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South America
UNIT 5, CHAPTER 9
Introduction to South America
Questions pg. 235
1.
Describe the migration of rural workers to urban areas in terms of both push
and pull factors.
2.
Push Factors:

3.
Lack of job opportunities
Pull Factors:

Explosive growth offer job opportunities

How might the migration of workers from rural areas to large cities
negatively impact rural areas?

It is the most educated people who tend to leave impoverished rural areas to
find jobs in the city, thus further draining any hope of improvement
Food line
Physical Geography of
South America
9.1
Landforms

The isthmus of Panama connects North America to South America. The sub
region of South America spans 4700 miles from North to South, passing
through the equator near its widest point of 3300 miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-lQzoc52uI

Play from 7:10-8:47
The Andes

They consist of cordilleras, parallel chains or ranges of mountains, that run
parallel to one another

They are an extension of the Rocky Mountains

Because the cordilleras have established natural barriers indigenous
people have developed as isolated groups

The Andes encircle the altiplano, this is Spanish for “high plane”, it is a
region in Peru and Bolivia encircled by the Andes

People have settled in the Andean Highlands for thousands of years. The
climate is cooler, the volcanic ash is good for the soil, and natural
resources are concentrated here.
Patagonia
•
Southern Argentina
•
Because of the Andes it
produces a rain shadow
effect causing it to be dry
and barren
•
It extends across the
Andes into Southern Chile.
•
It boasts dramatic valleys,
glaciers, and Fjords
•
It is a result of their location
to the Ring of Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD_
dFyfOXIo
Eastern South America
•
Defined by broad plateaus and valleys
•
The Amazon Basin drains into the Amazon River
•
Sparsely populated forests and grasslands that extend across Brazil, Bolivia,
and Peru
•
Brazilian Highlands are father east and span several climates and
vegetation zones. Warm climates and open spaces are good for raising
livestock
•
The Eastern Highlands plunge to the Atlantic ocean forming escarpments,
which is a steep cliff or slope between a higher and lower land surface.
These present obstacles for development, therefore, most of Brazils
population lives along the coast.
Continued.

South Americas inland grasslands, the llanos, fertile grasslands found inland
in Columbia and Venezuela

The Pampas, grassy, treeless plains of Argentina and Uruguay


Know for its fertile soil it is considered one of the worlds leading breadbaskets.
Both of these provide grazing for cattle.
Waterways

Amazon River

Worlds 2nd longest river

Flows about 4000 miles

Hundreds of rivers flow off of the Amazon River and makes the Amazon Basin,
more than 2 million square miles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QYDeGmILys
The Parana, Paraguay and Uruguay rivers

2nd largest river system in Latin America

Flows into the Rio de la Plata Estuary that flows into the Atlantic Ocean
Waterways continued

Lakes

Maracaibo in Venezuela

Lake Titicaca which is in Bolivia and Peru and is the worlds highest lake
Climates, Biomes, And Resources

Diverse climates make South America a region of astonishing contrasts.
Steamy rain forests, arid deserts, grassy plains, and sandy beaches can all
be found in this sub region. The dense, nearly impenetrable vegetation of
South America’s tropical rain forests represent a tremendous resource and
supports many communities.

El Nino phenomenon, a fact or event of scientific interest that can be
scientifically explained or described, affects climate in South America. El
Nino creates unusually warm ocean conditions that causes a large
amount of rain. It can have negative effects on coastal weather, fishing,
and agriculture.

Tropical wet and Tropical wet/dry

These are the predominate, main or most common, climates of Eastern South
America

It is home to the Amazon rainforest, the worlds largest rainforest.

It is mostly in Brazil, but extends to Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia,
Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
Tropical wet continued

There are more species of plants and animals per square mile in the Amazon
then anywhere else in the world

Covers 1/3 of South America

World’s wettest tropical plain

Heavy rainfall
Tropical Wet/Dry

North-Central South America

High temperatures

Heavy rainfall

Extended dry seasons

Large expanse of grasslands


Humid Sub Tropical

Southeastern South America

Winters short with cool, mild temperatures

Summers are long, hot and humid
Arid

Inland parts of Peru, Bolivia and Chili

Cold air and high elevations result in very little precipitation

Vegetation is adapted to low moisture conditions

Atacama Desert has places where rainfall has never been recorded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyKKlO50hMA
Natural
Resources
•
Leading producer of
energy resources
•
Holds most of the oil
reserves and has large
amounts of gold
•
Peru has silver
•
Columbia has Emeralds
•
Chili worlds largest copper
exporters
Human Geography of
South America
7.2
History and Government

South Americas diverse population is the result of centuries of blending
among hundreds of indigenous groups, Europeans, Africans, and Asians.

Incas

Skilled engineers

Temples

Fortresses

Roads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqnZM0ArGMA

No written language, knowledge was passed through storytelling. The Incas used
quipus, knotted chords of various lengths used to record financial records
Incas continued

Silver, gold and agriculture wealth attracted Spanish Conquistadores to Peru
European colonization

Spanish quickly moved through Peru and expanded into Columbia,
Argentina, and Chili

Portuguese settled in Brazil

British, French, and Dutch also settled into the northern part of South
America

By mid 1800’s most colonies had won their independence from Europe
Independence
•
Post-colonial period was
politically and
economically unstable
•
Power remained in the
hands of the wealthy and
elite, despite written
constitution
•
Dictatorships have given
way to democratically
elected governments, but
there is strong political
corruption

South American Countries struggle with
many issues, including, violence, wide
gap between rich and poor,
unemployment and protecting the rights
of the indigenous people.
Population Patterns

4th largest continent, home to nearly 400 million people

Population rate is starting to slow down

Most people live near coastal areas and along major rivers of the
continent.

Most countries have low, population densities. Ecuador is the highest with
132 people per sq. mile

80% of the people live in Urban areas

Countries across the region are experiencing brain drain or the loss of
highly educated and skilled workers to other countries. Most people are
leaving South America for North America and Europe
Society and Culture Today

South America is ethnically diverse

350 indigenous groups

Argentina is 97% European

Chili exhibits architecture, cuisine, and traditions influenced by Germans

In Guyana, ½ the population is South Asian descent

Peru has a high Chinese population

Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch and English are all spoken

Most people in South America are bilingual
Religion
•
Majority of people are
Roman Catholic
•
Protestant
•
Hindu
•
Buddhism
•
Shinto
•
Islam
•
Judaism
•
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Education

Most countries support public education through high school

Literacy rates are on the rise

Public Universities

However, most children leave school to help support their family

South America has an uneven development between countries. Uneven
Developments means conditions in which some places do not have
benefit as much as others from social and economic development.
Family and Status
of Women
•
In upper and middle class
a nuclear family system is
in place
•
In poorer families the
extended family is part of
the family nucleus
•
The elevation of women’s
rights have grown as
countries have established
more stable governments
and economies
Resources and Industry

Ranching is widespread, covering a wide area; prevalent, in the
grasslands of the South

Herding llamas and alpacas occur in the high Andean regions

Fishing occurs in major lakes, rivers, and along coastlines

Agriculture dominates much of east-central Brazil, and Paraguay, Uruguay,
and Argentina. South America’s main contributions to global trade
includes grains, soybeans, coffee, coca, citrus, cattle, sugarcane,
tobacco and cotton

The coca plant thrives in Bolivia and Peru and is popular among the local
working class for its effects as a legal stimulant and appetite suppressant.
The coca plant also makes cocaine
Economic Integration

The increased global demand for raw natural resources and
manufacturing have had an impact on the overall economic growth in
the regions countries

Investments have begun to flow more freely from one country to another.
For example, Columbia has taken advantage of its more stable economy
by promoting free trade agreements with other countries.

Columbia implemented, to carry out or accomplish by concrete measures,
the U.S.-Columbia Free Trade Agreement in 2012.
People and their
Environment
9.3
Managing Resources

South America is home to some of the largest reserves of forest and
agricultural resources in the world.

Deforestation. Rain forests harbor at least half of all plant and animal
species on Earth. Almost 20% of the Amazonian rain forest has already
been destroyed. Atlantic Forest, one of the Earth’s richest rainforest is the
most threatened and covers less than 10% of its original area.

Desertification’s primary cause is not drought but rather the
mismanagement of land by human activities such as overgrazing of
livestock and deforestation.

Pollution
Managing Resources continued

Soil erosion has diminished the ability to produce food and vegetation

Volcanic soils and the oxisois, a thick, weathered soil of the humid tropics that is
largely depleted of fertility and nutrients, are especially vulnerable to erosion.

You also have monoculture, the cultivation or growth of a single crop over a
wide area for a consecutive number of years, that depletes the soil of its
nutrients.
Human Impact

Large scale economic production and urban growth have created multiple
forms of environmental pollution.

Favelas are disconnected from services established by city. This is a
problematic as sources of sewage and unrestricted residential growth

Illegal mining has further damaged the natural land and water features. The
price of gold has doubled in value since 2007, Peru is the gold capital of the
world, so countries that have a high impoverished majority population and do
not have effective regulatory procedures in the government encourage illegal
mining.

Rapid deforestation has resulted in rapid migration, makeshift housing, and
industrial scale mining operations. Because miners use mercury and other toxic
compounds to separate gold from the ore, high levels of mercury and cyanide
pollution in rivers have been reported.
Addressing the Issues

Addressing issues related to human impact on the natural environment is
important not only for protecting regional biodiversity, but also for
preserving the livelihood of human populations.

South American countries that recognize the impact of deforestation are
passing laws to protect their lands. For example, Paraguay has passed the
Zero Deforestation Law in 2004. It prohibits forested areas from being
converted to landscapes for other uses in the eastern region of Paraguay.

Farmers are starting to implement management strategies to slow the
process of soil erosion. For example, cover crops, which are plants that
cover topsoil after crops have been harvested, prevent soil erosion from
water and wind
Addressing the Issues continued

Steps are being taken to reduce air pollution at the local level by
establishing regulations to cut out green house gases

2010 Argentina and Uruguay formed a joint effort to monitor pollution
along the Uruguay river.