic plates Mexico’s mountain ranges surrounding a plateau The Yucatan Peninsula and dense jungles Central America’s mountainous spine and jungles The Panama Canal

ENVIRONMENT The Caribbean (West Indies) Greater Antilles (big islands) Lesser Antilles (archipelago) The Bahamas South America The Andes and the Amazon Basin Longest mountain system, largest river (volume) The Atacama Desert Hundreds of tributaries People live in the plains and valleys Llanos (tropical grasslands) Pampas plain Lake Titicaca (world’s highest lake: 12,500 ft); Angel Falls

WHO WOULD WORK WHERE?

Abundance of resources (minerals, farmland, et cetera) Brazil is loaded with natural resources Gasohol (sugar alcohol used in gasoline) Issues with deforestation Venezuela and oil Colombia/Brazil and coffee Bolivia and Ecuador’s oil and gas Chile’s worlds largest exporter of copper Climate’s relation to latitude (L v. H) and altitude (L v. H) Tropics and rain forest Wildlife and canopy (destruction) Temperate climates (Argentina and Europe) ENVIRONMENT

CULTURE Hispanic v. Latino Spanish occupation v. Latin heritage What happened to the indigenous population? Murdered, raped, sold into slavery, worked to exhaustion An estimated 80%-90% were wiped out and their cultures, too Some fled to the hills and survived (Peru, Bolivia, Chile) When there were no more natives to work for Spain, they brought in slaves (Africans) The same thing happened in N. America Gradual blending of cultures (European, Native, African) Peninsulares, Criollos, mestizos, mulattoes