Latin America Geography Flashcards
Middle America
an area culturally distinct from North America but physically part of it
boundaries of Latin America
- Rio Grande
- Tierra del Fuego
how much of population speaks Spanish? what does remaining speak?
2/3; Portuguese
most popular religion
catholic
biggest environmental concerns
- deforestation
- loss of biodiversity
grassification
the conversion of tropical forest into pasture
urban environmental challenges
- air pollution (bad smog in Mexico)
- water resources (lots of pollution)
- sinking land (pumping water)
shield
large upland areas of very old exposed rocks that range in elevation
beginning and end of Andes
- northwestern Venezuela
- Tierra del Fuego
amazon basin
largest river system in world by volume and area
El Niño
an abnormally large warm current that appears off the coast of Ecuador and Peru in December
- torrential rain
climate in Latin America
tropical & humid
% of population in cities
75%
urban primacy
a condition in which a country has a primate city 3-4x larger than any other city in the county
squatter settlements
makeshift housing on land not legally owned or rented by urban migrants
what is rural to urban migration?
peasants pouring into the cities of Latin America
latifunda
the long-observed practice of maintaining large estates
mestizo
people of mixed Indian and European ancestry
what country does most of the Asian population in Latin America come from?
japan
technoctitlan
the political and ceremonial center of the Aztecs
countries with largest indigenous populations
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- Ecuador
- Peru
- Bolivia
macho picchu
Incan site; shows evidence of the complexity of pre-contact civilizations
Treaty of Tordesillas
a treaty signed in 1494 between Spain and Portugal that drew a north-south line
trade block
a regional trade alliance formed in an effort to promote internal markets and reduce trade barriers
