Mapping Central and South America

Mapping Central and South America

Lake Titicaca

• At 12,500 ft above sea level in the Andes Mountains

• Part of the Peru-Bolivia Border

• Legendary birthplace of the Inca

Sierra Madre Oriental

• Eastern part of main mountain range of Mexico.

• Begins just south of the Rio Grande near the US and runs SE for 700 miles.

Rio Grande

• 1885 miles long• Runs from Colorado to

the Gulf of Mexico• Shallow and steep!• Dams and reservoirs

Orinoco River

• Flows along Venezuela Colombia border to Atlantic

Amazon River – The River Sea

• 3900 miles from Andes to Atlantic

• Second longest river• Largest river by water

volume• Passes through largest

rain forest in the world!• Provides ½ of world’s

oxygen!

Atacama Desert

• Northern Chile to Peruvian border

• Andes mountains and Pacific Ocean border

• Virtually no vegetation for 600miles!

Pampas

• Grassy Argentine plains• 300,000 sq. mi to

Uruguay• Cattle grazing and

farming

Patagonia

• 300,000 sq. mi. (again) region of Argentina

• Semi-arid plateau (high and dry flatlands)

• Ends to east at Atlantic• Sheep!

Teotihuacan, Valley of Mexico

• NE side of Valley of Mexico

• Major Aztec city 350-750 AD

• Includes Temple of the Sun, Avenue of the Dead

• Plains area with wide shallow lakes

Chichen Itza, Yucatan Peninsula

• Yucatan separates Gulf of Mexico from Caribbean Sea

• Capital of the Toltec (Mayan conquerors 987AD)

• Tropical climate

Machu Picchu, Andes Mts, Peru

• Inca sacred place OR vacation retreat

• Steep hills terraced for agriculture

• World’s longest and 2nd tallest (22,000 ft) mountain range

• Run along entire west side of continent