GEO 373 Exam 2

What did the Treaty of Tordesillas establish?

Spain and Portugal arguing about borders, so Pope came in and split it down the middle (but it was never respected)

What type of climate characterizes the Parana Plateau of southern Brazil?

Sub-tropic/ midland climate

Define syncretism

cultural blending (ex. Religion, food, music, philosophy)

What has been the response of the Catholic Church towards the diffusion of Protestantism in Latin America?

- Increased lay involvement - Liberation theology movement - Increased attention to social inequalities - Efforts to strengthen the formal institutional church - Episcopal conferences - visits by the Pope

List important impacts of European colonization on Amerindian agriculture.

- Intro of new crops and animals, and tools - Decline of indigenous agriculture - Labor relocation (agriculture to mining) -Abandonment of terraces - Drained, and raised fields

What were 3 impacts of mercantilism on Latin American society?

- Spain's control held back the colonies from advancement - Kept out any economic products/competition from countries other than Spain - Unintentionally promoted illegal trade with other nations

In colonial times Spanish Latin America was divided into which four viceroyalties; what were their capitals?

1. New Spain: Mexico City 2. Peru: Lima 3. New Granada: Bogota 4. Rio de la Plata: Buenos Aires

Describe waru waru agriculture.

A series of troughs and hills with rows of plants and troughs of water.

What was the size and where were the areas of concentration of the Amerindian population at the time of the Conquest?

About 50 million people, in the highlands of Mexico and Central American, and the Andean highlands

What was and was not accomplished by political independence in Latin America?

Accomplished: - Transfer of power - Emergence of the military - Adoption of laissez-faire policies Did not accomplish: -Structural change: - At national level (more equal distribution of land and wealth, more equality for people) - At international level (international structure of trade)

Locate the areas of concentration of the African and Asian populations.

Africans—Eastern Brazil, Carribean fringe Asian—Northern Suriname & Guiana

Describe some the outstanding accomplishments of the major Amerindian cultures. (Aztecs, Mayans, Chibchas, and Inca)

Aztec - Tenochititlan Mayans- intellectual achievements, writing, astronomy, monuments Chibchas - goldsmithing, farming Inca - engineering, irrigation systems, bridges, roads, infrastructure, social control

Locate the culture areas of the Aztecs, Mayas, Chibchas, and Incas.

Aztecs- Mexican Plateau Mayas- Yucatan peninsula Chibcha - small area in northern SA Inca - large Andean region

What Indian languages are widely spoken in Latin America? Where? What countries recognize an Indian language as a second official language? (3)

Aztecs: Nahuatl (Mexico) Mayas: Yucatec (Mexico) Incas: Quechua, Aymara (Peru & Bolivia) Second official language: Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay

What is the most important resource of the Atacama Desert?

Copper

List important characteristics of Amerindian agriculture (crops cultivated, animals domesticated, technological achievements, polyculture).

Crops: beans, rice Animals: llama, alpaca, guinea pigs Technology: large scale irrigation, terracing of slopes, sunken fields Polyculture: many crops in the same field at the same time

Describe the characteristics of Latin American Protestantism. What population(s) is (are) most attracted to Protestantism?

Egalitarian organization dominated by fundamentalist beliefs & practices Popular in rural areas and urban lower classes

Define leaching.

Everything that dissolves in water dissolves and flows out of the soil, causing very low fertility in the soil

Define mercantilism

Forced LA colonies into unequal, dependent trade relationships with Spain/Portugal (monopoly on foreign trade)

Define formal and folk Catholicism. Among what population is folk Catholicism growing?

Formal Catholicism is taught in churches, folk Catholicism is syncretic version (formal combined with other culture's religions) Growing among indigenous people & Africans

List some important resources of the Guiana Highlands.

Gold, diamonds, iron, bauxite

In which of Mexico's physiographic regions is petroleum abundant?

Gulf Coastal Plains

Among what population(s) is religious syncretism widespread?

Indigenous people and Africans

Describe the landforms of the Gran Chaco.

Interior lowland with deciduous scrub

What were the main causes of death of the Indian population during the colonial period?

Introduction of infectious diseases from Europe that the indigenous people did not have an immunity to

Describe the significance of the Mexican Plateau in terms of size, human settlement and economic activities.

It's a large, north-sloping tilted block. Lots of people (Mexico City) with agriculture based economy.

List main impacts of colonialism.

Language, religion, architecture, depopulation of indigenous people, international trade, rigid social stratification

Define latifundio and its 3 types

Large agricultural estates - plantations (export oriented) - haciendas (cultivate a variety of crops for the domestic market) - estancias (cattle/sheep ranch)

What is Latin America's fastest-growing non-Catholic religion?

Latin American Protestantism

Describe the topographic and climatic characteristics of the Mexican Plateau and the Yucatan Peninsula. What region is associated with an extensive limestone platform?

Mexican Plateau - plateau with series of basins and low ranges (basin and range). Mostly dry, increases to the North Yucatan - limestone, caves, no water bodies on surface b/c it sinks down into the limestone, senotes. Wet-dry tropical, despite tropical location, it gets little rain

In which regions do whites predominate?

Most of Southern South America, except the western coast

Name and locate the main urban settlements of pre-Columbian Latin America (Tenochtitlán, Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, Palenque, Tikal, Copán, Cuzco). With which cultures were these settlements associated? (Figure 12.1, p. 339)

Northern Brazil (afrobrazilians), Southern Brazil/Uruguay/Argentina (sparse indigenous populations), Andean Region (indigenous people)

Describe the characteristics of oxisols.

Oxisols are the soils of the tropics, mostly associated with the Amazon Basin.

Describe the natural vegetation of the Pampa region.

Prairie grasslands with fertile mollisols

What was the mita system?

Rotational system of forced labor invented by the Inca (later used in the mines)

List some important resources of the Amazon Basin.

Rubber, gold, iron, bauxite, tin

What type of natural vegetation covers most of the Orinoco Basin (Llanos)?

Savanna

List important mineral resources of the Bolivian Altiplano.

Silver

Briefly describe Latin America's social stratification.

Small elite upper class, lower class had little opportunity to improve, huge underclass

What was the largest city of pre-Columbian America?

Tenochtitlan

Define manumission

The freeing of slaves

Describe the Amazon Basin's climate and natural vegetation.

Wet, tropical climate with tropical rainforests

What type of climate characterizes the Pantanal?

Wet-tropical climate (huge Everglades/wetlands)

Define encomienda

labor systems (pongo, similar to serfdom)

Define miscegenation

racial mixing of Europeans and indigenous, Europeans and African, etc.