1. Latin America Chapter 9: From the Andes to the Amazon
Physical Geography
Chapter 10: A Blending of Cultures
Human Geography
Chapter 11: Today’s Issues
Latin America’s Pressing Events

2. Chapter 9: From the Andes to the Amazon
Section 1: Landforms and Resources

3. General Background Info
Latin America stretches for about 7,000 miles.
Covers part of North America. All of Central and South America.
In between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The mountains of Latin America have helped define the region.

4. The Andes Mountains
Chain of mountains through the western portion of North, Central, and South America.
Rockies in the United States
Volcanoes present.
Serve as a barrier to movement.
Where do people settle?
Home to some of the most important historical cultures.

6. Latin American Highlands
Extremely hilly regions of countries are called Highlands.
Two main highlands in Latin America are both in South America:
Guiana Highlands – Northeast Latin America.
Brazilian Highlands – East coast of Brazil.

7. Mountains, Highlands, & Plains

8. Latin American Plains
Plains offer rich soil and grasses suitable for farming and livestock grazing.
Llanos – situated in Colombia and Venezuela.
Grassy and treeless.
Similar to the plains in the United States
Amazon Basin – interior of Brazil.
Cerrado – savannas with flat terrain and moderate rainfall.
Underdeveloped land.
Pampas – grasslands where soil is extremely rich.
Argentina and Uruguay.

9. Major River Systems Orinoco River – winds through Northern Venezuela.
1500 Miles
Makes up part of the Venezuela-Colombia Border
Amazon River – Starts in Andes and flows miles to empty in the Atlantic.
Fed by tributaries
Carries more water to the ocean than any other river.
Paraná River – Starts in highlands of Southern Brazil.
Flows the Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina
Empties at an area known as the Rio de la Plata

11. The Islands
Inhabited and uninhabited islands in Latin America are broken up into 3 groups:
The Bahamas-100’s of islands off coast of Florida and Cuba.
The Greater Antilles- larger islands of the Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and PR)
The Lesser Antilles- Southeast of PR. Divided into Wayward and Leeward Islands.

13. Resources
Mineral and Energy Resources are the two most important natural resources found in Latin America.
Tin, Lead, and Nickel most prominent Mineral Resources.
Mined and then exported elsewhere.
Oil, coal, natural gas, and Uranium are all mined in Latin America.

14. Maps Assignment Counts as a Quiz Grade!
You will need to complete 4 maps of Latin America
Political Map
Climate Region Map
Physical Landforms Map
Environments Map
All maps must be hand-drawn

15. Chapter 9:From the Andes to the Amazon
Section 2: Climate and Vegetation

16. Varied Climates and Vegetation
Rain forests, deserts, savannas and other areas are all prominently found in Latin Am.
Over 7000 miles there is great variation.
Deserts scrubs and rain forests and everything in between for vegetation.
Things affecting climate and vegetation:
Distance/span
Changes in elevation
Ocean currents from Atlantic and Pacific

17. Vegetation Regions of Latin America

18. Tropical Climate Zones
Tropical Wet
Tropical Wet & Dry
Rain forests – dense forests made up of different species of trees.
Unique Ecosystems.
Amazon- 2 million sq. miles.
2500 different species in the Amazon alone.
Primarily in South America.
Savannas prominent.
Seasonal rains.
Mainly Brazil, Colombia, & Argentina.

19. Dry Climate Zones Semiarid Desert Generally dry – some rain.
Vast, grass covered plains.
Some desert shrubs grow.
Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, & Argentina.
North Mexico and part of Peru.
Atacama desert in Northern Chile.
Patagonia has a desert.
Mainly Brazil, Colombia, & Argentina.

20. Mid-Latitude Climate Zones
Humid Subtropical
Mediterranean
Hot humid summers, rainy winters.
Varied Vegetation
Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina
Dry summers, moist winters.
Part of Chile
Low shrubs and small trees.

21. Mid-Latitude Climate Zones
Marine West Coast
Highlands
Cool rainy winters, mild rainy summers.
Chile and Argentina.
Forest is typically the vegetation you find here.
Moderate to cold in temperature
Mountains of Mexico and the Andes
Smallest of any region in Latin America.

22. How does Elevation effect South American Economies and habitation?

23. Chapter 9: From the Andes to the Amazon
Section 3: Human-Environment Interaction

24. Reshaping by Agriculture
Reshaping the land by agriculture has been practiced in Latin America for centuries.
The two main types of agriculture reshaping are:
Slash-and-Burn: cut trees and shrubs. Burn the trees and shrubs. Use the ash as fertilizer.
What are the potential drawback to this?
Terraced Farming: used to grow crops on hillsides. Cut step-like ridges into the side of the mountain.
Reduces soil erosion

25. Reshaping by Agriculture

26. Urbanization
Argentina, Uruguay, and Venezuela are the most urbanized countries in Latin America.
90% of people live in cities.
Urbanization – What is it? Why does it happen?
Push Factors  poor medical care, education, jobs and land usage
Pull Factors  better medical care, education, and jobs

27. Urbanization

28. What are the problems with rapidly growing cities?
Unemployment and Crime increase!
Social problems
Unemployment
Environmental problems
Infrastructure issues

29. Tourism: Good or Bad? Good Bad Spending money and creating jobs
New businesses
Port Cities
Jobs jobs jobs!
Reduces the income gap
Bad
Rich-poor gap increases
Indigenous poeples
Outside money changes the economic landscape