CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA AND THE CARRIBEAN

Mexico is located in the north, and South America is located in the south. CENTRAL AMERICA IS A SMALL BRIDGE OF LAND. Along its length, a chain of mountains with volcanoes on top runs. Off its east coast are the stunning, palm-lined islands of the Caribbean Sea. The fourth-largest continent, South America, is home to a variety of incredibly diverse landscapes. The continent is made up of broad, grassy plains on about 60% of its surface. The long, thin Atacama Desert sits between the sea and the tall Andes Mountains, which run along the west coast. Huge swaths of the northeast are covered in a lush green covering of tropical rain forests.

THE RIVER OF AMAZON

The huge basin of the great Amazon, South America's longest river, is home to the largest rain forest on earth. The Amazon River starts in the Peruvian Andes, where it runs 4,001 miles (6,439 kilometers) through Peru and Brazil before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. More water is carried by the Amazon than by any other river. The Amazon is so vast at its mouth that it is impossible to see from one bank to the other. The river releases so much water into the ocean that 112 miles (180 km) out at sea the water is still brackish.

The ANDES

The Andes are the world's largest mountain range, covering the entire continent of South America over 4,505 miles (7,250 km). many peaks are higher than 19,685 feet (6,000 m). When two plates of the crust of the Earth collided, the mountains were created. Numerous earthquakes and volcanoes are being caused along the range by the plates' ongoing movement. With a height of 22,835 feet, Aconcagua, an extinct volcano, is both the tallest mountain in South America and an Andean peak (6,960 m). In the Andes, between Peru and Bolivia, is Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.

Climate and the Andes

The Andes have a significant impact on South America's weather. The eastern slopes are buffeted by warm, humid winds from the Atlantic. They cool as they ascend, causing the water inside to precipitate. The weather is entirely different in the arid western slopes. The winds blow in from the sea and travel over the chilly Humboldt Current in this area. They cool as a result, forming a fog bank.

PATAGONIA

Patagonia is a vast, arid plateau of territory in the extreme southeast of South America. There are a few small sheep farming communities in this thinly populated area, which is close to the Colorado and Negro rivers. They include a group of people who speak Welsh and whose ancestors arrived in the area in the 1860s. In the northern part of Patagonia, there is some scrubby vegetation. The south has less plant life and is colder, drier, and gloomier.

THE PAMPAS

Argentina's central region is covered in rolling grasslands that reach into neighboring Paraguay. The pampas are huge open plains that cover an extent of 250,967 square miles (650,000 sq km). The western pampas are semi-desert, whereas the eastern section receives regular rainfall. Argentina's economic heartland is the pampas. The grasslands are grazed by large herds of beef cattle. Other regions have been plowed in order to grow massive quantities of wheat, corn, beans, and other crops.

MONT PELÉE

Mont Pelée, a volcano in the Caribbean island of Martinique, erupted on May 8, 1902. A torrent of lava, gas, and scorching dust surged down the mountain, engulfing St. Pierre and killing 30,000 people. Volcanoes are a persistent threat in the Caribbean; when the Soufrière Hills volcano erupted in 1995, it rendered two-thirds of Montserrat uninhabitable, including the capital Plymouth. \n

ISTHMUS OF PANAMA

The Isthmus of Panama is a small strip of land that connects the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic to the Gulf of Panama in the Pacific Ocean. It serves as a land bridge connecting Central and South America. The Isthmus of Panama is just 30-130 miles (48-210 kilometers) wide. Because of its small shape and strategic location, it was the ideal place for the Panama Canal.

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA PEOPLE

Colonization shaped the language, history, and culture of Central and South America. The Bahamas were inhabited by local peoples until 1492, when Christopher Columbus first landed there. Following that, European settlers from Spain and Portugal arrived, and large numbers of Africans were brought as slaves, particularly to the Caribbean and Brazil. English, French, and Dutch settlers also settled in the Caribbean. As a result, the continent's population today is a mix of these various ethnic groups. Spanish, along with Portuguese in Brazil, is the most widely spoken language over the majority of the continent. In the Caribbean, English and French are more widespread, while Dutch can still be heard in Suriname.

INFLUENCE OF SPANISH

Spain and Portugal invaded South America beginning in the 16th century. Both governments also dispatched missionaries to spread Roman Catholicism. Although Spain colonized much of the continent, Portuguese-ruled Brazil grew to be the largest and most powerful country. The vast majority of South Americans are still Roman Catholics nowadays.

Ethnic Communities

Native Americans, who can trace their ancestors back to people who lived in Central and South America before Europeans arrived, account for only 2% of the continent's population today. People of African heritage are the second largest group, with the greatest concentration in Brazil and the Caribbean. Mestizos are people of mixed European and native Indian heritage who make up the majority of the population in most nations.

NATIVE PEOPLES

Within a century of the arrival of the Spanish in South America, as much as 90 percent of the local population had perished, primarily due to diseases brought by Europeans, such as smallpox and measles, to which the natives had no natural protection. Except in Guatemala, where Mayan people still populate the highlands in considerable numbers, and Bolivia's Andean ranges, where descendants of the Incas reside, native Indians are now a very small minority. \n

FOREIGN DEBT

Every government borrows funds. The loans are repaid with the money the nation receives from exporting its goods. However, several Central and South American nations have enormous debts. Brazil has a substantial foreign debt, but it is still modest in comparison to its income. Nicaragua's debt is significantly lower, but the country's earnings are even lower.

Argentine refugees from the countryside are constructing a hut on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

EXTENSIVE FARMS

Throughout the region, ranches for cattle and sheep and plantations cultivating export goods like as bananas and sugar are frequently expansive and operated for profit. These enormous farms may be held by foreign corporations or a small number of wealthy and influential people. Cuba is unique in that the government governs these expansive states.

FARMS ON SMALL SCALE

Most farmers on the continent have barely enough land to support one or two people. People like this Bolivian family raise crops and a few animals, such as hens or pigs, for their own consumption rather than for sale. Because the farm frequently cannot provide enough food for the entire family, some family members are compelled to go in search of work.

OVERCROWDED CITIES

Cities are home to over three-quarters of the continent's population. In other nations, such as Chile and Uruguay, the capital is home to more than a third of the population. Many individuals have been compelled to migrate from rural areas in order to avoid pervasive poverty, or they have been enticed to cities by the prospect of employment. They currently reside in overcrowded shanty settlements on the edges of cities. \n

GROWTH OF THE POPULATION

Population growth across the continent was significant in the twentieth century, particularly in Brazil and the northern countries. Birth rates are begun to plummet in most countries. However, because so much of the population is young, and advances in health care allow more children to live into adulthood, the population continues to rise. Another 80 million people had moved there by the end of 2005.

CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

A neck of land connects North and South America, containing THE SEVEN SMALL COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. Hundreds of Caribbean islands can be seen stretching eastward from the US almost to Venezuela. The Caribbean islands came to be known as the West Indies because Christopher Columbus and his Spanish crew mistook it for Asia when they anchored there in 1492. From that point on, Europeans fought each other for dominance of the area and imported African slaves to farm the land. Spanish is the primary cultural influence in Central America, whereas African culture is still present in the Caribbean. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and storms are some of the natural disasters that can affect the entire region.

LAND AGRICULTURE

Central America was a farming region even before the arrival of the Europeans. The area is divided into three main regions: the rich Pacific plain, which is perfect for growing crops like bananas; the middle highlands, which are home to cattle ranches and coffee plantations (above); and the forested northeast, where the soil is less favorable for farming. Much of the environment has been harmed by intensive farming.

HURRICANE POWER

Between May and October, the Caribbean is impacted by hurricanes, which are extremely strong tropical storms. A hurricane begins as a regular storm over the ocean, but if the water is especially warm, it intensifies. The swirling mass of cloud, wind, and rain is then blown by winds westward toward the islands, where it may strike and cause severe damage. The name of the indigenous storm god, Huracan, is where the word "hurricane" originates.

LARGE AND SMALL ISLANDS

Spanish influence remained strong on the mainland for centuries following Columbus, despite claims to several of the islands by Spain, France, Britain, the Netherlands, and, later, the United States. St. Lucia, for example, changed ownership 14 times between Britain and France. The majority of the larger islands have become independent countries, while others remain dependent. Martinique, with its duplicate of the Sacré Coeur church in Paris, remains French, while the Netherlands Antilles are under Dutch control.

CARIBBEAN RESIDENTS

The Carib and Arawak peoples were the original inhabitants of the Caribbean islands. Most died as a result of sickness and slavery at the hands of the Spanish, while a few Carib descendants still live on the island of Dominica. The majority of people in the Caribbean today are descendants of African slaves brought over to work on plantations. Caribbean culture also includes Europeans, Asians, Syrians, and Lebanese.

 \n