Exam 1: Latin America

Question 1

What major types of landforms do we find in Latin America?

Answer 1

• High mountains
• Upland plateaus (shields)
• River basins

Question 2

Historically, where have the most important areas of settlement been found in tropical Latin America,
and how is that different from what we might expect?

Answer 2

In tropical areas, the most significant settlement areas have been found across shields and mountain
valleys (not along river

Question 3

How does climate vary throughout the region?

Answer 3

• Tropical areas see minimal seasonal
  change in temperature, but have
  distinct wet and dry seasons
• Midlatitude climates are found in
  Argentina, Uruguay, and parts of
  Paraguay and Chile
• Desert climates are found along the
  Pacific coasts of Peru and Chile and in
  Patagonia, northern Mexico, and the
  state of Bahia in Brazil

Question 4

What factors may impair Latin America’s ability to adapt to climate change? What are major immediate
and longer-term concerns?

Answer 4

• Poverty, inequality, population growth, and land use change all impede the region’s ability to adapt to climate change
• Greatest immediate concerns include
  agricultural productivity, access to water, melting glaciers in the Andes,
  composition and productivity of
  ecosystems, and incidence of vector-
  borne diseases (e.g., malaria, dengue
  fever)
• Long-term impacts are less clear; some areas may experience more rainfall while others experience less

Question 5

Why are tropical rainforests so important?

Answer 5

biodiversity

Question 6

What are some of the largest contributors to deforestation? What is grassification?

Answer 6

Expansion of beef and soy
production has been a significant
contributor to rainforest deforestation

• Grassification: converting forests into
  pasture

Question 7

What are some differences in population distribution between Central and South America?

Answer 7

Major population clusters of C. America and Mexico are in interior plateaus and valleys, whereas interior lowlands of S. America are relatively empty

Question 7

What proportion of the region’s population is urban today? Why is this different than what we might
expect?

Question 8

What criteria determine whether a city is a primate city?

Answer 8

primate cities:
* Definition: when the largest city in a country has at least twice the population and at least twice
the significance of the next-largest city

Question 9

What are some key elements of the Latin American city model?

Answer 9

• Core is CBD
• Elite commercial spine
• Middle & Lower Class

Question 10

How have we seen population growth rates in L. America change over time?

Answer 10

High growth rates throughout the 20th
century due to natural increase as well as immigration

Question 11

What effect did the Columbian exchange have on indigenous populations?

Answer 11

Within 150 years native populations were reduced to 1/10 their original size
* Influenza, smallpox, warfare, forced labor, and starvation among
major contributors

Question 12

What are the 4 broad racial categories found in Latin America? Which group tends to be highly represented among the elites? Is this the same group that makes up most of the population?

Answer 12

1. Blanco (European heritage)
2. Mestizo (mixed heritage)
3. Indio (indigenous heritage)
4. Negro (African heritage)
   * Blancos continue to be well-represented among the elites, but
   the vast majority of the population is of mixed ancestry

Question 12

What is the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino/a?

Answer 12

“Hispanic” refers to people with ancestry from Spanish-speaking countries, while “Latino/a” refers to people with ancestry from Latin America

Question 13

What types of exports has the region typically specialized in? Why is this potentially not the best
long-term development strategy?

Answer 13

• nat. resources
• Commodity prices can be highly volatile; also not all resources are easily replenished

Question 14

Why were neoliberal policies introduced in the 1990s unpopular in many cases?

Answer 14

seemed elites have to benefit the most

Question 15

What is the difference between formal and informal labor?

Answer 15

• Formal = taxed, measured, regulated, “above board”, usually licit
  (legal)
• Informal= not taxed, hard to measure, “under the table”, can be
  licit or illicit

Question 16

What are remittances?

Answer 16

money sent back to families from workers located elsewhere

Question 17

What is dollarization, and why might a country do this (in full or in part)? What is a major disadvantage?

Answer 17

when a country adopts the US dollar instead of (or in addition to) its own currency
* Reduces inflation and fears of currency devaluation and facilitates
trade, but you lose control of your own monetary policy

Question 18

How does wealth inequality in L. America compare to the rest of the world, and why is this potentially
undesirable? What are some major contributing factors?

Answer 18

-Wealth inequality is estimated to be among the highest in the world
* Roots extend back to the colonial era; recent contributing factors include technological change and neoliberal policies

Question 19

Why is widespread corruption a big problem?

Answer 19

Endemic corruption hampers economic
growth and trust in society

Question 20

Historically, where have most Latin American migrants to North America come from? How has that
changed over time?

Answer 20

Previously the majority of Latin American migrants to N. America came from Mexico; increasingly migrants are also coming from Central America and Venezuela

Question 21

Why do we prefer the term “undocumented” over “illegal”?

Answer 21

people themselves cannot be illegal

Question 22

What are some major obstacles to legal migration for Latin American migrants?

Answer 22

-lack of proof of residence, financial barriers, language

Question 23

What was the “Prevention through Deterrence” program? Did it achieve the desired effect?

Answer 23

program implemented in 1994 aimed to reduce unlawful entry by funneling people through dangerous desert corridors
* Instead: deaths increased

Question 24

What are push and pull factors in migration?

Answer 24

“push factors” are the negative conditions in a person’s home country that drive them to leave, like poverty, violence, lack of job opportunities, or political persecution, while “pull factors” are the positive aspects of a destination country that attract migrants, such as better economic prospects, higher wages, better quality of life, or family reunification opportunities.