Transcript Chapter 10 Lecture

Latin America Today
Chapter 10, Section 1: The
Economy
Important Vocabulary
• Export: selling goods to other countries. Ex: Coffee,
Sugarcane.
• Campesino: rural farmers and workers.
• Latifundia: large agricultural estates owned by wealthy
landowners or corporations.
• Minifundia: small plots of farming land.
• Cash Crop: crops produced in large amounts for selling
and trading.
Important Vocabulary (Cont’d)
• Developing Country: working towards greater
manufacturing and technology use. Most Latin American
nations.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): the value of goods and
services a country produced in a year.
• Service Industry: those that provide a service.
• Maquiladora: a factory.
• Free Trade Zone: areas of a country in which there are no
trade restrictions.
Agriculture
• Agriculture is still main supply for
income. Most produce is
exported.
• Uneven land distribution between
wealthy landowners and farmers.
Long-standing economic
inequality.
• The mechanization of farming has
led to farmers moving to cities.
• Favorable temperature and fertile
lands produce great cash crops.
• Cattle-raising for exportation.
Industry
• Efforts being made for more
manufacturing and industry.
• Mexico’s GDP (2008): 35%
manufacturing and 4% agriculture.
• Service industries on the rise.
Tourism has been essential.
• Jamaica: expansion of
telecommunications and
information technology.
• U.S. and Japanese firms have built
manufactories, greater investments.
Transportation
• The topography creates difficulties in
road and railroad construction. Issues
of: political turmoil and lack of funds.
• Pan-American Highway: from Mexico
to Chile. Trans-Andean Highway: from
Chile to Argentina.
• Brazil built the Trans-Amazonian
Highway for timber and mineral
resource development.
• Well-developed railway systems. Some
are in disrepair. Waterways and air
travel also very important.
Communication & Trade
• Communications: television, radio, newspapers; cellphones.
• Gov’t censorship during political unrest.
• Mexico and Brazil: top 10 in internet users. Growing technology.
• NAFTA (1994); no trade barriers. 10-15% trade growth.
• DR-CAFTA (2005); lower trade barriers between the U.S. and
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
the Dominican Republic.
• Many Latin American nations have foreign debt from borrowing
for industrial and economic development.
Latin America Today
Chapter 10, Section 2: People
and Environment
Important Vocabulary
• Deforestation: the clearing of forests.
• Sustainable Development: technological and
economic growth without depleting human and
natural resources.
• Slash-and-burn Farming: using ash from burnt plants
and trees to soil the ground.
• Reforestation: planting of young trees or tree seeds.
• Shantytown: slums or makeshift communities.
Managing Resources
• Needs for farming and ranching have
cleared forests in the Amazon Basin.
• Commercial logging has also led to
deforestation in the Amazon.
• Threats to ecosystem since half of all
animals and plants are in rainforests.
• Almost 20% of Amazon rainforest
has been destroyed. More CO2.
• There are laws mandating
reforestation and conservation.
Human Impacts
• Rapid urbanization has
exceeded available natural
resources.
• The rise of shantytowns/slums
with people moving to cities.
Unsanitary areas, disease
spreading.
• Rise of smog and industrial
smokestack pollution with
manufacturing growth.
Future Challenges
• There have been territorial
conflicts over past 150 years
over land and resources.
• The physical geography makes
region vulnerable to natural
disasters. Gov’ts are working
together with satellite
imaging and computer
modeling for better
forecasting.