Transcript 5. South America

Latin America
 Background
– name reflects culture traits inherited from
Spain and Portugal
– Spanish and Portuguese in Brazil are the
major languages,
– dialects of French are spoken in Haiti and
the French dependencies Guiana,
Guadeloupe, and Martinique.
– modification of Latin influence by local
culture
 Physical
Dimensions
– With a land area of slightly more than 7.9
million square miles (over 20.5 million sq km),
– Latin America not as large in size as Africa, the
Post-Soviet Region, Anglo-America or the
Orient
– maximum latitudinal extent of 5900 miles;
maximum east-west measurement of 82
degrees of longitude also impressive.
 Population
– Latin American population is 525 million.
– population is unevenly distributed with wide
variations in density.
– two major population areas are on the East coast
from the Amazon to Buenos Aires and on the
West coast from Caracas to Santiago
– southern Andes and the dry lands of
Argentina's Patagonia are scarcely populated
– Europeans developed ports as bases for
penetration into the interior.
– Many port became major metropolitan centers
like Lima, Caracas, and Santiago
– lure of gold and silver stimulated the
penetration of the Andes and the Brazilian
Highlands. Urban centers inland served the
mines
– a few highland cities like Bogota, Colombia
have grown into sizable metropolises.
– main seaports and highland cities became
important centers of colonial government
– population of central Mexico was already the
center of population when the Spanish
conquerors came.
– central Mexico was principal domain of the
large and technologically advanced Aztec
Empire
– roughly half of Mexico's 102 million people
(2002) now live in, around, or between the
region's two principal cities of Mexico City and
Guadalajara.
Latin America:Population Distribution

Ethnic Diversity
– Although most Latin Americans speak Spanish
or Portuguese and embrace some form of Roman
Catholicism, the region's inhabitants have highly
varied ancestries—white European, black African,
native Indian, Asian, or mixtures.
– Europeans, Africans, and Asians came from
various parts of their respective continents, while
the native Indians represented a multiplicity of
tribes.
– only three nations—Argentina, Uruguay, and
Costa Rica—have preserved white European
racial strains on a large scale with little
admixture by Indians or blacks.
– Black Latin Americans found in greatest
numbers in West Indian islands and along the
Atlantic coast in Middle and South America
where they were a source of plantation labor
– most of Latin American of mixed racial
heritage, i.e. mestizo (Spanish and indian);
zambos ( indian and black ancestry; or
mulattoes (European and black ancestry.
 Rapid
Population Growth and
Urbanization
– most of Latin American in Stage II with high
birth rates and falling death rates
– major migrations from rural areas to cities
– reasons for rural flight include drought,
exhausted land, depressed farm prices,
inflation, chronic unemployment, guerrilla
warfare, greater amenities
– population explosion clearly seen in
metropolitan Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Rio de
Janeiro, and Buenos Aires.
– strain on social services
– shantytowns on urban periphery (favalas in
Brazil)
 Physical
features and climate
– differences in elevation and topography striking
in Latin America
– low-lying plains drained by Orinoco, Amazon
and Parana-Paraguay river systems
– high interior plateaus broken by basins in
Mexico
– north/south continuous mountain from Mexico
to Tierra del Fuego at tip of South America
 Climates
– humid lowland climates
 tropical
rain forest with heavy year-round
precipitation, high heat and humidity, and abundant
vegetation.(Af/Am)
 tropical savanna climate in vicinity of Tropic of
Capricorn with less rain, cooler temperatures,
savanna grasslands and deciduous trees (Aw)
 humid subtropical climate on eastern side of South
America with prairie grasses and cooler winters(Cf)
 small strip of Mediterranean climate in central Chile
with dry summers(Csb)
 marine west coast climate in uninhabited mountain
at southern end of the Andes(Cfb)
Latin American Climates
Altitudinal Zonation
 Altitudinal
Zonation
– much of Latin America has highland climates
influenced by zones of altitude
– Tierra Caliente
 tropical
rain forest and savanna climate found at
foot of highlands where rice, sugar cane, bananas,
and cacao are grown
 heavy concentrations of blacks, zambos and
mulattos
– Tierra Templada
 sugar
cane, cacao, bananas and oranges grow here
 predominately the zone of the coffee tree
 upper limits of zone at 6,000 feet
– Tierra Fria
 frost
zone from 6,000 to 10,000 feet
 high plateaus, basins, and valleys of the Andes and
other high mountain ranges
 native indian economy with subsistence component
– Tierra Helada (frozen land above 10,000 feet)
 Systems
of Agriculture
– latifundia (large estates) with a strong
commercial orientation.
 owned
by families or corporations
 employment of landless, illiterate workers
 profits benefit owners and workers underpaid and
seasonally employed
 owners
often absentee landlords
 single crop plantation producing a single
commodity like bananas with significant foreign
investment from US
– minifundia (smaller estates) with a
subsistence component
 people
who farm them often lack capital to
purchase equipment
 marginal plots farmed on sharecropping basis
 individuals who own small plots of land often
indebted
 produce food for family and local market- beans,
maize, and squash
 productivity low
 Minerals
and Mining
– Latin America produces small amount of key
minerals that are important to external powers
– Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil with large value of
mineral output though most profits go to
showy buildings, corruption, enrichment of
upper classes and foreign investors
– masses derive few benefits from mineral and
mining activities
– mineral wealth does provide some
infrastructure improvements like roads, power
stations, water systems, schools and hospitals
– mineral production includes
 petroleum
from Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
and northern Venezuela
 high grade iron ore in eastern highlands of Brazil
and Venezuela
 unexploited bauxite deposits in Venezuela, Chile
and Peru
 copper in Atacama Desert in northern Chile
 silver in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia
 large tin reserves in Bolivia
– most mining ventures controlled by outside
firms
– boom and bust cycles with high revenues
followed by high spending, then depression
 Manufacturing
– many governments attempting to attract
outside foreign investment in manufacturing
with tax exemptions, cheap labor and other
inducements
– largest output of factory goods in Brazil,
Mexico, and Argentine
 Drug
Trafficing
– The Andean countries account for 90% of the
world’s cocaine trade
– Coca leave chewed by indians in the highlands
to endure long hours of work in the mines and
relieve pangs of hunger
– Coca plant only takes 1 year to produce product
vs. fruit trees which take 4-5 years
– Coca profits for cultivators 4-5 times greater
than other cash crops
– Environmental impact of US drug enforcement
Latin America:
Countries and Economies
 Mexico
– most influential country in Middle
America
– unrecognized giant in the region
– eight times larger in size than UK;
elongated territory would stretch from
Wash state to Florida
– huge population of 102 million in 2002;
expected to reach 120 million by 2010is
with the US
– economic relations with US crucial because
2/3’s of its trade is with the US
– Impact of 1994 North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA
 Designed
to promote Mexican economic growth
 Hope of expanded export markets for US, Canada
 Promise of stemming tide of illegal immigration
 Trade between US Mexico has tripled since ’94
 85% of Mexican imports to US
 US concern about loss of jobs in textiles, shoes,
assembly plants
– sensitivity of US Mexico relations because
of disparity in wealth and power, loss of
considerable territory to US in 19th C,
national pride derived from ancient
civilizations Aztec and Mayan
 Geographic
Influences of the past
– advanced civilizations influenced present
settlement pattern around Mexico City and
Yucatan
– Spanish conquerors sought out indians as
laborers and potential Christian converts
– Aztec empire destroyed by Hernando Cortez in
1521
– establishment of an Hispanic pattern of lifeSpanish language, culture, architectural styles
– rectangular grid with plaza and church in town
center
– Spanish aristocracy monopolized power,
wealth, prestige, education
– best lands to wealthy Spanish owners who
established large haciendas
– turbulence of 19th C with bloody revolution
from 1810-21; Mexican empire, loss of Texas,
California, New Mexico and Arizona
– despotic rule under Porfirio Diaz as
population sank deeper into poverty, foreign
investment poured into railroads, oil, mining,
manufacturing
– Mexican Revolution in 1910 ushered in era of
reform, many huge haciendas broken up, land
redistribution
– dominance of the PRI (Independent
Revolutionary Party) until election of
Vincente Fox
– More market oriented economic policies
 Immigration
Problems
– US Mexican border over 2,000 miles long
– Over 1 million immigrants/year make way into
US territory
– Illegal immigrants send back $6-8 billion per
year to Mexico
– Fox plans for reintroduction of Bracero
Program
– Immigration concerns in US- terrorism,
competition for jobs, inundation of US culture
Mexico: Physical Map
 Regions
of Mexico
– Central Mexico
 core
region of Mexico
 half of Mexican population lives in high basic
between Guadalajara in northwest to Puebla in
southeast
 elevations from 5,000 to 9,000 feet
 center of basins are flat in swampy land with
people living up slopes of hills
 Mexico City build on an island in a shallow salt
lake, subsequently drained (subsidence of land and
buildings, geological faults underneath)
 pollution from automobiles and industry
 temperature
inversions in Mexico City
 relentless flow of migrants, unemployment, low
wages
 modern subway system
 manufacturing center and business and industrial
center
– Northern Mexico
 rugged
and arid terrain
 ranching economy with sparse population
 source of timber
 larger landholdings in north
 metals, coal, zinc, copper, silver, gold
 irrigated agriculture near Rio Grande
 cotton, fruits and winter vegetables for US market
 maquiladora
program to attract foreign investment
in border areas like Tijuana, Cuidad Juarez,
Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros
 import components without customs duties,
utilization of cheap labor to assemble component
parts, then export back to US
 illegal alien problems (1.5 million Mexicans cross
US border every year)
 valuable oil and gas reserves
 government monopoly PEMX
 US largest foreign customer
 natural gas pipelines to US
 major foreign borrowings for Mexican
development and declining oil revenues led to
major economic problems in 80’s and 90’s
– Southern Mexico
 resembles
Central America more than rest of
Mexico
 remote area, lightly populated
 subsistence farmers who grow maize on hillsides
 overgrazing sheep produces environment
problems
 tourism around Acapulco, hastily built hotels,
pollution of bays from lack of sanitary facilities in
the shantytowns near Acapulco
 New industrial development (iron steel complexes)
near La Union
– Chiapas and Yucatan
 center
of native American cultures
 tourism around Cancun
 Destruction of Mexico’s natural beauty due to
coastal development in Yucatan
 Cacao, sugar cane and rubber
 refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador
 civil disturbance, guerrilla warfare, human rights
problems, disillusion with central government
 Brazil
– “Brazil is a country of the future and it always will
be.”
– future promise of Brazil never seems to live up to
its potential.
– tremendous potential as a country if it can put its
political and economic house in order
 Diverse
Population
– largest population in Latin America with 1/3 of
total Latin American population
– Brazil’s populations is 170 million with 53% white;
22% mulatto; 11% black; 12% mestizo
– small resident Japanese population
– Spanish, German, Russian, Polish residents
– unique because people speak Portuguese not
Spanish
 Geographic
Regions
– Brazilian highlands
 south
of Amazon to Uruguay border
 hills and river valleys
 Great Escarpment-difficult to get to interior
 tropical savanna climate with grass, scattered trees an
shrubs
 coffee production dominant earlier but now a more
diversified economy with sugarcane and soybeans
– Atlantic coastal lowlands
 between
Atlantic and Brazilian highlands
 tropical savanna
 first settled by Europeans
 port cities of Salvador, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Porto
Alegre
– Amazon lowland
 inland
along both sides of Amazon
 tropical rain forest with annual flooding
 very underdeveloped region
 migration of people to region as a result of new roads
with augment air and river transport
 ecological concerns with destruction of rain forest,
destruction of species, slash and burn agriculture,
mining and lumbering
Amazon
lowlands
Brazilian
Highlands
Atlantic
coastlands
 Boom
Bust Economy
– Sugarcane era in 16th C
 large
exports to Europe utilizing slave labor from
Africa
 great profits initially, following by decline due to
stiff competition from other parts of Latin America
and Caribbean
– Gold and Diamonds 18th C
 gold
and diamonds discovered in highlands north
and northwest of Sao Paulo
 Brazil produced 1/3 of world’s gold in 18th C
 moved
by pack animals over poor roads
 decline in production by 19th C
– Rubber boom in 19th C
 centered
around port city of Manaus
 vulcanization process by Charles Goodyear in 1839
stimulated demand
 rubber prices skyrocketed, fortunes made in Brazil
 boom ended when British smuggled rubber seeds
out of Brazil to Southeast Asia and West Africa
where better conditions existed for plantations
 fragile soil could not sustain plantation agriculture
– Coffee boom 19th C
 growing
world market for coffee in West
 ideal climatic conditions, good soil in Brazilian
highlands
 railroads linking producing areas to Atlantic
around Sao Paulo and Santos
 bust in coffee prices by 1910, competition from
Columbia which undercut prices
 Economic
Development since WWII
– rapid development since 1945
– military government in 1964 opened country
to foreign investment by multinational
corporations
– huge investments in infrastructure programs,
road construction, Trans-Amazon Highway
– development of new capital city of Brazilia in
1957 to pull population inland
– expansion of sugar, citrus, soybeans for export
– new industrial age in 80’s producing textiles,
steel, machinery, automobiles, trucks, ships,
chemicals, plastics and a thriving weapons
industry
– General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Fiat,
Renault and Hyundai all operate automobile
factories in Brazil
– commercial aircraft, military aircraft, missiles
and tanks sold to Latin American customers
– largest industrial core region around Sao Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro
– secondary industrial region developing around
Manaus in Amazon basin
– free trade zone around Manaus to attract foreign
investment, import materials without tariffs,
exports to world markets
– 6,000 new factories established by companies
like Honda, Kodak, Olivetti, Toshiba, Sony and
3M Co.
– utilization of gasohol made from sugar cane
supplying 25% of Brazil fuel needs
– world’s largest hydroelectricity project at
Itaipu on Parana River on border with
Paraguay will supply 20% of all electric power
for Brazil, 100% for Paraguay
– debt problems in the 80’s (Brazil’s foreign
debt amounted to $120 billion US) slowed
growth, necessitated rescheduling debt
payments, high debt payments, high domestic
tariffs to keep out imports.
– political stability remains a key potential
problem
– election of Lula da Silva promised "a new style of
government" and a crusade against hunger,
injustice and corruption
Favela housing in Rio de Janeiro
 Chile
– string bean shape conceals country’s
considerable size (double the size of Germany)
– 2600 miles in length along Pacific Ocean
– only 100-130 miles wide
– high Andes border on east
– struggle with rugged terrain, extreme aridity in
north and wetness in south
– Andes not impassable to east but little traveled
 Regions
of Chile
– Middle Core region
 most
populous region of country
 Mediterranean dry summer climate between 31-37
degrees south latitude
 lower slopes of Andes, hilly central valley and coastal
mountains
 site of southern outpost of Inca Empire occupied by
Spanish in mid 1500’s
 establishment of haciendas by large landowners with
wide differences in income and status
 ranching economy manned by landless cowboys and
subsistence farmers
 intermarriage between Europeans and indians very
common producing a large mestizo society
 wheat
farming and feed crops
 major supplier of high quality fruits and
vegetables for US markets, i.e. apples, pears,
peaches, plums,citrus in off season (Chilean
summer is US winter)
 Chilean wine industry
 rapid urbanization around Santiago (4 million)
Valparaiso main port city and resort (1 million)
and Concepcion (700K)
 75% of Chilean population of 15 million live in
the central core area
– Northern Chile
 Atacama
the earth
Desert one of the driest places on face of
 Chile
captured Atacama Desert in the War of the
Pacific from 1879-83 by defeating Bolivia and Peru.
 war fought over mineral wealth of Atacama, mainly
sodium nitrate used as a fertilizer
 later discoveries of large copper deposits
 world’s largest producer of copper today with
sophisticated refining techniques
– South Chile
 marine
west coast climate, heavy rainfall and cool
temperatures, violent storms
 sparse population in south
 large German population settled in 19th C
 abundant forests, fishing, beef cattle, wheat, hay
and root crops
Northern
region
Core
region
Southern
region
– Political problems
 Marxist
government of Salvador Allende came to
power through democratic elections in 1970;
reformist agenda, land reform, nationalization of
foreign owned mining enterprises
 Chilean military overthrew and killed Allende with
US help; Augusto Pinochet took power
 Allenda murdered; US complicity alleged
 massive human rights violations, diplomatic
isolation
 great repression, but also great economic growth as
multinational corporations were welcomed back to
Chile
 market
reforms opened up Chilean economy and
the economy boomed
 Pinochet surrendered power to a democratically
elected government in 1990 as opposition to his
rule grew
 European human rights case against Pinochet in
England.
 prosperous economy today
 Argentina
– second largest country by area in Latin
America
– third largest population with 37 million
– gained independence in 1816 but remained
sparsely populated until 1870’s when
invention of refrigerated railroad cars and
ships made it possible to ship beef to Europe
– 6 million workers imported from southern
Europe (Spain and Italy mainly) to work on
cattle ranches
Northwest
lowlands
Pampas
Patagonia
– Argentine Agriculture
 Argentine
is a major exporter of agricultural
products to world markets- wheat, corn, soybeans,
and beef
 core area in pampa (plain) south of Buenos Aires
 level, gently rolling plains with hot summers, cool to
warm winters and precipitation of 20-50 inches/year
 gauchos (Argentine cowboys) roamed pampas
tending herds of cattle for market
 ideal agricultural region, grew alfalfa as feed crop
 soils more fertile than most because they have a high
humus content from decomposed grasslands and
blown loess from west
 British financed railroads to ship beef to Europe
 northwest
lowlands good area for cattle ranching
 eastern foot of Andes hotter and dryer than coast
 vineyards and sugarcane grown in western part
of Argentine
 sheep farming also prevalent
– Urban and Industrial Argentine
 indentured
immigrants from 1860-1930 initially
worked the land, later moved to the city in
search of work
 dispossessed farm workers become the
descamisados or “shirtless ones”, gravitated to
Buenos Aires, Rosario, and other cities where
they became an urban proletariat
 worldwide
depression in 30’s severely damaged
Argentina’s economy
 charismatic army leader Juan Peron elected
president in 1945; his wife Eva Peron influential
 Peron was ultranationalist, semi-fascist, distrustful
of democracy, hated communism, and hostile to
free-market economic liberalism
 established authoritarian, repressive regime with
state ownership of large segments of economy
 disastrous consequences for Argentine economy
 huge inflation, capital flight, foreign debt,
unemployment led to Peron’s demise in 1955
 repressive
military governments until 1973 when
Peron returns from exile to take over government
again, dies shortly after this, succeeded by his wife
Isabel de Peron who is ousted by the military in 76
 repressive period in 70’s and 80’s with massive
human rights violations, thousands of people
disappear (los desaparecidos)
 1982 Argentine military moves to take over
Falkland Islands (known as the Malvinas in
Argentine) and are defeated in a disastrous war
Eva Duarte Peron
“Evita”
 unsolved
political and economic problem lead to
establishment of a civilian reform government
under Carlos Menam who sold off inefficient state
enterprises, encouraged foreign investment,
brought down rampant inflation, reestablished
confidence in government
 Argentine economy was doing reasonable well in
the early 90’s, but in 2002 the economy collapsed
bring widespread suffering to the people
– industrial economy
 industrialization
began in 20th C with small scale
consumer industries, agricultural processing
plants, and meat packing plants
 later development of textiles, shoemaking
 light
industry and manufacturing
 most plants are small,inefficient operations that are
not competitive in world markets, supply domestic
market
 Buenos Aires largest city with 12 million; Cordoba
a large oasis inland has 1.2 million
 Argentina making some progress but still not as
prosperous as the poorer European countries