AMAZON RIVER TOP TEN 1.NO BRIDGES CROSS IT! WIDEST POINT OVER 30 MILES ACROSS 2.PIRANHAS (OVER 5600 SPECIES OF FISH) 3.LARGEST DISCHARGE RATE OF ANY RIVER IN THE WORLD 4.SWEET MAMMALS - RIVER DOLPHINS, MANATEE, AND RIVER OTTERS 5.THE AMAZON DRAINAGE BASIN IS THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD (2,700,000 SQUARE MILES) 6.MUCH OF THE AMAZON BASIN STILL NEEDS TO BE EXPLORED 7.20% OF THE WORLD’S FRESH WATER ENTERING THE OCEAN 8.NO DEFINED MOUTH (ESTUARY) 9.OVER 4000 MILES LONG FROM WEST TO EAST (2 ND LARGEST) 10.OVER 1000 TRIBUTARIES

ANDES MOUNTAINS

BRAZIL’S CERRADO

VENEZUELA LLANOS

ARGENTINA’S PAMPAS

NATURAL HAZARDS/DISASTERS

MEXICO IS HIT BY HURRICANES MANUEL (BOTTOM-LEFT) AND INGRID (CENTRE) AT THE SAME TIME, IN SEPTEMBER PHOTO COURTESY OF AP.

A DISTRICT OF PORT-AU-PRINCE DESTROYED BY THE 2010 HAITI EARTHQUAKE. PHOTO COURTESY OF UNDP.

THE CASANARE REGION OF COLOMBIA WAS HIT BY A DEVASTATING DROUGHT EARLIER THIS YEAR, RESULTING IN THE DEATHS OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CATTLE AND OTHER ANIMALS. PHOTO COURTESY OF EL TIEMPO (COLOMBIA).

FLOODS CAUSED BY INTENSE UNSEASONAL RAINFALL HIT MANY PARTS OF PARAGUAY IN JUNE AND JULY, WITH THE CAPITAL ASUNCIÓN PARTICULARLY BADLY HIT. PHOTO COURTESY OF AP.

THE AMAZON RAINFOREST, WHICH HAS SUFFERED FROM SIGNIFICANT DEFORESTATION THAT THEN CONTRIBUTES TO CLIMATE CHANGE, NEEDS A LITTLE LOVE… PHOTO COURTESY OF REUTERS (IVAN CANABRAVA).

ETHNICITIES OF LATIN AMERICA

RACE ETHNICITY

NATIVE AMERICAN. IN POST-COLUMBIAN TIMES THEY EXPERIENCED TREMENDOUS POPULATION DECLINE, PARTICULARLY IN THE EARLY DECADES OF COLONIZATION. THEY HAVE SINCE RECOVERED IN NUMBERS, SURPASSING SIXTY MILLION BY SOME ESTIMATES. WITH THE GROWTH OF OTHER GROUPS, THEY NOW COMPOSE A MAJORITY ONLY IN BOLIVIA AND GUATEMALA, AND POSSIBLY IN PERU. EUROPEAN. BEGINNING IN THE LATE 15TH CENTURY, LARGE NUMBERS OF IBERIAN COLONISTS SETTLED IN WHAT BECAME LATIN AMERICA. THE PORTUGUESE COLONIZED BRAZIL PRIMARILY, AND THE SPANIARDS SETTLED ELSEWHERE IN THE REGION. AFRICAN. ORIGINALLY CAME AS SLAVES TO WORK ON SUGAR PLANTATIONS. THE LARGEST NUMBERS WERE BROUGHT TO THE CARIBBEAN AND BRAZIL. ASIANS. PEOPLE OF ASIAN DESCENT NUMBER SEVERAL MILLION IN LATIN AMERICA. THE FIRST ASIANS TO SETTLE IN THE REGION WERE FILIPINO, AS A RESULT OF SPAIN TRADING IN ASIA AND THE AMERICAS. (ASIAN INDIAN) POPULATION. 16TH CENTURY ONWARD, THE MAJORITY OF WHOM WERE SENT TO THE CARIBBEAN REGION AND BRAZIL. ETHNICITIES OF LATIN AMERICA

MESTIZOS. INTERMIXING BETWEEN EUROPEANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS BEGAN EARLY IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD AND WAS EXTENSIVE. THE RESULTING PEOPLE, KNOWN AS MESTIZOS, MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION IN HALF OF THE COUNTRIES OF LATIN AMERICA. MULATTOES. MULATTOES ARE PEOPLE OF MIXED EUROPEAN AND AFRICAN ANCESTRY. IN LATIN AMERICA, MULATTOES DESCEND PRIMARILY FROM SPANISH OR PORTUGUESE SETTLERS ON ONE SIDE, AND AFRICAN ON THE OTHER. BRAZIL IS HOME TO LATIN AMERICA'S LARGEST MULATTO POPULATION. MULATTOES ARE A POPULATION MAJORITY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND, DEPENDING ON THE SOURCE, CUBA AS WELL. ZAMBOS: INTERMIXING BETWEEN AFRICANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS WAS ESPECIALLY PREVALENT IN COLOMBIA, NICARAGUA, VENEZUELA, AND BRAZIL. BLENDING OF RACES/ETHNICITIES

INDEPENDENCE

INDEPENDENCE OF LATIN AMERICA’S COUNTRIES

REVOLUTIONS

JUAN O’GORMAN RETABLO DE LA INDEPENDENCIA OR ALTAR OF INDEPENDENCE (FATHER HIDALGO IN MEXICO)

1.TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE (HAITI) 2.SIMON BOLIVAR (MANY COUNTRIES) 3.FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO (MEXICO) 4.JOSÉ DE SAN MARTÍN (ARGENTINA) 5.PANCHO VILLA (MEXICO) 6.EMILIANO ZAPATA (MEXICO) 7.FIDEL CASTRO (CUBA) 8.CHE GUEVARA (CUBA) 9.AUGUSTO PINOCHET (CHILE) 10.HUGO CHAVEZ (VENEZUELA) TOP 10 LATIN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARIES