South America Vocabulary and Key Terms

1) _________________is a mountain system made up of roughly parallel ranges. The Andes Mountains form this.

Cordillera

2) An area of mostly grassland with few trees is the _________________.

Llanos

3)___________is the capital of Columbia, located high in the eastern Andes.

Bogota

4) Members of an irregular military force are called _____.

Guerillas

5) The capital of Venezuela is___________and is the economic and cultural center of the country.

Caracas

6) A________ is a group of workers stopping work until their demands are met.

Strike

7) The ________ river is 4,000 miles long and is the world’s largest river system.

Amazon River

8) A partially closed body of water where freshwater mixes with salty sea water is an ____________.

Estuary

2) ________ is the Clearing of trees.

Deforestation

10) When the soil is infertile because it has lost nutrients needed by plants it is called______________.

Soil exhaustion

11) __________ is a giant urban area that includes surrounding cities and suburbs.

Megacity

12) Huge slums found in cities throughout this region are called__________.

Favelas

13) ____________is the capital of Argentina.

Buenos Aires

14) An organization that promotes trade and economic cooperation among the southern and eastern countries of South America is called___________.

Mercosur

15) _________is a part of the economy based on odd jobs that people perform without government regulation through taxes.

Informal economy

16) ___________means completely surrounded by land with no direct access to the ocean.

Landlocked

17) An ocean and weather pattern that affects the Pacific coast is called________.

El Nino

18) A _______ is a sudden overthrow of a government by a small group of people.

Coup

CNN Landscape of South America Video  Three filmmakers have made a unique video of the South American landscape.  Stefan Templer, Clemens Krüger and Vincent Urban -- all German filmmakers in their early 30s -- armed themselves with a few cameras and a Land Rover and spent three months driving through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay and southern Brazil.  Video shows amazing South American scenery american-scenery