Latin America

1
Latin America

• Geography, History, and Culture

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The Physical Geography of Mexico and Central
America

• Stretches 2,500 miles from the US border to South
  America
• Mountains dominate
• Mexicos Central Plain
• Between Mountains
• Makes up ½ of the country
• Most people live here

• Isthmus of Central America
• Connects Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea
• Coastal Plains
• Narrow
• Volcanic provides good soil for farming

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Sierra Madre Occidental, Durango, Mexico
http//www.geo-images.com/copper/divis/div2vw.jpg
Copper Canyon (Mexico)
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageDSCK0456.JPG
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Panama Canal
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image42-16719625.jpg
A comercial ship run through the Pedro Miguel
Locks in the Pacific side.
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The Physical Geography of the Caribbean

• Made up of two types of Islands Skeleton and
  underwater Mountains
• Underwater Mountains
• People make a living from farming because soil is
  so good
• Skeleton Islands
• Smaller
• Coral made up of skeletons of dead sea animals

Cat Island, Bahamas
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The Physical Geography of South America

• Many Types of Landforms
• Andes Mountains
• Run 1500 Miles along Western Coast
• Rich soil for farming
• Very steep
• Rolling Highlands East
• Amazon River Basin
• Home to the Worlds largest rain forest 1/3 of
  the continent
• Pampas South
• Large plain that stretches through Argentina and
  Paraguay

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Andes Mountains between Chile and Argentina
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageAndes_Chile_Arg
entina.jpg
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Pampas
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageCIMG5091.JPG
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The Rivers of South America
Mouth of the Amazon River

• Some of the longest and largest in the world
• Used for transportation when roads are not
  available
• Provide fish and hydroelectric power

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageAmazon-river-de
lta-NASA.jpg
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The Rivers of South America - 2

• Amazon
• Worlds 2nd Largest 7,000 miles
• Carries 20 of the worlds river water
• Has 1,000 tributaries
• Drains an area of more than 2 million sq miles
• Rio de la Plata
• Formed by the Parana, Paraguay, and Uruguay
  rivers
• Separates Argentina and Paraguay

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Amazon River
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageAmazon_river_ba
sin.png
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Rio de la Plata
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageRiver_Plate.jpg
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Climate

• Tropical Wet
• Hot humid, rainy weather all year round
• Rainforest will be in this area
• Tropical Wet and Dry
• Hot, rainy, but not all year
• Parts of Mexico, Brazil, and most of the
  Caribbean
• Humid Subtropical
• Similar to Southern US
• Crops grow well here
• Patagonia
• Arid and cold
• Sheep raised here

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Natural Resources

• Mexico
• tons of minerals silver, gold, copper, coal,
  iron ore
• Large amounts of oil and natural gas
• Trees for lumber and paper products
• Central America
• Good climate and soil for farming
• Coffee, cotton, sugarcane, bananas, and cacao
  trees
• Fish and shellfish
• Hydroelectric power

• South America
• Oil found, esp. Venezuela
• Plants and fish
• Forests cover about ½ of the continent
• Rich soil coffee and other crops flourish
• Caribbean
• Rich soil and good climate for farming
• Sugarcane, bananas, coffee, cacao, and citrus
  fruits

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Natural Resources and the Economy

• Not all countries have a natural resource
• Some countries dont have the money to develop
  their resources
• Weather can cause problems as it can affect the
  supply

• Prices of resources can go down
• Plant disease can lower the amount of crop raised
  
• Oil Dependence can be risky as prices change,
  natural disasters can affect supply

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Early Civilizations - Mayans

• Mayan Civilization and Culture
• In Mexico and Central America
• Lasted from 300-900AD
• Most important crop was maize
• Built great cities that were also religious
  centers
• Copan Honduras
• Tikal Guatemala

• Science, Technology and Religion
• Hieroglyphics system of picture writing
• Number system similar to present day decimal
  system
• Mayan Priests
• Study the planets and stars
• Designed and accurate calendar

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Mystery of the Mayans

• AD 900, the Mayans left their cities
• No one knows why
• Their descendants are still living in Mexico,
  Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador

Palenque Ruins
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImagePalenque_Ruins.
jpg
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http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageMayan_Jade_.jpg
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImagePalenque_Relief
.jpg
Relief from Palenque
Mayan Jade Carving
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Aztecs

• Arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the 1100s
• Found a permanent home in 1523 on an island in
  Lake Texacoco city called Tenochtitlan
• 1400s Aztecs conquered other people and forced
  them to pay a tribute.
• Tribute a tax
• Helped Aztecs grow rich

• Science and Technology
• Aztec Doctors made over 1000 medicines from
  plants
• Astronomers predicted eclipses and the movements
  of the planets
• Priests kept records using Hieroglyphics

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Aztec Calendar
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageCalendC3A1rio
_Asteca.jpg
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The Incas

• About 1200, they settled in Cuzco
• In the Andes which is now Peru
• Most were farmers who grew maize
• Got control of entire Cuzco Valley through wars
• Valley stretched over 2,500 Miles

• Accomplishments
• Cuzco center of government, trade, learning, and
  religion
• Built over 19,000 miles of roads with most over
  very steep mountains
• Increased crop production by building stone
  terraces into the slopes of the mountains
• Built aqueducts

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Machu-PicchuLost City of the Incas
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageMachu-Picchu.jp
g
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European Exploration

• 1400s Spain and Portugal searching for new
  trade routes to Asia
• 1492 Columbus thought he had found India,
  instead he found the Americas
• Spain and Portugal became rivals over land in the
  Americas

• Treaty of Tordesillas
• Signed in 1494 through urging of the pope
• Line of Demarcation of 50 Longitude
• Spain got land West of Line
• Portugal got land East of Line
• Why Brazil is Portugals only colony in South
  America

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Spain in the New World

• Conquistadors and Land
• Spain would give them the right to hunt for
  treasure in these new lands
• They would give Spain one fifth of what they
  found
• They could use ANY means to get their treasure

http//christianvolt.blogs.friendster.com/photos/a
rt_exhibits/conquistadors.html
Oil Painting by Alfredo P. Alcala
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Hernando Cortes

• 1519 went to Mexican Coast in search of treasure
• Aztec thought the Spanish were gods
• Moctezuma emperor
• Welcomed Spanish
• Peace did not last
• He ended up being killed

• Spanish teamed up with an Aztec Rival
• Able to surround the city
• Aztecs surrended in 1521

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Hernando Cortes
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageCortes-Hernando
-LOC.jpg
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Francisco Pizarro

• Heard the tales of the wealth of the Incas
• 1531 set sail with 180 soldiers
• Captured and killed emperor
• 1535 conquered most of the empire including the
  capital

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageFranciscopizarr
o.jpeg
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Spain Conquers the Empires of Latin America

• Only took 15 years
• Had guns, cannons, and horses
• European diseases wiped out villages

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Spanish Colonization

• 1540s Spain had land from Kansas down through
  South America except Brazil
• Three classes of people
• Spanish
• Mestizos
• Native Americans

• Spain gave its settlers the right to demand taxes
  or labor from the Native Americans
• Many died from overwork, malnutrition, and
  diseases
• - Population went from 25 million in 1519 down
  to 3 million in 50 years

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Independence in Mexico

• Begin in 1810
• Miguel Hidalgo a priest from Dolores begin
  planning a revolution
• His plan was found out by the Spanish, but he
  acted anyway
• He called for the people to take back their land
  from the Spaniards

• The revolutionaries won some battles, but by 1811
  were in full retreat
• Hidalgo was captured and executed in 1811 for
  treason
• Some kept fighting and in 1821, the Spanish were
  defeated and Mexican Independence was declared

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Simón Bolívar

• One of the greatest Latin America revolutionary
  leaders
• Originally joined fight for Venezuelan
  independence he would become the leader
• By 1822 had freed Gran Columbia (Columbia,
  Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama) and became
  President

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageSimon_Bolivar.j
pg
32
Jose de San Martin

• Began helping with Argentinas independence in
  1817
• Took his troops through the Andes in Chile and
  completely surprised the Spanish
• Declared Chile independent and then turned
  attention to Peru

• In July 1821, did another surprise attack (from
  the sea) and captured Lima
• Met up with Bolivar to discuss independence for
  the rest of the countries, but gave up his
  command
• Bolivar continued and by 1825 only Cuba and
  Puerto Rico still ruled by Spain

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Jose de San Martin
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageSmartin.JPG
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Brazil and Independence

• Early 1800s, France invaded Portugal and king
  fled to Brazil
• King returned to Portugal in 1821 and left his
  son, Dom Pedro, in charge
• 1822 Dom Pedro declared Brazil independent
• Portugal recognized independence 3 years later

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageDompedro-II.jpg
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Economic Issues

• 1900s foreign countries began investing in
  Latin America
• Foreign Companies ended up with a lot of economic
  power
• They would make money
• The people of Latin America did not benefit from
  this

• To improve their economic situation, they began
  building their own factories
• 1970s things were improving
• 1980s the price of oil needed to run factories
  rose while the price of products dropped
• They had to borrow money and now were in debt

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Economic Issues - 2

• Now, Latin America countries do limit how much
  foreign countries can invest to avoid losing
  control of their economy
• They also trade with one another to get items
  that they need cheaper