Latin-Based Languages Spoken in these Countries Spanish Portuguese French English Spoken in Belize and Guyana; Dutch in Suriname.

Latin-Based Languages Spoken in these Countries

•Spanish

•Portuguese

•French

English Spoken in Belize and Guyana; Dutch in Suriname

Major Cities of Latin America

• Mexico City

• Rio de Janiero

• São Paulo

• Buenos Aires

• Caracas

• Santiago

• Lima

Culture of Latin America

• Latin America is a mixture of indigenous, African, and Iberian cultures.

• Immigrants from Northern Europe and Asia also add to this mix.

Iberian Peninsula

Mexico City• Originally the capital of the Aztec Empire

Tenochtitlan, which was built on an island in Lake Texcoco.

• These people called themselves the ‘Mexica’

• The Spanish built Mexico City on the former Aztec capital and drained the lake

Mexico City• The largest metropolis in the western

hemisphere is the Federal District of Mexico with 8.8 million people

• New York has just over 8 Million people

Aztec Cities

• There was a rectangular public plaza in the center of the city that was bordered with civic and religious buildings. 

• Outside this central area were schools, dwellings, and markets

Aztec Temples• Used for sacrifices

and prayers to specific gods

• Blood was offered to the gods

• Human blood was offered to the gods from the large pyramid temples

• Huitzilopochtli was the main Aztec god

• 8th richest city in the world

• Richest city in Latin America

• Provides many industrial jobs and many service sector jobs

African Culture in Latin America

• Most of the indigenous people of the Americas died from disease and would not work for the Europeans

• Europeans traded with African Kingdoms for slaves to work in the ‘New World’

• Portugal and Brazil imported over 3 million africans from the 1500’s-1800’s

African influence in Brazil

• Afro-Brazilians are mainly Christian but many are followers of Candomblé, which is an animist religion derived from african traditions

• Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil which was created by the African population of Brazil.

African influence in Brazil

• Brazil’s music and dance has a heavy African influence.

– Samba, bossa nova, and Capoeira are all styles that originated in Brazil’s african population

BRAZILIAN RAINFOREST

• Brazil houses 30 percent of the remaining tropical rain forest on Earth .

• 50,000 square miles of rain forest were lost to deforestation between 2000 and 2005

Deforestation

• The National Cancer Institute estimates that 70 percent of the anti-cancer plants identified so far are rain forest plants.

Deforestation of the rainforest

• The rain forest is nearly self-watering. Plants release water into the atmosphere through a process called transpiration.

• In the tropics, each canopy tree can release about 200 gallons

• Without the rainforest the area would suffer severe erosion and drought.

Rio de Janiero

• Rio de Janiero was founded on 1 January 1502 and named ‘river of January’

• The economy is service and business based

• Second wealthiest city in Brazil

•Home to shipbuilding, oil refineries and Petrobras, Brazil’s oil company that is partly owned by the Brazilian government

•In 2006 Petrobras discovered lots of oil off the coast of Brazil

•This has lead to an increase of oil business in Rio de Janiero

São Paulo

• Largest and most wealthy city in Brazil• Made its wealth from the coffee plantations

nearby• Outgrew Rio de Janiero because of its quick

industrialization and immigrant workers

Buenos Aires• Capitol of Argentina and

2nd largest city in South America

• Busiest port in South America

• Located on the Plata river which connects Uruguay, Paraguay and inland parts of southern Brazil to the Atlantic

Immigration in Buenos Aires

•Many immigrants from Spain and Italy

•Northern European countries like Germany, Netherlands, Britain, Scandinavia, and Czechoslovakia because of the mild climate

•In 1895, immigrants accounted for 52% of Buenos Aires’ population

FAVELAS• Favelas are the slums in Brazil

• When slaves were emancipated in Brazil they moved outside the large cities

• As Brazil became industrialized poorer people moved to the cities and lived in the favelas too.

SLUMSrun-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in security

Urban poverty and the environment

• 420 million people worldwide do not have access to the simplest latrines. This leads to death and disease.

• Water and air pollution endangers the poor and leads to famine and illness

The affects of the wealthy•  An urban dweller in New York consumes

approximately three times more water and generates eight times more garbage than does a resident of Bombay.

• The massive energy demand of wealthy cities contributes a major share of greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainable Development

• Development that meets the needs of today without risking the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Results of unsustainable development

Sustainable Development

• To stop desertification in Patagonia, the government of Argentina began a sustainable cattle raising program

• In an effort to reduce emissions (air pollution) Mexico has began to use wind power

Overgrazing in Patagonia

Mexico’s Wind Power

I. Landforms and Resources of Latin America

–A. general information• Stretches 7,000 miles from Mexico to the

southern tip of South America

• Covers part of North America, all of Central and South America, and the Caribbean Islands

• B. Andes Mountains

–1. Part of a chain of mountains that run through North, central, and South America

•a. Rockies in the U.S.

•b. Andes in South America

Sierra Madre

Andes

•2. Caused settlements to be made from North and East

•3. Home of Incan civilization in Peru

• C. Plains–1. Llanos

•a. grassy, treeless plains•b. used for grazing and farming

•c. located in Columbia and Venezuela

•d. similar to Great Plains in U.S.

•2. Cerrados

–a. flat terrain used for farming

–b. located in the Amazon River Basin in Brazil

• 3. Pampas–a. grasslands with rich soil–b. used for grazing and farming of grains (similar to Great Plains in North America)

–c. Located in Argentina and Uruguay

Rivers• South America

–a. Orinoco River•(1) South America’s northern most river system

•(2) flows 1,500 miles along the Columbia-Venezuela border

Amazon River–(1) flows 4,000 miles from West to East emptying into Atlantic

–(2) empties more water than next 7 largest in the world combined

–(3) 2nd longest river in the world–(4) flows in Northern Brazil

Parana River

–(1) travels from Brazil south and west through Paraguay and Argentina

–(2) 3,000 miles long

• II. Climate and vegetation

–A. varied climate

•1. Hot and humid Amazon River Basin

•2. Dry and desert-like Mexico and Chile

•3. Rain forest, desert, and savanna all in this region

•B. varied vegetation

–1. Rain forests

–2. Grasslands

–3. Desert shrub

• C. reasons for variations

–1. Spans a great distance on each side of equator

–2. Big changes in elevation

–3. Warm currents of Atlantic and cold currents of Pacific affect climate

• III. Human-Environment Interaction–A. slash-and-burn

•1. Used to clear fields for farming

•2. Cut trees, bushes, and grasses–a. ashes fertilize the soil

•3. One reason for the shrinking rain forest

• B. Terraced Farming

–1. Used for growing crops on hillsides

–2. Technique reduces soil erosion

–3. Cut step-like horizontal fields into hillsides

• C. Urbanization

–1. People move to the cities to improve their lives

–2. Leave villages for better jobs, education, and medical care

• 3. Push and pull factors–a. push factors push people to leave rural areas•(1) poor medical care, poor education, no jobs

–b. pull factors draw people to the city•(1) better medical care, education, better jobs