SPANISH-SPEAKING SOUTH AMERICA

ANDES MOUNTAINS

Part of a chain of mountains that run through North, Central and South America Rocky Mountains, Sierra Madres, and Andes

Mountains Cordillera: a system or group of parallel mountain

ranges

Act as a barrier to movement into the interior More settlement has occurred along the eastern and

northern coasts in South America

Even so, the Andes were the home to some of the most important civilizations in the hemisphere Inca in Peru

HIGHLANDS

Parts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil Made up of mountainous or hilly sections of a country

Guiana Highlands: northeast section of South America

Brazilian Highlands: east coast of Brazil

PLAINS

Llanos: located in Colombia and Venezuela Grassy, treeless areas used for livestock grazing and farming

Cerrado: located in interior of Brazil Savannas with flat terrain and moderate rainfall that make them

suitable for farming

Pampas: located in northern Argentina and Uruguay Min products of pampas are cattle and wheat Gaucho culture developed in this region

ORINOCO RIVER

Winds through northern part of continent, mainly in Venezuela

Flows more than 1,500 miles to the Atlantic

Part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela

AMAZON RIVER

Flows 4,000 from west to east, to the Atlantic Ocean

Fed by over 1,000 tributaries, some of which are large rivers in themselves

Carries more water to the ocean than any other river in the world

PARANÁ RIVER

Origins in highlands of southern Brazil

Flows 3,000 miles south and west through Paraguay and Argentina, then turns east

RESOURCES OF SOUTH AMERICA

Among the world’s leaders in mining raw materials: Silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc These are mainly exported to other countries to

make goods

Colombia and Venezuela: oil reserves

Brazil: hydroelectric power, oil, natural gas

Peru: fishing industry

South America produces most of the world’s coffee Brazil alone produces 1/3 of the world’s coffee per

year

CLIMATE OF SOUTH AMERICA

Rainforests: dense forests made up of different species of trees that form a unique ecosystem. Climate is hot and rainy year round Largest: Amazon Rainforest, covers 2 million square

miles of South America, mostly in Brazil. Tropical Wet and Dry: Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina

Semiarid: Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina

Desert: Peru, Chile (Atacama), Argentina (Patagonia)

Humid Subtropical: Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina

Mediterranean: Chile

Marine West Coast: Chile and Argentina

Highlands: Found in the mountains

SLASH AND BURN FARMING

Farmers cut trees, brush, and grasses and burn the debris to clear the field.

Use the ashes as fertilizer.

Farmers plant crops for a year or two

Fields often remain barren or are reclaimed by brush, grass, trees, and shrubs

TERRACED FARMING

An ancient technique for growing crops on hillsides or mountain slopes

Farmers cut step-like horizontal field into hillsides, which allows steep land to be cultivated for crops Used by Inca in Peru, and Aztecs in Mexico

URBANIZATION: THE MOVE TO CITIES

Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile are the most highly urbanized countries in South America

Push and pull factors are at work in moving peasants off the land and into cities

Rapidly Growing Cities: Sao Paulo, Brazil Rio de Janeiro Buenos Aires, Argentina Lima, Peru Bogotá, Colombia Santiago, Chile

THE INCA

Built a civilization that extended 2,500 miles from Ecuador to Argentina

Along western coast of South America in Andes Mountains

Francisco Pizarro invaded Incan Empire, killing many warriors and taking the emperor prisoner.

Spanish forced natives to work in mines and on farms

Quechua language of the Incas was overshadowed by Spanish, and native religion was replaced by Catholicism

INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS

Inspired by the American and French Revolutions, South American countries fought for their independence in the first half of the 19th century. Two great leaders: Simon Bolivar (Colombia,

Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia) and Jose de San Martin (Argentina, Chile, and Peru)

Argentina and Chile were the first to declare independence, because they are the farthest from Lima

Geography contributed to the failure of countries trying to unite for a common good

South America is largely populated around its edges – mountains and rain forests limit interactions Contributed to political instability and

underdevelopment

GOVERNMENTS OF SOUTH AMERICA

Oligarchy and military rule have characterized the government of many South American countries

Authoritarian rule has delayed democracy in the continent

Strong militaries, underdeveloped economies, and social class divisions still exist today

BRAZIL

NATIVES AND PORTUGUESE CONQUEST

Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the continent of South America Portugal gained control over land that is present-day Brazil

Brazil originally home to 1-5 million natives when the first colonists arrived in 1500s.

Hoped to find gold and silver; cleared huge areas of forest to create sugar plantations. Forced natives to work on plantations, when they died they

were replaced with African slaves

Brazil was generally settled along coast because of forest in the interior of country

Brazil declared independence from Portugal in 1822, when thousands of Brazilians signed a petition, asking for Dom Pedro to rule Brazil as an independent nation

A NATIONAL CULTURE

Culture of Brazil is a mixture of native, African and Portuguese influences

Now only about 200,000 native people live in the depths of the Amazon rain forest

Brazil has become home to many immigrants from all over the world Has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan

∙ Language: Portuguese

∙ Religion: Catholicism – Brazil has largest Catholic religion in the world. 20% Protestant, and some practice religions that mix Catholic and African beliefs

∙ Brasilia: Capital of Brazil was moved inland to draw people into the interior of the country

AN ECONOMIC GIANT

Natural resources has helped make Brazil an industrial power: iron, bauxite, tin, manganese, gold, silver, titanium, chromite, tungsten, and quartz

Hydroelectric power: thousands of rivers flow through Brazil; power plants located along these rivers produce electricity

One of the most industrialized South American countries, with one of the largest steel plants in the region. Also, a leading manufacturer of automobiles

• Vast gap between the rich and poor• Rapid urbanization: 22% lived in cities in 1960, by 1995 75% lived in cities• Move to the interior: 80% live within 200 miles of the sea; government encourages

people to move to the interior to develop the natural resources and commercial agriculture on cerrado

BRAZILIAN LIFE TODAY

Carnival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkXXqGAydG0 Dance to samba music – a Brazilian dance with African

influences

Capoeira: martial art and dance developed in Brazil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APlxSpTZVPI

Brasilia is political capital, Sao Paulo is economic heart and largest city, and Rio de Janeiro is the cultural center