Latin America

1
Latin America

• Lecture Notes
• By
• Dr. Fernando A. Rodriguez

2
Latin America

• Latin America consists of two parts
• Middle America which includes Mexico, central
  America, and all of the islands of the Caribbean
  sea.
• South America which includes twelve independent
  countries and one colony.

3
Defining the Realm

• Although middle America is part of Latin America,
  this section of the world belongs to the north
  American continent.
• Physiographically, north America terminates at
  the river basin in Columbia, south America.

4
Population of Middle America for 1997

• Mexico 96 million.
• Central America 32 million.
• Caribbean America 36 million.
• Thus, the total population for this realm is
  approximately 164 million.

5
Urbanization and Natural Increase

• Over 70 of the population is already urbanized.
• In the mid-1990s, the rate of natural increase
  for Mexico and Central America was 2.3 with a
  potential of doubling every 30 years.
• For the Caribbean islands, the rate was 1.4
  every 51 years.

6
Racial/Ethnic Composition

• Indians they live in the highlands of Mexico
  and central America.
• Mestizos individuals with Indian and Spanish
  ancestry. They live in the highlands of Mexico
  and central America.
• Europeans they are individuals of Spanish,
  French, or English ancestry. The Spaniards live
  in the highlands where they found the Indians and
  where the climate is temperate as in Europe. The
  English and French live in the Caribbean islands
  while the English also live in Belize.

7
Racial/Ethnic Composition

• Blacks they live in the Caribbean islands and
  coastal fringe of Central America or from Belize
  to Panama.
• Mulattos these are individuals of black and
  white ancestry. They live in the Caribbean
  Islands.
• Zambos they are individuals who live mainly in
  the Caribbean Islands and are a result of a union
  of Indians who lived in the mountains of Jamaica
  and Hispanola and black slaves who escaped the
  island plantations.

8
The Physiography of Middle America

• The physiography of middle America is highly
  divided and fragmented. Its funnel- shaped
  mainland consist of a 3800 mile connection
  between the north and south American realms, and
  it narrows to a 40-mile ribbon of land in panama.
• Middle America is therefore an isthmian link or a
  land bridge.

9
Physiography of Middle America

• Baja California consists of an 800 mile peninsula
  which dominated by igneous intrusive rocks with
  lava caps.
• The San Bernardino Mountains extend into Baja
  but, here, they are known as the Juarez Mountains.

10
Physiography of Middle America

• Draw Diagram of Baja California.
• This diagram shows the Colorado Delta which is
  150 miles long, but it has mud volcanoes,
  swamps, and areas prone to flooding.
• Except for the international border, the
  peninsula is sparsely settled.
• The people live from tourism, fishing, and local
  mining of iron, lead, and zinc.

11
Physiography of Middle America

• Coastal Fringe of Western Mexico
• This area is effectively cut off from the
  interior of central Mexico by the Sierra Madre
  Occidental.
• The area is relatively narrow, and it has
  finger-like extensions of the mountains to form
  valleys where rivers lay.
• This area is utilized for agriculture and farmers
  grow rice, sugar cane, wheat, oats, tobacco,
  cotton, and they raise cattle and pigs for
  market.

12
Physiography of Middle America

• Sierra Madre Occidental
• This mountain range extends from the U.S. border
  to approximately the 19th Parallel.
• It is approximately 8-10,000 feet in elevation.
• This mountain range contains deep valleys or
  canyons called barrancas.
• One of these barrancas is known as La Barranca de
  Cobre. It rivals the Grand Canyon in grandeur
  and splendor.
• Mining is important along this range. Gold is
  mined in the City of Las Coloradas while silver
  is mined in the City of Batopilas.

13
Physiography of Middle America

• Altiplano of Mexico
• The plateau of Mexico is divided into two parts
• Mesa del Norte, and
• Mesa del Sur.
• (Draw Diagram of this region.)
• Both sections contain a series of inter-mountain
  basins called bolsones.
• These bolsones vary in elevation from 3,000 to 7,
  500 feet.

14
Physiography of Middle America

• Sierra Madre Oriental
• These mountains are considered to be a
  continuation of the Rocky Mountains.
• The elevation is approximately 8-10,000 feet.
• These mountains do not contain barrancas but they
  do have deep valleys, with spurs that lead into
  the eastern coastal plain.

15
Physiography of Middle America

• The Gulf Coastal Plain of Eastern Mexico
• This region begins north of Laredo and extends to
  a narrow point north of Vera Cruz and, then,
  widens into the coastal plain of the Yucatan
  Peninsula.
• South from Texas, the coastal plain increases in
  precipitation and vegetation, leading to the rain
  forest of southern Mexico.
• The area south of Matamores contains a Cfa
  climate, and in the Tampico area it gives way to
  an Aw climate.
• Here, large ranches for fattening cattle
  proliferate.

16
Physiography of Middle America

• The Volcanic Axis of Mexico
• This is an area of great heights and ruggedness.
• The volcanoes are over 15,000 feet in elevation.
• These volcanoes may an important role in the
  religion, art, and culture of the Indian cultures
  who inhabit Central Mexico.
• Draw Diagram of this region.

17
Physiography of Middle America

• The Balsas Depression
• This depression is found south of the Volcanic
  Axis of Mexico.
• It is 180 miles long and 30 miles wide. It is
  deep enough so that when one reaches its bottom,
  one reaches tropical conditions.
• This trough is deep enough for a lake to have
  existed prior to capture of the lake by the
  river.
• This area has been mined for gold since
  pre-Columbus time. It is the source of gold
  which was utilized by the Indians for ornamental
  purposes and the Spaniards for legal tender.

18
Physiography of Middle America

• Sierra Madre del Sur
• This mountain range begins in the State of
  Jalisco and extends southward along the coast of
  southwestern Mexico.
• This range is high and rugged, as high as the
  Sierra Madre Occidental.
• This range consists of pre-Cambrian and
  metamorphic rocks.
• This range contains spurs that extend to the sea,
  and these spurs at times result in coastal
  indentations such as Acapulco.

19
Physiography of Middle America

• The Oaxcan Highlands
• On the eastern side of the Sierra Madre del Sur,
  we find the Sierra de Oaxaca. The area between
  the two ranges we find an old Eros ional surface
  which has reached maturity.
• The area is known as the Highlands because the
  slopes of both mountains are steep, and it is due
  to this slope that the mountains are referred to
  as The Highlands.

20
Physiography of Middle America

• The Chiapas Highlands
• On the south side of the Oaxaca Highlands, we
  find a steep escarpment, and it is this
  escarpment that cuts the Highlands from the
  lowlands at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
• On the south side of this lowland area, we find
  the Chiapas Highlands. This area consists of two
  mountain ranges which are separated by the Valley
  of Chiapas.
• The mountains, north of the Valley, are known as
  the Sierra de San Cristobal while the mountains
  to the south are known as the Sierra de Chiapas.
  
• The former mountains are made of igneous rock
  while the latter mountains are made of
  sedimentary rock.

21
Physiography of Middle America Caribbean Islands

• Sierra de San Cristobal ? Sierra de Cuchumantes
  ?Sierra de Santa Cruz ? Cayman Islands ? Maestra
  Mts of SE Cuba ?Cordillera Central of Hispanola ?
  Cordillera Central of Puerto Rico.
• Sierra de Chiapas ? Sierra de las Minas ? Islas
  de la Bahia ? Swan Islands ? Blue Mts of Jamaica
  ? Peninsula of Hispanola

22
Physiography of Middle America The Central
American Volcanic Axis

• The volcanic axis of Central America is a result
  of the Caribbean Plate overriding the Cosco
  Plate.
• The volcanoes are found on the western coast of
  Central America.
• These volcanoes eventually closed the Nicaraguan
  Trough which is a flora and fauna barrier.

23
Legacy of Mesoamerica

• Middle America was the scene of the emergence of
  a major, ancient civilization.
• Here, lay one of the worlds true culture hearth,
  a source area from which new ideas radiate and
  whose population contributed to material and
  intellectual progress.
• This culture hearth is called Mesoamerica and
  extends from Mexico City to Nicaragua.

24
Lowland Maya

• The Maya civilization in the only one on the
  world culture map that arose in the lowland
  tropics.
• It experienced successive periods of glory and
  decline, and it reached its zenith between the
  third and tenth centuries A.D.
• This civilization was ruled by religious leaders,
  and it produced skilled artists, writers,
  mathematicians, and astronomers.

25
The Highland Aztecs

• This civilization began in the fourteenth century
  with the founding of a settlement on an island in
  the many lakes within the valley of Mexico. This
  city was known as Tenochtitlan which became the
  greatest city in the Americas, namely, Mexico
  city.

26
The Highland Aztecs

• Aztec cities became centers of commerce and trade
  but it was the Aztec farmers, including other
  Mesoamerican farmers, who produced the greatest
  accomplishments of the Aztecs, namely, plant and
  animal domestication.

27
Domestication of Plants and Animals in Middle
America

• According to Carl Sauer, plant and animal
  domestication in the new world occurred in two
  distinct areas
• The northwest corner of Columbia in south
  America, and
• Central Mexico and central America, otherwise
  known as Mesoamerica.

28
Domestication of Plants and Animals in Middle
America

• The Arawak and the Carib Indians developed a root
  agriculture which is called the cunuco farming
  system, a farming system that is still utilized
  extensively in the Hispanic west Indies.

29
Domestication of Plants and Animals in Middle
America

• In this farming system, the Indians would heap
  soil into a round mound that was knee-high and
  several feet in diameter. The basic planting in
  the mound was starchy root crops, chief of which
  were manioc or cassava, sweet potatoes, arrow
  root, and peanuts. All of these plants were
  placed together in the same mound and they,
  jointly, provided protection from erosion.

30
Domestication of Plants and Animals in Middle
America

• Other plants that were domesticated in northwest
  Columbia were
• Strawberries
• Yams
• Cocoa
• Pineapple, and
• Tomatoes.
• These plants came from Brazil.

31
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• The rapid and catastrophic collapse of the Indian
  population in the west Indies and northwest
  Columbia brought about by the conquest resulted
  in the loss of numerous plant/vegetable varieties.

32
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• The only domesticated animals in NW Columbia were
  the duck (patos caseros or household duck) which
  were domesticated by the Muica Amerindians and
  the guinea pig which was raised for food. Other
  animals included the llama, alpaca, vicuna,
  including a small dog which was raised for food.

33
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• In Mesoamerica, the domestication of plants
  focused on seed agriculture rather than root
  agriculture. Women selected the seeds by size,
  color, and nutritional value And, therefore,
  women selectively chose the plant off-springs
  that they wanted to have in their farm plots.

34
Plant and Animal Domestication In Middle America

• The dominant plants of middle America were
• Maize,
• Beans, and
• Squash.
• These three plants, jointly, comprise the farming
  system known as the milpa farming system.

35
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• These three crops are known as the Trilogy of
  Crops. In this farming system, the farm plots
  are square or rectangular. Moreover, all three
  seeds are planted in one hole so that the first
  plant to sprout is the maize, then, the bean ivy
  which climbs the maize plant, followed by the
  squash plant which spreads its leaves throughout
  the plot, protecting the soil from the harsh sun
  rays and powerful rain drops.

36
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• In this farming system, other crops which were
  domesticated were
• Pumpkins,
• Kidney beans,
• Chile peppers,
• Bell peppers, and.
• Navy beans.

37
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• Another farming system that developed in
  Mesoamerica was the chinampa farming system.
  This farming system consists of the milpa farming
  system and the floating islands.

38
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• Chinampa cultivation refers to the use of
  artificial islands constructed of alternate
  layers of vegetation and mud in shallow
  freshwater lakes. Special features include the
  use of seed beds to shorten the growing season
  (permitting a continuous succession of crops in a
  single year) frequent fertilization by using mud
  from the lake bottom and lake vegetation and
  constant irrigation.

39
Plant and Animal Domestication in Middle America

• Because this farming system resulted in two or
  three harvests per year, the Amerindian
  population of Mesoamerica grew rapidly so that by
  1519 the Amerindian population of Mesoamerica
  consisted of 25 million inhabitants. In
  addition, the chinampas were constructed in the
  form of narrow rectangles to facilitate bucket
  irrigation and natural seepage.

40
Consequences of the Conquest

• In middle America the confrontation between
  Hispanic and native cultures lead to disastrous
  results
• A drastic decline in native population.
• 1532 16 million.
• 1548 - 6.3 million.
• 1568 2.3 million.
• 1580 1.8 million.
• 1608 1.1 million.
• Rapid deforestation by the Spaniards who used
  wood and charcoal for cooking, heating, and
  smelting.

41
Consequences of the Conquest

• Excess pressure on native vegetation from
  livestock which competed for the available food.
• Substitution of wheat for maize and the eventual
  replacement of cropland which was once used by
  the natives for food production.

42
Consequences of the Conquest

• The removal of the Amerindian from the rural
  communities to nucleated villages and towns where
  the Spaniards could exercise more control over
  the Amerindians.
• The use of slave labor in mining activities of
  gold, silver, and copper.

43
Mainland and Rimland

• After centuries of European colonial rivalry in
  the Caribbean basin, the united states (along
  with England, France, and the Netherlands) made
  its influence felt by introducing large-scale
  banana plantation agriculture in the coastal
  areas of central America.

44
Mainland and Rimland

• Because European diseases decimated the
  Amerindian population in the islands and
  mainland, the labor shortage that resulted in the
  plantations was supplemented by an active
  African-slave trade that transformed the
  Caribbeans demography.
• When labor was needed in the mainland, thousands
  of black laborers were brought to the mainland
  from Jamaica and other islands.

45
Mainland and Rimland

• These contrasts between the middle American
  highlands and the coastal areas/Caribbean islands
  were conceptualized by john Augelli into the
  Mainland-Rimland framework.

46
Mainland and Rimland

• Augelli recognized
• Euro-Amerindian Mainland consists of continental
  Middle America from Mexico to Panama, with the
  exception of the Caribbean coast from mid-Yucatan
  southeastward.
• Here, European (Spanish) and Amerindian
  influences are highest and include mestizo
  influences.
• The mainland economy is focused on the Hacienda
  where Amerindian lived on the land which may have
  been their own and had plots where they could
  grow their subsistence crops.
• On the other hand, the Haciendas are still owned
  by people people of European ancestry who live
  lives of social prestige and comfortable
  lifestyles.

47
Mainland and Rimland

• An Euro-African Rimland includes the coastal
  strip of Middle America (from the Yucatan to
  Panama) and the islands of the Caribbean.
• In the Rimland area, a black population
  predominates while the economy still focuses on
  commercial agriculture. Sugar cane is still
  grown in the islands while banana plantations
  cover most of the coastal areas of the Central
  American countries.

48
Mainland and Rimland

• Robert West and John Augelli list five
  characteristics of the Rimland area
• Plantations are located in the humid tropical
  coastal lowlands of the realm.
• Plantations produce for export usually a
  single crop.
• Capital and skills are imported often so that
  foreign ownership and outflow of profits occur.
• Labor is seasonal and it has been imported due to
  the scarcity of Amerindian workers.
• With its factory-in-the-field operation, the
  plantation is more efficient in its use of land
  and labor than the hacienda.

49
Political Differentiation

• Middle America is divided into 8 countries, all
  but one (Belize) have Hispanic origins. Today,
  Belize is being transformed as thousands of
  Spanish-speaking immigrants arrive from war-torn
  countries.
• Mexico is the largest country in this realm. It
  contains 70 of the realms entire land area. It
  now has 102 million inhabitants.

50
Political Differentiation

• In the Caribbean area, Cuba is the largest island
  and the largest population (11.3 million).
• Although Cuba has Spanish heritage, Jamaica has
  British influence Haiti has strong African and
  French influences Puerto Rico, although has
  Spanish influence, it is a commonwealth of the
  U.S.
• The A-B-C islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao)
  have Dutch influence.

51
Problems of Widespread Poverty

• All of the crops grown in the Caribbean area are
  constantly under severe, global competition and
  they are not important enough to alleviate great
  hunger and poverty in the region.
• Food supplies are inadequate because the best
  land is used to grow cash crops instead of
  staples for local consumption.

52
Problems of Widespread Poverty

• Minifundia (the ownership of small plots of land)
  is prevalent throughout the Caribbean basin.
• Soil erosion and deforestation plague many of the
  nations in the Caribbean basin.

53
African Heritage

• The human geography of the Caribbean islands
  resemble the cultural landscape of west and
  equatorial Africa. The similarities are found
  in
• The construction of village dwellings.
• The operation of rural markets.
• The role of women in rural life.
• Preparation of the food.
• Methods of cultivation.
• Artistic expression and family life.

54
African Heritage

• Despite the general dominance of African heritage
  in Caribbean basin, the white population,
  followed by mulattos, actually hold a
  disproportionate share of economic and political
  power.
• The islands also have large number of Chinese and
  eastern Indians. Cuba has a very large number of
  Chinese while Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Martinique,
  and Trinidad, jointly, received 250,000 East
  Indians.

55
Tourism The Irritant Industry

• Although tourism is big business in the Caribbean
  basin, it has serious drawbacks
• The invasion of poor communities by affluent
  tourists result in a rising sense of local anger
  and resentment by the locals.
• The intervention of local governments and
  multinational corporation removes opportunities
  from local entrepreneurs in favor of large
  operations and major resorts, e.g., Club Med.

56
Regional Cooperation

• Due to regional interests, 25 nations created the
  association of Caribbean states (ACS) in order to
  achieve closer trading ties among the 25 nations
  and to protect their trading ties to the U.S. In
  light of Mexicos competitive edge in the U.S.
  Market

57
Mexico

• Mexico is the largest country in land area and
  population in middle America.
• It now has a population of 102 million and 74
  percent of this population is urbanized.

58
Mexico

• Today, its population is 60 percent mestizo, 20
  percent predominantly Amerindian, and 10 percent
  full-bloodied Amerindian And only 9 percent
  European.
• Mexico city is largest city in Latin America,
  with 26 million inhabitants and with 25 percent
  of its national population.

59
Revolution and Its Aftermath

• Mexicos revolution of 1910 led to the
  redistribution of approximately 8,000 haciendas
  into parcels of public land that are handed over
  to villages and, in turn, handed over to
  individuals for cultivation.

60
Revolution and Its Aftermath

• In spite of the reforms that have occurred,
  tensions are still volatile as it has been seen
  in the 1994 revolt in the State of Chiapas. This
  revolt was led by Amerindians who still remain
  disenfranchised from the main land reforms that
  have occurred in other parts of Mexico.

61
Revolution and Its Aftermath

• The reform movement is led by a radical group of
  Amerindians who have organized their activities
  within the Zapatista National Liberation Army
  (ZNLA), and their demands for autonomy and land
  reform may lead to the decentralization of powers
  from the federal to the state government that
  allows the latter more local control.

62
Revolution and Its Aftermath

• The ZNLAs crusade has not been resolved and may
  eventually lead to further armed confrontations
  and eventually spark a nationwide civil rights
  movement for all Amerindians.

63
The Changing Geography of Economic Activity

• Energy resources-
• As we have seen Mexicos ranks quite high in its
  allotment in crude oil reserves.
• These reserves are found in the Gulf of Mexico
• Around the Tampico area and offshore.
• In the Bay of Campeche where very large of oil
  pools are found in very deep layers of
  sedimentary bedrock.

64
The Changing Geography of Economic Activity

• Industrialization
• Mexicos iron and steel industry if centered in
  the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon.
• The city of Monterrey is the leading industrial
  city of Mexico. It obtains iron ore from local
  sources and coal from the Sabinas Basin.
• Another iron and steel city is Monclova which
  also receives iron locally and coal from the
  Sabinas Basin.

65
The Changing Geography of Economic Activity

• The most significant development in Mexicos
  manufacturing geography is the growth of
  Malquiladora plants in the northern border zone.
  Malquiladoras are factories (half of these are
  U.S. owned) that assemble imported duty-free
  components and raw materials into finished
  industrial products. Approximately 80 percent of
  these goods are eventually re-exported to the
  U.S. whose import tariffs are limited to the
  value added to products during fabrication stage.

66
The Changing Geography of Economic Activity

• There are approximately 1,800 assembly plants
  which employ half a million employees.

67
The Changing Geography of Economic Activity

• Among the things that are being assembled
  include
• Electronic equipment.
• Electrical appliances.
• Auto parts.
• Clothing.
• Plastics.
• Furniture.

68
Altitudinal Zonation

• In 1932, Dr. Karl Sapper, a German climatologist,
  published his now famous textbook The Climate of
  Middle America.
• In this textbook, he described the concept of
  altitudinal zonation and climate change as one
  climbs up the mountains in the tropic of Middle
  and South America.
• Refer to the altitudinal zonation diagram on
  page 228 in your textbook.

69
Altitudinal Zonation

• The temperature in the tropical environment
  (Tierra Caliente) is approximately 30 degrees
  Celsius at sea level which is the normal
  temperature in the tropics.
• For every 1,000 meters (or 3,000 feet) in
  altitude, there is a 6 degree drop in
  temperature.
• For example, if the average temperature at sea
  level is 30 degrees, this temperature converts to
  86 degrees Fahrenheit.

70
Altitudinal Zonation

• F 9/5 C 32, when C30, then, F86.
• F 9/5 C 32, when C24, then, F75.
• For temperature decline in Fahrenheit, we get a
  11 degrees per 3,000 feet or 3.67 degree change
  per 1,000 feet.
• Let us consider the two following situations
• T 30 6H
• 0 30 6H

71
The Central American Republics

• Guatemala A Phantom Peace?
• Guatemalas population is approximately 12.3
  million inhabitants, with mestizos (or ladinos)
  comprising the majority (58 percent) and
  Amerindians the minority (42 percent)
• This country has experienced civil war since 1960
  and it has claimed more than 200,000 lives.
• Unfortunately, the end of armed conflicts are not
  in sight, and this situation will hamster any
  economic gains that may arise from the countrys
  natural resources.

72
The Central American Republics

• Belize Changing Identity.
• Until 1981, this country was a colony of Britain
  and it was known as British Honduras.
• Slightly larger than Massachusetts, this country
  of 240,000 inhabitants (many of African descent)
  has similarities to the Caribbean islands than to
  other Central American states.
• The population dynamics of this country has
  changed as thousands of Creoles have left for the
  U.S. and they have been replaced by thousands of
  Spanish-speaking immigrants who are mostly
  escapees from Guatemala, San Salvador, and
  Honduras. Consequently, their proportion of the
  Belizean population has risen from 33 to 50
  percent between 1980 and 2000.

73
The Central American Republics

• Honduras Deluged by Disaster
• This country was devastated by a very destructive
  hurricanes, Mitch, in 1998.
• It proved to be one of the costliest disasters in
  modern history of the Western Hemisphere.
• The hurricane killed approximately 15,000
  inhabitants and destroyed the infrastructure of
  the country.
• This country is well known for it sweat shops
  that produce clothes for global markets.

74
The Central American Republics

• San Salvador Postwar Reconstruction
• This is the smallest country in Central America,
  but the most densely populated country of this
  area. Ninety-four percent of the population is
  mestizo.
• Between 1980 and 1992, this country was
  devastated by civil war in which 75,000 people
  were killed.
• This country produces coffee in plantations that
  utilized peasant labor for their profits.
• Besides coffee exports, this country also has a
  growing clothing industry that is becoming more
  important as we enter a new millennium.

75
The Central American Republics

• Nicaragua Mired in Misfortune
• This is the first country to have been ruled by a
  Communist or Sandinista regime in Central
  America.
• As a result of the civil conflict, this country
  now ranks as the poorest country in Middle
  America.
• Its economy is based on coffee plantations in its
  highlands.
• Presently, economic recover after hurricane Mitch
  and the Sandinista revolution remains a
  difficult outcome.

76
The Central American Republic

• Costa Rica Durable Democracy
• Costa Rica is very unlike its neighbors in that
  it is the oldest democratic country in the area.
• Most of the population lives in the tierra
  templada zone where coffee plantation predominate
  the landscape.
• This country contains the regions highest
  standard of living, literacy rate, and life
  expectancy.
• Agriculture continues to dominate, with coffee,
  bananas, cut flowers, sugar, and beef the leading
  exports.
• This country is known as the Switzerland of
  Central America.

77
The Central American Republics

• Panama Strategic Canal, Reorganizing Corridor
• The Panama Canal was opened in 1914, and it was
  operated by the United States until approximately
  1977. But, officially, final withdrawal will
  occur on December 31, 1999.
• This country has a population of 2.9 million and
  is about 2/3s mestizo, with a substantial black,
  white, and Amerindian minorities.
• This country produces bananas, coffee, sugarcane,
  and rice.

78
Chapter 5 South America

• South America is the fourth largest landmass in
  the world, with 7,000,000 square miles of land
  surface.

79
Chapter 5 South America

• Of the 7,000,000 square miles, 2,000,000 are not
  populated so that the population concentration of
  46 persons per square mile is unevenly
  distributed.

80
Chapter 5 South America

• The continent extends from 13 north latitude to
  55 degrees south latitude (or 4,700 square miles
  long in a north-south direction) and 35-80
  degrees west longitude (3,100 miles long in an
  east-west direction.)
• There approximately 324,000,000 inhabitants in
  South America and if we include the population
  of Middle America, the total population of Latin
  America is 488 million, with a growth rate of 1.8
  percent.

81
South America

• Total population centers are along the mountains
  in the eastern coastline and, principally, in the
  Andes Mountains on the western coastline.
• In some areas of the Andes, population
  concentrations have become so high that extreme
  soil erosion has occurred.
• Draw diagram of the Andes Mountains.

82
Population Characteristics

• Urbanization and Ethnic Composition As I
  mentioned above, South America is settled on the
  fringe. The patterns are based on culture,
  attitude, and accidents of history.
• Spaniards always have had a predilection for
  communal life. To a Spaniard, a city represents
  culture, politics, and where the action is.

83
Population Characteristics

• The population of all countries is highly
  nucleated. Cities such Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo,
  and Rio de Janeiro have populations over 8
  million, and the growth of these cities has
  resulted in the encirclement of slums around the
  cities which go by different names.
• For example, in Lima approximately ¼ of the
  population live in barridas in Brazil slums are
  known as favelas in Columbia as ranchos and in
  Argentina as barrios.

84
The Human Sequence

• The south American continent was inhabited by
  ancient people who migrated to south America via
  Middle America more than 5,000 years ago.
• Thus, for thousands of years indigenous
  Amerindian communities and societies have been
  developing in South America.

85
The Human Sequence

• The Inca Empire
• This empire was forged from a series of elongated
  basins called altiplanos. From their home base
  Cuzco the Incas (or Quechua) extended their
  authority over peoples of coastal Peru and other
  altiplanos.
• At their zenith, the Inca Empire contained more
  than 20 million subjects, and they strictly
  controlled the life of the empires subjects so
  that there was little personal freedom. The
  empire was controlled so tightly that a takeover
  at the top was enough to gain power over the
  empire --- as the Spaniards soon found out.

86
The Human Sequence

• A word about the Amerindians
• The number and distribution of the Amerindians
  during the period of exploration played a
  significant element in the settlement of south
  America. (In some areas, they form the dominant
  racial group as in the Amazon basin, Peru and
  Bolivia.).
• Being an Indian in many of these countries (as in
  Mexico) results in a bad situation because they
  are socially discriminated.

87
The Human Sequence

• They usually lead a life of misery, only elevated
  by an occasional religious ceremony and market
  shopping.
• To relief their troublesome lives, they use
  quinine and chicha which is made from decayed
  potatoes which are spat out of the mouth into a
  bowl. This ritual is a family affair, and YES,
  the incidence of tuberculosis is very high
  throughout the Andes.

88
The Human Sequence

• The Iberians
• The Spaniards, under the leadership of Francisco
  Pizzaro, rode victorious into the city of Cuzco.
  Soon after their conquest, they placed the
  Amerindians into serfdom and formed haciendas by
  land alienation or by disenfranchising the
  Amerindians off their land.
• As the wealth of Peru was siphoned to Spain, the
  city of Lima became a viceroyalty. And, from
  this city they extended their conquest to the
  north Columbia and Venezuela and to the south
  Argentina and Uruguay.

89
The Human Sequence

• The Portuguese took possession of eastern South
  America because the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
  gave Portugal possession of all lands to the east
  of 50 degrees West longitude.
• Eventually, they extended their control beyond
  this longitude to include the Amazon Basin and a
  good part of the Panama-Paraguay Basin.

90
The Human Sequence

• The Africans
• When the Portuguese began to develop their New
  World territory, they turned to the cultivation
  of sugar and the use of black slave labor.
  Consequently, million of Africans were brought to
  the New World. For this reason, Brazil has the
  largest black population of South America.

91
The Human Sequence

• Mestizos
• Racial mix of Spanish and Indian cultures, this
  group forms 85 to 90 percent of all of the people
  of South America. The mestizo is fundamentally
  the Matrix of South America.

92
Cultural Fragmentation

• South America is a continent of plural societies
  where Amerindians of different cultures,
  Europeans from Iberia, blacks from Africa, and
  Asians from India, Japan, and Indonesia cultures
  form a mosaic of cultural and economic spheres.

93
Cultural Fragmentation

• These spheres, as defined by John Augelli, are
  discussed below
• Tropical-Plantation Region This area is found
  along the humid Brazilian coastline, including
  four more areas in the Atlantic-Caribbean areas
  of the continent. The region resembles the
  Rimlands culture and economic characteristics.

94
Cultural Fragmentation

• European-Commercial Region The area includes the
  southern countries, including southern Brazil
  and it consists of an area that is economically
  more advance that the rest of the country.

95
Cultural Fragmentation

• Amerindian-Subsistence Region The region
  focuses on the high Andes where most of the
  inhabitants are Amerindian who live in
  minifundias.

96
Cultural Fragmentation

• Mestizo-Transitional Region This area is a mix
  of the three major culture groups, namely, the
  Europeans, Amerindians, and mestizos. This area
  surrounds the Amerindian Subsistence Region, and
  it is less commercial than the European sphere
  but less subsistent in orientation than the
  dominantly Amerindian areas.

97
Cultural Fragmentation

• Undifferentiated Region This region consists of
  the Amazon Basin. It is an area that is hard to
  classify because it is remote and exhibits
  limited economic development.

98
Economic Integration

• Most of South Americas republics have replaced
  old policies that protected domestic economies
  with new ones that embrace market-oriented reform
  and the expansion of trading partners.

99
Economic Integration

• The following list shows the new economic
  organizations that have developed in order to
  forge new trading zones.
• Mercosur This trading area consists of the
  Southern Cone Common Market which includes
  Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
• Andean Community The members of this trading
  group include Bolivia,Columbia, Ecuador, and
  Peru.
• Group of Three (G-3) This free-trade agreement
  involves Mexico, Venezuela, and Columbia.

100
Economic Integration

• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
  This free-trade agreement includes Canada,
  Mexico, and the United States. This group hopes
  to include Chile in the organization very soon.
• These organizations represent only an
  intermediate step toward a much grander goal the
  creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas
  (FTAA).

101
Urbanization

• Today, seventy-six percent of the South American
  population now resides in urban areas, and this
  trends will continue for the foreseeable future.
  Moreover, the urban population is growing at a
  faster rate than rural populations, that is, the
  urban population has grown annually by 5 since
  1950 while the increase in rural areas has been 2
  .

102
Brazil

• Brazil is the largest country in South America
  (3.3 million square miles), and it ranks fifth in
  size. It is smaller than Russia, Canada, China,
  and the United States. Its population size is
  larger than another state in South America, with
  167 million inhabitants as of 2000 (estimate).

103
Brazil

• Its population is very diverse. Brazil has
  approximately 8.5 million blacks, 67 million of
  mixed-race, with African-European-Amerindian
  ancestry, and 91 million of European ancestry.
• Japanese immigrants recently have joined the
  ranks, and they live in farming communities
  throughout southern Brazil.

104
Brazil-Regional Areas

• Brazil can be divided into six regions
• The Northeast
• The Southeast
• The South
• The Interior and
• The Amazonian North.

105
Brazil-The Northeast

• The NORTHEAST is the cultural heart of Brazil,
  and it is an area which is highly populated.
• The economy is essentially commercial
  agriculture, with an emphasis on sugar cane along
  the wetter coastal areas. But, unfortunately,
  this economy is depressed and the area
  experiences widespread poverty.
• Here, the Portuguese quickly imported African
  slaves to work the sugar fields.

106
Brazil-The Northeast

• The area inland is known as the sertao, and it is
  often impacted by serious droughts.
• This is why it is referred to as the Polygon of
  Drought. Precipitation patterns are quite
  erratic here. The vegetation is called the
  Caatinga which is comparable to our semi-arid
  vegetation of cactus and small thorny bushes.

107
Brazil-The Northeast

• The major cities are Recife which is the oldest
  city in the region and San Salvador which is the
  areas most economically diversified city, with a
  major petrochemical complex in its vicinity.

108
Brazil-The Southeast

• The SOUTHEAST consists of the States of Bahia,
  Espirito Santo, and Minas Gerais. This area is
  richly endowed with gold, bauxite, manganese,
  nickel, and many precious and semi-precious
  stones. The State of Minas Gerais means General
  Mines, and it derives its name from the more than
  100 different mines that are found throughout the
  state.

109
Brazil-The Southeast

• In fact, it was the lure of gold what brought
  people to this area. But, it is iron ore (around
  Lafaiete) that now makes this area, one of the
  most productive areas in Brazil.
• Brazil now ranks second, next to Russia, in the
  total production of iron and steel, and Belo
  Horizonte, the Capitol, is the leading
  metallurgical center of Brazil. Volta Redonda,
  close to Rio de Janeiro, contains the second
  largest steel mill in Brazil.

110
Sao Paulo

• The State of Sao Paulo is the leading industrial
  producer and a very important agricultural region
  that specializes in coffee (grown in coffee
  plantation known as fazendas), soybeans, and
  citrus fruits (for orange concentrate). The area
  is well known for its fertile Terra Roxa or Red
  Soils.
• The City of Sao Paulo is the leading
  manufacturing city in all of South America, and
  it has a very active automobile industry.

111
The South

• THE SOUTH consists of the southern states of
  Parana, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.
  This area is characterized by numerous farming
  communities which were settled by European
  immigrants, especially Germans, Italians, and
  Portuguese farmers. (The staple crops are corn,
  potatoes, dairying, and vineyards. Recently,
  tobacco has been come an important cash crop for
  American tobacco companies.).

112
The South

• This area, unfortunately, has been experiencing a
  separatist movement that is fueled by people who
  want to keep European cultural lifestyles intact
  and who do not want to mix with the non-European
  citizens from the North.

113
The South

• Main industrial activity focuses on Tubarao where
  South Americas single largest steel-making plant
  opened in 1983. It obtains its coal from the
  states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
• During the 1990s an internationally significant
  center of the computer software industry was
  established in Florianopolis, the island city and
  State Capital, of Santa Catarina.

114
The Interior

• THE INTERIOR focuses on the region that surrounds
  the capital city of Brasilia which was
  deliberately located in the savanna region of the
  Centro-Oeste of the interior of Brazil.
• The City of Brasilia, the forward capital, of
  Brazil is located in this region and this region
  has been integrated into the nations economy
  through the exploitation of the cerrado the
  fertile plains that blanket the Central-West.
  This area is one of the worlds most promising
  agricultural frontiers.

115
The Amazonian North

• THE AMAZONIAN NORTH was the scene of the great
  rubber boom at the turn of the century, but with
  the discovery of synthetic rubber, the industry
  ended rapidly in 1910.

116
The Amazonian North

• This area contains the worlds largest rain
  forest reservoir, and it is now receiving a
  massive infusion of immigrants from the coast,
  that is, immigrants who seek gold and cheap land,
  just for the clearing. Unfortunately, the
  clearing of the land has lead to a great
  environmental catastrophic in which the rain
  forest is being destroyed at alarming rates which
  may lead to global warming and desertification of
  vast areas of the world.

117
The Amazonian North

• Today, it has a major industrial project. It is
  the Grande Carajas Project in eastern portion of
  the State of Para. This is a huge industrial
  scheme which focuses on one of the worlds
  largest deposits of iron ore in the Serra dos
  Carajas hills.

118
The Amazonian North

• This project is referred to as a growth-pole
  concept. A growth-pole is a location where a set
  of industries, given a start, will expand and
  generate widening ripples of development in the
  surrounding area.
• Another important project includes the
  Polonoroeste Plan which is an attempt to settle
  the western Amazonia via the Trans-Amazon Highway.

119
Venezuela

• The name Venezuela comes from the Spanish word
  for Little Venice. The name was derived when
  early Spanish explorers saw Indian huts on stilts
  on the shallow Lake Maracaibo.
• Petroleum was found in this lake during the
  1920s, and it has flowed since then.
• Two-thirds of the national output comes from oil
  pools found under Lake Maracaibo.

120
Venezuela

• The capital of Venezuela is Caracas, and it is
  located approximately 3,000 feet above sea
  level. Caracas fills a narrow valley 15 miles
  wide by 30 miles long and it has a population of
  approximately 3.2 million.
• The elevation of Caracas gives the city a
  temperate climate. Comparatively, the citys port
  of La Guaira sits six miles away on a desert
  coastline, and its is extremely hot, dry, and
  unpleasant.

121
Venezuela

• The Guiana Highlands lie north of the Amazon
  Basin, and it remains the least explored area of
  South America. The highlands consist of high
  tabular mesas, the biggest is Mt. Roraima, with
  an elevation of 9,212 feet.

122
Venezuela

• In the 1920s, an American flyer, Jimmy Angel,
  accidentally discovered the worlds highest
  waterfall --- Angels Fall. It drops 3,212 feet.
• The Guiana Highlands are very important
  economically because they contain large deposits
  of iron ore, bauxite, and gold.
• Iron ore has been found south of Ciudad Bolivar,
  in Cerro de Bolivar. Huge deposits of bauxite
  had also been found near the City of Guayana
  which refines bauxite ore into alumina, raw
  aluminum.

123
Venezuela

• Gold is the most recent element discovered in the
  Guiana Highlands near the Brazilian border.
  Unfortunately, would-be gold prospectors are now
  indiscriminately ravishing the countryside to
  mine for gold.
• The Orinoco Lowlands extends for about 400-mile
  long plain along the Orinoco River. This area is
  devoted to ranching activities that satisfy the
  needs of numerous large cities in the mountains.

124
Columbia

• Although this country contains a physical
  geography so varied that it produces crops
  ranging from the temperate to the tropical and is
  richly endowed with energy resources, it has been
  ravished by civil unrest and violence, and its
  future is uncertain.

125
Columbia

• It recent unrest began in 1970s when groups
  opposing the power-sharing monopoly between the
  political parties began a campaign of terrorism,
  damaging the developing infrastructure of the
  country. In addition, drug cartels formed in
  response to the U.S. market for narcotics
  increased.

126
Columbia

• Although its future is uncertain, the country has
  some very interesting characteristics
• It has a population that is predominately
  mestizo, it population size is approximately 40
  million (2000 est.).
• Most of the population is concentrated in the
  western and northern portions of the country.
• The largest city is Bogota, the capital, which
  has a population of 5.6 million and an elevation
  of 8,500 feet.
• The second largest city is Medellin, with a
  population of 1.7 million and an elevation of
  5,500 feet. This city is also famous for its
  coffee plantations which produce the most
  flavorful coffees.

127
Columbia

• Coffee is now Columbias main export crop, but it
  is coca leaves that accounts for Columbias
  leading unofficial export to the United States.
• The city of Cali, on the Cauca River,has a
  population of 1.8 million, and it is the focal
  point where tobacco and sugar are produced and
  cattle raised for the larger cities of Columbia.

128
Columbia

• Another major export is oil which was first found
  in the Casanare oilfield of northern Columbia,
  but a larger field was found in the Cusiana
  oilfield in 1991. Both oilfields allow Columbia
  to be a major exporter of oil in South America.
• A major source of coal is located in the Guajira
  Peninsula which is adjacent to the Maracaibo
  Lowlands. The mining activities centers in the
  Cerrejon District.

129
Columbia

• The coastal Columbian area along the Pacific
  coastline of a rain forest climate and
  vegetation. In fact, one station in the
  mountains on the Pacific coast report 400 inches
  of rain a year.
• This coastal areas is sparely populated, and it
  has a large number of blacks who live in
  Buenaventura and other small villages.

130
Columbia

• Commercial agriculture dominates, with banana and
  cocoa plantations.
• Finally, the Caribbean coastline is highly
  populated with three major cities, Barranquilla
  (975,000). Cartagen (525,000), and Santa Marta.
• In fact, Cartagen is now the Columbian
  headquarters for illegal, export trade in
  cocaine and marijuana.

131
Ecuador

• Ecuador is the second smallest country in South
  America, that is, after Uruguay.
• It has a population of 12.7 million, with 40
  percent of the population of Amerindian stock.

132
Ecuador

• The capital is Quito which is located in the
  tierra fria zone.

133
Ecuador

• This country is divided into three physiographic
  parts 1) the coastal zone, 2) the Andes, and
  3) the Oriente.
• The coastal zone consists of two parts a) a
  belt of low-lying hills which are utilized for
  the production of coffee, rice, and cotton b)
  the lowlands which produce bananas, making
  Ecuador the worlds largest producer of bananas,
  and cacao.
• The Andes form two parallel north-south ranges.
  Crest elevations are very high, with some
  volcanic peaks reaching heights of 15,000-20,000
  feet it is here where the majority of the people
  live. They in turn, cultivate small farm plots,
  which is characteristic of minifundia.

134
Ecuador

• El Oriente, located east of the Andes, is
  sparsely populated and has a rain forest canopy,
  but the forest is quickly disappearing due to
  large scale logging. Here, large oil fields have
  been discovered, and it is piped over the Andes
  to the city of Emeraldas.
• Presently,Ecuador is second, next to Venezuela,
  the largest oil producing country in South
  America.

135
Peru

• Peru is the third largest country in South
  America. It has a population of 27 million. Its
  territory is divided physiographically into three
  sub regions
• The desert coast, the European-mestizo region
• The Andean highlands or Sierra, the Amerindian
  region
• The Oriente, which includes the eastern slopes of
  Andes, or montana, the sparsely populated
  Amerindian-mestizo interior.

136
Peru

• The capital, Lima, is situated several miles
  inland from a good harbor, Callao. The location
  of Lima is favorable in light of its productive
  sea that produces vast amounts of fish and
  sardines.
• The city is also close to 40 oases, along the
  arid coast, which produce cotton, sugar, rice,
  vegetables, fruits, and wheat for export.

137
Peru

• The Amerindian population lives in clustered,
  isolated villages or in haciendas where they
  practice subsistence agriculture in the Andean
  mountains.

138
Peru

• In either case, they grow corn, barley, and
  potatoes in tierra fria or tierra helada zones.
• The minerals produced for export include
• Copper
• Zinc
• Lead.
• The most important mining area focuses on Cerro
  de Pasco.

139
Peru

• In the rain forest of the Oriente, the focal is
  the city of Iquitos which looks to the east
  rather than the west, and it can be reached by
  oceangoing vessels from the Atlantic ocean.
• Oil was discovered west of Iquitos in the 1970s,
  and it is piped to the seaport of Bayovar. This
  area also contains natural gas deposits which are
  now being developed.

140
Bolivia

• Bolivia is the second poorest country in South
  America, and it has a population of 8.4 million
  inhabitants, half of which are Amerindians while
  mestizos comprise approximately 35 percent of the
  total.
• This country is landlocked because it lost its
  corridor to the sea in a war with Chile in 1903.
  Consequently, this condition has limited its
  economic development .

141
Bolivia

• The Andes form two large, paralleling ranging
  which are over 20,000 feet in elevation, and a
  large altiplano, or high plain, has been formed
  between them.
• On the boundary between Peru and Bolivia,
  freshwater Lake Titicaca the highest large lake
  on Earth lies at 12,507 feet above sea level.

142
Bolivia

• Bolivias de facto capital is La Paz which is
  situated on the Altiplano at an elevation of
  11,700 feet, making it the highest capital in the
  world. (La Paz contains only the Legislative
  and Executive departments.)
• Bolivias legal capital, however, is Sucre which
  still holds the Judicial branch or the Supreme
  Court.

143
Bolivia

• Bolivia has tremendous mineral wealth. The city
  of Potosi, in the eastern cordillera is the
  center of silver mining industry. In 1544, the
  Spanish conquerors of Peru discovered the Cerro
  Rico, a conical mountain which stands above the
  city of Potosi. The bulk of this mountain is
  made up of one of the richest ore bodies known to
  man an ore so rich that it not only contains
  rich deposits of silver but tin, bismuth, and
  tungsten.

144
Bolivia

• However, out of the mountain, between the its
  discovery and the beginning of the seventeenth
  century, came about one half of all of the silver
  produced in the world during the 56 years of
  discovery. This was the royal fifth which
  poured into the Spanish treasury which played a
  vital role in shaping the course of European
  history.

145
Bolivia

• Bolivia is an important producer of tin. Tin was
  discovered at the end of the nineteenth century,
  and it is centered in the cities of Oruro and
  Unica. But, today, declining tin reserves and
  falling world prices has force much of the
  industry to shut down.
• Bolivia also produces zinc, lead, copper,
  tungsten, and antimony.

146
Bolivia

• The Oriente produces natural gas and oil which
  are exported to Brazil and Argentina.
• Soybeans are now becoming an important source of
  revenue, accounting for Bolivias most impo