Unit 1 Flashcards
a vast area of grassland and rich soil in south-central South America
Pampas
a large system of mountain ranges located along the pacific coast of central and South America
Andes mountains
A forest region located in the tropical zone with a heavy concentration of different species of broadleaf trees
Rainforest
A way of clearing fields for planting by cutting trees, brush, and grasses and burning them
Slash-and-burn farming
An ancient technique for growing crops on hillsides or mountains, slopes using step like horizontal fields cut into the slopes
Terraced farming
A factor that draws or attracts people to another location
Pull factor
Factor that causes people to leave their homelands and migrate to another region
Push factor
The basic support system needed to keep an economy going, including power, communication, transportation, water, sanitation and education systems
Infrastructure
An important trade agreement creating a huge zone of cooperation on trade and economic issues in North America
NAFTA
Factory in Mexico that assembles imported materials into finished goods for export
Maquiladora
Style of music that began in Trinidad in combines musical elements from Africa, Spain, and the Caribbean
Calypso
A style of music that developed in Jamaica in the 1960s and is rooted in Africa, Caribbean, and American music often dealing with social problems in religion
Reggae
The variety of organisms within an economy
biodiversity
A debt- Reducing deal where in an organization agrees to pay off a certain amount of government debt in return for government protection of a certain portion of rain forest
Debt-for-nature swap
The cutting down and clearing away of trees and forest
Deforestation
A government run by a few persons or small group
Oligarchy
A government run by generals after military takeover
Junta
A military dictator or political boss
Caudillo
Who is Simon bolivar and why is he important
He was a general who led South American wars of independence against Spain
He won a great victory against the Spanish
What is the length in miles of South America
7000 miles
What are the names given to the Andes mountains and where are they located
Sierra madre, teh Andes, the Rockies
The western portion of north, central, and South America
What countries do the Orinoco, Amazon, and parana River run through
Orinoco- Venezuela and Colombia
Amazon- Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil
Parana- Paraguay and Uruguay
How long are the Orinoco, Amazon, parana River
- 1500 miles
- 4000 miles
- 3000 miles
What directions do the Orinoco, Amazon, and parana rivers run
-
-west to east
-
What three groups with the Caribbean islands
Bahamas
greater Antilles
lesser Antilles
What are the greater Antilles made of
Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico
What are names of the lesser Antilles
Windward islands
Leeward islands
South America is the leading continent of exporting what
Raw material
What resources do Venezuela/Mexico, Brazil, and Trinidad produce
- oil
- hydroelectric power
- methanol and ammonia
What are the 3 highest urbanized countries in South America
Argentina, Brazil, chile
What is the highest populated city in South/Latin America
Mexico City
Why does South American soil become exhausted
South America doesn’t use crop rotation to put nutrients back in the soil
What are some of the best things about tourism vs negative effects
Best things: they spend money and that is helping create jobs
Negative things: hotel owners don’t live in the same place as their hotels, so they make bad decisions for their employees. They just want to make money so they treat their employees bad. Pollution also increases
Who is Cortes
Spanish conquistador
He conquered the Aztec empire in 1519 and built Mexico City
What did the Aztec think Cortes was and why
They thought he was a God because they thought the Spanish word Gods
What happened to the Aztec
Cortes and his soldiers conquered the Aztec
What is Tenochtitlán and what is it today
The ancient capital of the Aztec
Sit of Mexico City today
What are the cartel
A group that fights between gangs
How have the cartel affected Mexico’s government
They spend more money on trying to stop all the violence
What is the Panama Canal
a ship cut through panama connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific ocean
How did the Aztec get to South America
Descendants of people who may have crossed land bridge from Siberia to Alaska and eventually found their way down to South America
What is the span of the Incan Empire
2500 miles along the west coast of South America
They had about 20000 mile road
What are three global resources the rain forest gives to the environment
It’s vegetation helps to clean the earths atmosphere
Regulate the climate
Shelter to several million species
What are effects natives are having on the rainforest
Land and pollution
They clear the rain forest
The pollution increases
How has deforestation led to global warming
Common method for clearing the rainforest, know as slash-and-burn, produces carbon dioxide and other harmful gases
