1. Theme 3 : Geographical Issues on a Continental Scale
North and South America

2. The Americas: fractures, competition & integration – The American Continent between tensions and regional integration

3. The Americas: Power of the North and Assertion of the South

4. Challenges of Integration of the Americas

5. Key questions:
To what extent does the American continent portray a model of unequal development?
How extensive is North and South American integration?
To what extent does Brazil pose a threat to American hegemony on a continental or global scale?

6. A. North America: Major Pole of the Triad
US and Canada - two major powers of North America
Trade between the 2 nations has doubled since the creation of NAFTA in 1994
Competition remains strong
Heavy industry, automobile, lumber
Canadian economy very dependent on US market

7. Canadian Trade Statistics

8. 2. US economy the most powerful and most diversified in the world
On continental scale, the U.S. embodies an attractive model of a superpower giant
Top investors in the continent, esp in Canada & Mexico

10. 3. Canada: rich in natural resources and major exporter of raw materials
SE Canada contains major metropolises (Toronto & Montreal)
Its extensive integration in the US contributed to the emergence of a vast cross-border region referred to as Main Street by French geographers

11. Canada’s Industrial Heartland
Most of Canada’s Industries are Located near
the St. Lawrence Lowlands and these 4 cities:
Quebec City
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto
Huge labor population
Near a great source of water for manufacturing and power
60% of Canada's wealth is located in these areas
Services: 83% of people live in cities

12. Canada’s Huge Heartland
agricultural
mining (iron, copper, nickel, uranium)
Energy (hydroelectricity, petroleum)

13. B. Integration of emerging countries in globalization
Brazil stands out as the regional power of South America
1st country in FDI on the subcontinent, acts as a counterweight to US domination
Marked by major social inequalities

14. 2. Mexico, Argentina and Chili sometimes referred to as “Jaguars”
1st foreign investor 2nd recipient of FDI in Latin America
Proximity of US
asset (exports) & drawback (dependence)
Role model of insertion in the world economy
Chile (Copper, fruit) & Argentina (Wheat, soy bean)
Major exporters of raw materials and agricultural foodstuffs

15. 3. Venezuela, Colombia & Peru dependent on exporting raw materials (rent economies)
7th world petroleum exporter
Holds largest oil reserves on the planet
Peru
GDP tripled from 2000 to 2010
Colombia
Exports coffee and coal
Video: BBC Latin American boom 0-2’20

16. GDP of Countries in N. & S. America
Country
United States
Canada
Brazil
GDP ppp in million $
18,560,000
1,532,340
3,259,000
GDP per capita
56,116.00
43,249.00
15,941.00
Mexico
2,224,000
18,370.00
Argentina
953,029
22,459.00
Colombia
682,977
14,164.43
Venezuela
550,226
17,430.39
Chile
431,802
24,170.03
Peru
403,322
12,638.84
Ecuador
192,728
11,839.19
Guatemala
125,318
7,704.20
Panama
83,421
21,634.56
Costa Rica
75,138
15,534.03
Bolivia
74,836
6,530.17
Uruguay
73,056
21,387.31
Paraguay
61,587
8,776.30
Haiti
19,576
1,846.12
Source: IMF, World Bank, 2015

17. GDP of Countries in North and South America
Country
GDP/capita (dollars)
The USA
47,283
Canada
46,214
Uruguay
11,997
Chili
11,827
Brazil
10,817
Mexico
9,565
Argentina
9,138
Colombia
6,273
Bolivia
1,858
Nicaragua
1,126
Haiti
672
Source: IMF 2010

18. Demographic and Social Indicators 2011
North America
Central America
Caribbean
South America
Birth rate (%) 12 21 18
Infant Death Rate (%) 6 17 32 19
Fertility rate (# children per woman)
1.9
2.4
2.1
Life expectancy at birth 79 76 72 74
Proportion of under 15 yr olds (%) 31 27
Source: Population et sociétés, n° 503, INED, September 2013)

19. HDI (Human Development Index) 2012
USA
0.937
Haiti
0.456
Canada
0.911
World Average
0.693
Latin America and Caribbean
0.740
Source: Human Development Report 2013, UNDP

20. Gini coefficient
Expressed as a number between 0 and 1 (or between 0 and 100)
0 meaning perfect equality of income distribution
The higher the number, the more unequal the wealth distribution

21. GINI COEFFICIENT INDEX
CANADA
33.7
10. PARAGUAY 48
2. U.S.A.
41.1
11. MEXICO
48.1
3. URUGUAY
41.3
12. COSTA RICA
48.6
4. EL SALVADOR
41.8
13. CHILE
50.8
5. ARGENTINA
43.6
14. PANAMA
51.9
6. PERU
45.3
15. GUATEMALA
52.4
7. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
45.7
16. BRAZIL
52.7
8. BOLIVIA
46.6
17. COLUMBIA
53.5
9. ECUADOR
18. HONDURAS
57.4
Source: World Bank, 2012

22. C. Periphery Countries falling behind in development
Several Latin American countries are dominated peripheries
Some benefit from price explosions in raw materials & rising demand for exports from Asian markets
Trinidad & Tobago – petroleum
Majority suffer from weak economies with no added value
Tropical fruit, aquaculture in Ecuador and Central America
Single export countries – e.g. Bauxite from Surinam

23. 2. Major gap separating countryside from the city
Agriculture unequally competitive & often for self-consumption
Previously flourishing in Cuba, severely affected by fall of USSR & US embargo (now lifted)
Coca crops for cocaine trafficking both an alternative and a blight

24. 3. The Poorest Populations and States excluded from the globalized economy
Haiti one of least developed countries
Indigenous populations (60% in Bolivia & Guatemala) first people struck by poverty
Corruption slows down development
Natural disasters add to the vulnerable situation (cyclones, earthquakes in Haiti & Honduras)

25. Poverty Rates in South America
End of 20th C. more than 40% population below poverty rate
Since 21st C, been reduced to 33%
Chili: poverty rate cut in half, now less than 15%
10 million Latin Americans middle class consumers

26. Summing it all up
Video: 3’24
How are the Americas interconnected?