Latin America Cultures What You Need to Know

Ethnic Groups: A Blend Latin America was settled by: –Native Americans –Europeans –Africans They intermarried. Mestizo Mulatto

Main Religion Roman Catholic Brought to Latin America by Spanish and Portuguese Blended with African and Native American beliefs –Day of the Dead (Mexico) –Santeria (Cuba)

Problems Whites (European ancestry) get better –Jobs –Health care –Education Others have begun to demand equality

Languages Mostly Spanish (Spanish conquered a lot of Latin America) Portuguese in Brazil (Portuguese conquered Brazil) Called Latin America because Portuguese and Spanish languages come from Latin. Hola Olá

Literacy & Standard of Living Literate: can read and write Illiterate: cant read or write Which gets you a better job and better life? High Literacy = High Standard of Living Illiteracy = Low Standard of Living Illiterate people often have –Low paying jobs, less education, lower standard of living, uneducated kids