Latin America

megacity

city with more than 10 million people

deforestation

clearing/destruction of forests

urbanization

migration of people from the countryside to cities as well as the change from a rural to an urban society

why hard to build roads/railroads in Latin America?

mountains, rain forests, deserts

default

not paying loans back on time

Roman Catholicism

official religion of Spanish colonies and Brazil; church leaders eventually began playing important roles in political affairs; most Christians in Latin America are Roman Catholic

Vicente Fox

opposing candidate running for president for PAN (Partido Accion Nacional), breaking the 70 year streak of PRI party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional)

extended family

person along with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and children

latin american countries depend on what?

trade to obtain the goods and foods that they cannot produce

For every tree cut, how much is wasted?

two-thirds of the wood

samba

type of Latin American music combined with Native American, European, and African influences

mural

wall paintings

when does rapid urbanization occur?

when rates of population growth far exceed available resources

what difficult choice are Latin American countries and Bolivia pressed with?

whether to preserve large tracts of wilderness, such as Madidi National Park in northwestern Bolivia, or develop these areas for the purpose of raising peoples' standard of living

machismo

male supremacy over women

Simon Bolivar

"The Liberator" of Venezuela; won freedom for Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia

How much of the Amazon rain forest has been set out by Brazil for national parks?

10%

Who has built maquiladoras on the Mex-US border?

American and Japanese

cars and processed meats

Argentina production

Which Latin American countries raise cattle?

Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil

refine sugar

Barbados, Cuba, and Saint Kitts and Nevis

mines and refines tin

Bolivia

Tropical climates and fertile soil also help make what the world's leading sugar cane producers?

Brazil and Cuba

Where were the first Africans brought to in Latin America?

Brazil and the Caribbean Islands

Describe Brazil's experience in relation to deforestation.

Brazil has worked to boost its economy by tapping the rain forest's vast mineral resources (petroleum, iron, copper, and tin); roads have been carved out of the rain forest to open up Brazil's interior to settlement/development (ex: Trans-Amazonian highway); development of interior has proved disastrous for Amazon rain forest; indeigenous people of Brazil's interior have seen their homes and traditional ways of life disappear along with other wildlife; when rainforest depleted, diversity of species threatened, and many key medicines are derived from rain forest plants and organisms--deforestation risks the loss of compounds that have the potential to treat cancer and other illnesses; destroying would also result in less CO2 being used --> greenhouse gasses

Fertile highlands help make what countries the world's leading coffee producers?

Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia

tropical coastal areas make what area/countries major producers of bananas?

Central America as well as Jamaica, Honduras, Ecuador, and Brazil

produce foods and textiles

Chile, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua

What devastated parts of Central America and destroyed about 90% of the banana crop in Honduras?

Hurricane Mitch

Mexico City

Latin America's largest megacity

Give example of how agencies are addressing Latin America's urban needs.

Mexico City's recent improvements include: new water supply system, expanded public transportation; World Bank has targeted cities in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, and Guatemala for neighborhood improvements;homeless people in cities (Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago) have turned abandoned city buildings into affordable housing/commercial space

cities that have region's busiest airports

Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo

Where do most of Latin America's present-day Native Americans live?

Mexico, Central America, and the Andes region of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia

Despite physical barriers, what countries have well-developed railroads?

Mexico, Panama, Argentina, and Brazil

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement which gradually reduced trade restrictions and increased the flow of goods services and people among Mexico, the US, and Canada in 1992

region's major road system

Pan-American Highway, stretching from northern Mexico to southern Chile and linking more than a dozen Latin American capitals

world's second- and fourth-largest metropolitan areas

Sao Paulo and Mexico City

migration

major force shaping population patterns in Latin America; movement of people from place to place

Who were the first Europeans to settle in Latin America?

Spanish and Portugeuse

refines oil

Venezuela

fifth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world

US

What do countries do to finance industrial development?

borrow funds from foregin sources

to develop the Amazon Basin's mineral resources, what has Brazil done?

building the Trans-Amazonian Highway

most of Latin America's countries still depend on what to supply a major portion of their incomes?

agriculture

what can damage health or endanger lives (pollution-wise)?

air and water pollution; chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on commercial farms/runoff

name some crops exported by latin america

bananas, sugarcane, coffee

Why do countries run great risks when they depend on just one or two export products?

because if floods, droughts, or volcanic eruptions destroy a country's cash crop, the damage to the country's economy causes great hardship

condomble

belief in Western deites combined with the Roman Catholic devotion to saints; called voodoo in Haiti and Dominican Republic; called Santeria in Cuba

syncretism

blending of beliefs and practices from different religions into a single faith

How do Latin American countries overcome these barriers? Example?

combine necessary human and natural resources with relatively stable governments and active business communities; Mexico is major producer of motor vehicles, textiles, and processed foods and Brazil is a leading producer of iron, steel, cars, airplanes, textiles, and electrical goods; both countries emerged with stronger economies from serious financial crises in the 1990s because of their expanding global trade

conquistador

conqueror

How does Latin America prepare for natural disasters?

cooperating in the use of sophisticated technology, such as satellite imaging and computer modeling, to forecast the direction and severity of hurricanes

developing countries

countries that are working toward greater manufacturing and technology use

cash crops

crops produced in large quantities to be sold or traded

indigenous

descended from an area's first inhabitants

patois

dialects that blend elements of indigenous, European, African, and Asian languages

caudillo

dictator

How have Latin American countries begun to lower high birthrates?

education and economic improvement

What type of diversity is found within the nations of Latin America?

ethnic diversity

maquiladoras

factories that lie along the Mexico-US border especially near the Mexican cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana

What happens as latifundia become more mechanized?

farmworkers are leaving the land for the cities

jai alai

fast paced game much like handball, played with a ball and a long, curved basket strapped to each player's wrist

carnival

festival celebrated in the week before the Roman Catholic observance of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and prayer before Easter

Why do many migrants come to the United States?

find a better way of life, or to use resources in the US that are unavailable in Latin America

Name territorial conflicts in Latin America.

fishing rights in the Gulf of Fonseca quarrel between Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador; Venezuela and Guyana battle over petroleum holdings on shared border; Peru and Ecuador border dispute--settled after going to war 3 times over 60 years

chinampas

floating 'islands' made from large rafts covered with mud from the lake bottom

dialect

forms of a language unique to a particular place or group

latifundia

highly mechanized commercial operations that yeild high returns for low investment in labor

air pollution--describe it

in cities w/o adequate clean air laws; industrial smokestacks add to this; in Mex. City, air pollution can become so sever that authorities periodically order cars off roads and children aren't allowed to play outside

Where do most Latin Americans live?

in only 1/3 of Latin America's land

Why did Brazil move its capital?

in order to draw people away from the densely populated coast

As a result of railways falling into disrepair, what has happened?

inland waterways such as Amazon River, Parana-Paraguay Rivers, and the Panama Canal remain important

Bad aspects of shantytowns

lack running water/sewage systems; natural disasters can wipe out entire communities; unsanitary --> diseases spread; malnutrition

Francois Toussaint-Louverture

led enslaved Haitians in a violent revolt against French rule; died in French prison in 1803

factors limiting industrial growth in Latin America

physical geography--Andes and Amazon rain forest limit access to natural resources; ties to more developed regions limit growth because, while foreigners have brought new technology to the region, many have drained local resources and; political instability in countries make investors wary of investing in Latin American enterprises

glyph

picture writings carved in stone

mosaic

pictures or designs made by setting small bits of colored stone, tile, or shell into mortar

reforestation

planting of young trees or the seeds of trees on the land that has been stripped

service industries

provide services rather than goods

What did this solution do?

raised the total amount of interest on the debt

What are two things that some latin american countries import?

raw materials and expensive technology

viceroy

representative of the Spanish monarch appointed to enforce laws in colonial Latin America

What can protect the forests?

responsible tourism, reforestation laws

Fidel Castro

ruler of Cuba after the revolution in 1959 when a communist state was established

trans-Andean highway

runs through Andes and links Chile and Argentina

campesinos

rural farmers and workers

export

sell to other countries

quipu

series of knotted cords of various colors and lengths, with each knot representing a different item or number

What industry has grown rapidly in Latin American countries?

service industries, such as banking

latin America's rural workers migrate to cities, are unable to find adequate housing, and move to what? What are these?

shantytowns, or makeshift communities on the edges of cities; favelas of sao Paulo, the barriadas of Bogota, and the villas miserias of Buenos Aires

What happened in the 1980s with the worldwide economic slowdown?

sharp decline in demand for Latin America's products; incomes fell --> governments threatened to default --> lenders rescheduled the loans

To prepare the land for farming, what technique is used?

slash-and-burn--strip plants/trees; after dried out, set on fire

minifundia

small plots of land intensively famred by campesinos to feed their families

How is NAFTA controversial?

some American labor groups fear the loss of jobs to generally lower paid Mexican workers; in Mexico's viewpoint, NAFTA has helped boost exports and create thousands of new jobs

Rigoberta Menchu

spokeswoman for Guatemala's modern-day Maya people

What is a solution to this problem?

sustainable development, or technological and economic growth that does not deplete the human and natural resources of a given area

critics of maquiladoras charge what?

that the system often ignores labor and environmental protection laws, damagin the environment and encouraging low-paying or dangerous jobs

Why is the vast interior of South America largely unpopulated?

the interior, with its rain forests, deserts, and mountains, contains harshing living conditions and poor soil, so the population is smaller

How do maquiladoras benefit foregin corporations?

they allow them to hire low-cost labor and to produce duty-free exports; also offer the host country and its people employment opportunities and investment income

What else is slash-and-burn used for?

to carve out huge cattle ranches from the forest