LATIN AMERICA is a culture region. The people in this region have

1
The next unit of study is Latin America.
Why wouldnt we study North and South America as
units?
LATIN AMERICA is a culture region. The people in
this region have culture in common.
The geographic boundaries of Latin America are
2
Physical Features
The Andes creates a barrier that separates the
west coast of SA from the rest of the continent.
Most of Latin America lies between Tropic of
Cancer Tropic of Capricorn
That means the average temperature is?
HOT!
Why are a number of latitudes important?
Climate zones
3
The longest mountain system in the world is
found in Latin America.
The Andes Mountains stretch about 7,000 miles
along the west coast of South America.
4
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on
Earth. It may go hundreds of years without rain
in some regions.
5
While the cultures of the region are similar, a
few countries do speak languages such as
Portuguese, French, and English.
The largest country in Latin America speaks
Why?
6
The people of Puerto Rico have both an African
and Spanish/Indian heritage. Name the country
the people of Puerto Rico are citizens of
Did you know? Puerto Rico actually fields their
own teams in international competitions like the
Olympics.
7
Latin America is a region based on two cultural
factors
LANGUAGE Most countries speak Spanish
8
The second common cultural component is religion.
All the countries are Christian and
overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.
Religion and language were brought to the New
World by the Spanish and Portuguese.
9
The four sub-regions of Latin America include
Mexico
Central America (called Middle America in your
textbook.)
10
The Caribbean Islands.
The sub-regions of Latin America also include
11
Before Columbus (pre-Columbian) arrived, the
Americas had a number of advanced cultures and
empires.
The Aztecs built a powerful empire based on
brutal conquest and human sacrifice.
12
The Mayans built great cities in the Yucatan in
Mexico and in Guatemala. They disappeared
around 1500.
13
Machu Pichu
The Incas of South America built a vast empire.
How did geography affect the location and
communication in their empire?
14
How were the ancient Indians (including the Inca)
able to grow food in the Andes?
They terraced down the side of the mountains to
create flat spaces to grow crops.
7 mins
15
The future of the Americas was changed
dramatically when an Italian navigator, using
calculations made by Ptolemy some 1600 years
before, attempted to sail west to reach the
east and find a new route for spices and other
riches.

16
Since both countries were exploring the New
World, the Pope drew a line that divided the
region to be explored between Spain and Portugal.
17
While most of Latin America came under the
domination of Spain, several European countries
claimed islands in the Caribbean.
18
(No Transcript)
19
The European advantages in technology proved to
much for the numerically superior native American
people.
The Native Americans had no steel weapons.
20
More than technology and firepower, the Spanish
brought an unintended, and more devastating
weapon. European diseases such as smallpox and
measles.
Some estimates are as high as 80 of all the
people in the New World died of disease,
starvation and overwork at the hand of the
Spanish.
smallpox
21
The Spanish and Portuguese conquerors came to the
New World not to settle, but to extract its
riches to send back to Europe.
Eventually, many Spaniards stayed and mixed with
the native population. This created people
called mestizos.
22
So, where do Hispanics come from?
They are a mix of Spanish and Indian heritage.
23
How the Spaniards changed the ethnicity of the
Caribbean Islands.
Cuba
Jamaica
Haiti
Puerto Rico
24
The native Indian tribes were forced to work on
European plantations. Between brutal work,
disease, and mistreatment, most Caribbean Indians
died.
25
To solve this labor problem, the Europeans
brought African slaves over to work on the
plantations. On many of the islands today, the
majority of the population is of African descent.
Crops that lend themselves well to growth in the
plantation system are called plantation crops.
26
Although not native to the Caribbean, the
Europeans quickly learned the climate is prefect
for sugar cane.
It is also a very labor intensive crop to grow,
harvest, and process.
27
Today, much of Latin America is still mired in
poverty. Reasons include colonialism, corrupt
governments, and in many cases simple Geography.
28
While countries such as Mexico and Venezuela have
vast oil reserves there is a large income gap
between the few wealthy and many poor throughout
Latin America.
29
Today, tourism is a major source of income in the
Caribbean Islands and much of Central America and
Mexico. Hotels and resorts can bring in money,
but most people do not benefit.
30
30
Every country is below the magic latitude line.
What assumptions can you make as a result of that
fact?
31
What would the population pyramid of a typical
Latin American country look like?
32
Like most of the developing world, Latin America
is a land of potential wealth that has yet to be
realized.
Nieto