Latin America Study Guide Flashcards
What are llanos?
A tree less grassy plain in Columbia and Venezuela
What is a Tierra Fria?
6,000-12000; cold land; potatoes barely grow
What does indigenous mean?
People descended from an areas first inhabitance; native
What is hydroelectric power?
Energy from power
What is an altiplano?
high plain in Peru and Bolivia; Andes encircle it
What is a canopy?
Rainforest or dense layer of leaf
What is a dialect?
The way something is spoken
What is a Patois?
A dialect that blends European, African and English
What is a megacity?
A city with more than 10 million people
What is urbanization?
Migration of people from the country into the city
What is a cordillera?
Several ranges that run parallel to one another
What are Pampas?
A place for cattle to graze in Columbia and Venezuela
What is a Tierra caliente?
Hot land; 2,500
What is a Tierra templada?
Temperate land; 2,500-600; has evergreens
What is a mestizo?
The blend of European and Native American
What are shantytowns?
Makeshift communities
What is a campesino?
A peasant farmer
What did the Columbian Exchange involve? (what was traded and spread?)
It involved Europe, Africa and Americans. They transported plants, animals, and diseases
The Europeans who claimed parts of the Americas for Spain were called?
Conquistadors
Who was Simon Bolivar?
A Venezuelan military and political leader who led the countries Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia and Ecuador to be their own countries
Mexicos Sierra Madre mountain ranges surrounds this densely populated area of Mexico… what is it?
Mexican Plateau-mid climate and fertile soil
This is South Americas largest lake and contains some of Venezuelas most important oil fields…what is it?
Lake Maracaibo
What river forms part of the border between Mexico and the United States?
The Rio Grande
A(n)—– is a place where an ocean tide meets a river current
Estuary
Shifting winds and the Cold Peru ocean current have combined to create this area in South America…what is ti?
It gets dry
Hundred of smaller rivers join the Amazon River as it flows to the Atlantic Ocean to form this basin…what is it?
The eastern highlands of South America
Which Caribbean islands have political links to the United States?
Puerto Rico
Name 3 mountain ranges of Latin America
Andes, Sierra, Cordillera Occidental
What is the Latin Americas most distinctive feature?
The mountains
Why is the Panama Canal so important to Latin America?
Its quick to export cargo
Name the countries of Central America
Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize
Name the countries of South America
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
In the Amazon rain forest in Brazil, this is the leading cause of deforestation…
Ranching and farming
Most Argentinians today are descended from which groups of people?
Spainards and Italians
Name the ancient Inca town in the Andes
Machu Pichu
