Latin America Study Guide

Place the following groups in order of when they ruled Mexico chronologically: Toltecs, Mayan, Spanish, Aztecs

Mayan, Toltecs, Aztecs, Spanish

What makes the Amazon the largest river in the world?

The Amazon is the largest river in the world because it covers far more ground than the Nile. At some points the Amazon can be 60 miles across. Even though the Nile is 40 miles longer, the width of the Amazon makes it the largest river in the world.

Place the following groups in order of when they ruled Mexico chronologically: Toltecs, Mayan, Spanish, Aztecs

Mayan, Toltecs, Aztecs, Spanish

What makes the Amazon the largest river in the world?

The Amazon is the largest river in the world because it covers far more ground than the Nile. At some points the Amazon can be 60 miles across. Even though the Nile is 40 miles longer, the width of the Amazon makes it the largest river in the world.

What is unique about Suriname in the region?

The inhabitants of Suriname are from the East Indies and they have Dutch and English roots. They are also the only Dutch speaking country is south america.

Mestizo

are most people in mexico today and they people of mixed European and indigenous Mexican descent

Pampas

tall grassland in Argentina and Uruguay know for Argentine cowboys (gauchos)

Llanos

grassland and open dry forests of Colombia and Venezuela

Maquiladoras

factories of American-owned companies that lie along the U.S. border

Favelas

Brazilian urban shantytowns (poverty is similar to Haiti in favelas)

What is Hispaniola?

Hispaniola is the island divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is part of the Greater Antilles. 

What were the positives and negatives of NAFTA?

Positives - lowered taxes, labor was cheaper, products were cheaper, and it created more jobs in mexico.

Negatives - took jobs away from american workers cause labor in mexico was cheaper, destroyed small american towns

Explain the physical geography of Mexico City

Mexico City is in a valley right next to Popocatepetl, an active volcano. However, the elevation of Mexico City is higher than Denver, Colorado (7,500 feet elevation). Mexico City also experiences earthquakes due to active tectonics and travel to Mexico City is challenging because of the landforms.

What did the Aztecs call their capital city?  What do we call it now? What is the history of this city?

The Aztecs named their capital city Tenochtitlan but today we call it Mexico City. One of the biggest cities in the world. The aztecs were unpopular and were conquered by spanish in 1521.

Where is deforestation a particularly big issue in the Caribbean?

Deforestation is a particularly big issue in Haiti where 99% of their land has experienced deforestation because rains have washed away most of the rest of the soil. Deforestation takes away vital resources from the Haitian economy because of this land erosion.

What makes Haiti so interesting historically?

Haiti is historically interesting because the slaves of Haiti became world history’s first and only successful slave uprising. They ultimately even defeated Napoleon’s army. They made Haiti the first independent black nation.

What challenges did Haiti face after independence?

After independence France still made Haiti pay them and it corrupted the Haitian economy.

What advantages does Argentina have over the rest of Latin America?

Argentina has vast natural and human resources but military dictatorship and corruption have caused them to not meet their full economic potential

What factors have wrecked Cuba’s economy over the last 2-3 decades?

The fall of the Soviet Union (the soviet union annually provided $5 billion to Cuba) and the Cuban Missile Crisis, american creating the embargo, both greatly damaged the Cuban economy.

Why did Brazil frantically and diligently try to develop infrastructure and reduce crime in recent years?

Brazil frantically and diligently tried to develop infrastructure and reduce crime in recent years so they could host the olympics and the world cup and hopefully those two things would greatly increase their economy.

Explain how Brazil meets its energy needs.

Brazilians get 60% of their energy needs from local oil and 40% from sugarcane ethanol. Although 83%  of Brazil is urbanized and 5-10% Brazilians live in favelas – Brazilian urban  shantytowns.

Who were the Mayans?

The Mayans were native americans who ruled large parts of southern mexico for thousands of years before being reportedly conquered by the toltecs.

What is the Mexican Plateau?

The rugged, raised, flat physical feature that covers most of Mexico

Mexico is the world’s leader in the production of this mineral?

silver

What international trade agreement did Mexico enter into with the U.S. and Canada in 1992.

NAFTA (North American \n Free Trade Agreement) - 80% of mexican exports go to the U.S., renogotiated to USMCA in 2018

Who was Fidel Castro?

The communist Cuban that led its revolution and then ruled as its dictator for half a century.

What is Machu Picchu?

One of the new Wonders of the World, it was the architectural masterpiece of the Incas in Peru and home to 750 people (though not their capital).

What is special about Brazil’s capital city?

Brazil is the only Latin American country whose capital city is NOT one of its two biggest cities

What is Havana referred as?

Formerly the “Paris of the Caribbean” but it is now in shambles

What is voodoo?

The major religion of Haiti, this faith is a combination of Catholicism and African tribal practices.

What Greater Antilles nation do Cuba and Puerto Rico share a common culture and history with?

the Dominican Republic

Prior to the epic slave uprising in Haiti, the French gained immeasurable wealth from the land by harvesting this crop.

sugarcane

Who were the Tainos?

The original inhabitants of the Caribbean Islands; they were effectively eliminated within 50 years of the Spanish conquest due to overwork, murder, suicide, and spanish disease

Where is the largest mountain in Latin America located?

Argentina

What are the 2 landlocked South American nations?

Paraguay and Bolivia

Who was Francisco Pizzaro?

The ruthless conquistador that stole the Incan wealth and ended their empire.

What South American country has coastline on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean?

Colombia

What is Argentinas geography?

Versatile climate, non-mountainous areas, substantial coastline and large population but has been held back by a history of corruption and military dictatorships

What country has had the fastest decreasing economy in the last 20 years?

Venezuela

What is Mexicos Cities pollution like?

It is believed that one day in Mexico City is equivalent to smoking 60 cigarettes. Vehicles and factories combined with location in a valley trap pollutants and volcanos spew out ash and gas.

The largest island in the Caribbean

Cuba

What Capital city has the highest elevation of every capital city on earth?

La Paz, Bolivia

What is the fundamental economic difference between recent immigrants to the US from Mexico and Central America versus the Cuban immigrants to the US during the communist revolution?

wealth (Cuban immigrants were rich while Mexicans/Central American immigrants are poor)

What countries make up the Greater Antilles?

Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominicain Republic)

What countries do Britain and France control?

Britain took Jamaica and France took Haiti

Cuba Overview (mountians? religion? embargo? U.S. military base?)

• least mountainous island of the Caribbean
• prior to Castro’s revolution Cubans were cathloic, now most are non-religious
• U.S. embargo prevents American tourists from Cuba but its still popular with europeans
• U.S. established a permanent base on cuba after the spanish-american war and it is now used terrorists prisoners (Castro considered deal to establish illegitimate)

Haiti History

• Spanish left western 1/3 of hispaniola after gold and silver were found in mexico
• French took over the area and enslaved the black majority
• Haiti had incalculable wealth due to sugar economy (wealth was accumulated by hideous treatment of slaves)
• slaves created first successful slave uprising and defeated napoleon’s army

Haiti Overview (poverty? foreign aid? HIV? earthquake?)

• 80% of population lives in extreme poverty
• after corrupt elections in 200, foreign aid was cut off
• highest HIV and tuberculosis rate in hemisphere
• massive 2010 earthquake - 300,00+ dead

Mexico Geography

• 31 states
• big cities on the interior because sierra madre mountain ranges are on the coasts - sierra madres oriental, occidental, and del sur (causes mexico to complete land trades)
• mexican plateau is between the mountains
• southern end of plateau is the valley of mexico were mexico city is located

Geo Activity in Mexico

• popocatepetl is an active volcano
• at least 20 million people live within 50 miles of it
• earthquakes common due to active tectonics
• travel is difficult because of landforms

Mexican Natural Resources

• not many rivers, so grows crops that don’t need a lot of water
• leading silver producer in world
• great oil and gas reserves along the gulf coast (most oil is exported to U.S.)

Mexican Culture

• 90% of mexicans are catholic due to spanish conquest
• most mecians today are mesitzos because colonists were men that mixed with indigenous women
• main language is spanish

Contemporary Mexico

• gained independence from spain in 1821
• lost texas and other parts of the west to the U.S. in 1848 (Mexican-American War)
• entered NAFTA in 1992
• developing economically quickly, but still mass poverty and few jobs
• huge settlements of shacks build from sheets of metal and waste wood

Mexico Empires of the Past

Mexico was ruled by the advanced and powerful mayans for thousands of years but they were eventually conquered by toltecs. The toltecs were eventually conquered by the great warriors, the aztecs (vicious rulers, also known as mexica).

Inka

• largest surviving native populations and diverse ethnicities due to andes mountains and the Incan roads
• inkas (incas) - first people who came to south america about 9000 BCE
• inkan empire - 1150 CE , until pizzaro arrived about 400 years later, know for intricate architecture of massive stone blocks
• capital at Cuzco (modern day Peru)

Inka Empire noticeable attributes

1. no alphabetic writing, wheel, money, markets, etc
2. terrace style agriculture, llamas and alpacas main domesticated animals
3. command economy
4. necrocracy (dead people are still in charge)
5. more roads than rome
6. knots as a form of writing

South America’s Population

12% of world’s land but 6% of worlds population →people live in densely populated areas but there are big chunks of land with barely any people

Andes Mountains

• 2nd biggest and highest mountain range in the world
• 50 peaks higher than 20,000 feet (highest is Aconcagua in Argentina)
• 4,500 miles long, up to 400 miles wide

Brazil Overview (size? largest city? economy?)

• 5th largest country in the world - more than half of south america’s people
• Sao Paolo - worlds 4th largest city
• largest south american economy, no longer largest maldistribution of wealth in world

Colombia Overview (size? coastline? drugs? government?)

• South America’s 2nd largest country (population)
• only S.S country to have coastline of Caribbean and pacific
• focal point of international drug trade
• anti-government insurgency ongoing for decades

What is Argentina’s GDP?

Argentina has S.A’s highest per capital GDP

What are South America’s predominantly white nations?

Argentina and Uruguay

What is Venezuela’s relationship with oil and its economy?

• ==largest oil reserves in western hemisphere==
• U.S. gets 10% of its oil
• economy completely dependent on oil prices
• huge wealth disparity between Europeans and native + african descendants
• fastest deteriorating economy in the world

Bolivia Overview (geography? capital city? history?)

• landlocked and mountains
• La Pas is world’s highest capital city
• 1 of 2 landlocked countries in S.A. (paraguay)
• history of coups and poverty- remains South America’s poorest country

The Guyanas Overview

Guyana - british and dutch roots whose people are from India and Africa (british colonial influence)

Suriname - also dutch and english roots with inhabitants being from the east indies - dutch speaking

French Guiana - still a department of france and famous for devil’s island penal colony (don’t drink the kool aid)