Transcript Unit 3: Latin America

Unit 3: Latin America
Ch. 8: Physical Geography
Division
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Remember 3 areas
1. Middle America
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Central America
Mexico
2. West Indies
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Bahamas
Greater Antilles
– Made of Rock
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Lesser Antilles
– Made from Volcanoes
3. South America
So What Connects This Vast
Region?
• The answer is culture.
– European settlement: Spain and Portugal
– Languages
• Which ones?
• Based on Latin, which is why its called Latin America
• But, more on culture later…
Mountains and Plateaus
Still the Rocky Mountains…
• Begin in North America
and extend down to
South America’s
Southern tip
– Mexico: Sierra Madre
– Central America: Central
Highlands
– South America: Andes
Rugged Landscape
• Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire
– Volcanoes
– Mountains
– Earthquakes
Why Live in the Mountains
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Many reasons…
1. Cooler climate
2. Rich natural resources such as water,
volcanic soil, timber, and minerals
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Today the landscape no longer isolates
movement and trade
– Why?
Mexican Plateau
• Densely populated
• Surrounded by the Sierra Madre Oriental
and the Sierra Madre Occidental; meet at
the Sierra Madre del Sur
• Let’s look at a map of it…
The Andes
• World’s longest range
(4,500 miles)
• Cordilleras
– Many ranges next to, or
parallel to each other
• Altiplano
– “high plain” in Peru and
Bolivia
• Patagonia
– Southern Argentina hills
and lower flatlands
Highlands of Brazil
• Mato Grosso
Plateau
– Sparsely
populated
plateau of forests
fan grasslands
• Brazilian
Highlands
– Vast
Lowlands and Plains
• Lowlands coastal
• Interior grasslands
– Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela
– Pampas of Argentina and Uruguay
• Uses: Graze cattle, agriculture: large scale, wheat
and corn as well as small/medium farms
Water
River System
• Mostly located in SA,
except the Rio Grande
• Hydroelectric power
• Drainage system
The Rio de la Plata
Estuary: where fresh water meets salt water
Lakes
• Lake Titicaca
– Bolivia and Peru
– Early center of Native
American civilization
• Lake Maracaibo
– Venezuela
– Largest lake in SA
• Lake Nicaragua
– Nicaragua and Costa
Rica
– Largest lake in CA
Natural Resources
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Minerals
Forests
Farmland
Rivers/Lakes
Oil
Natural Gas