Patterns of Physical Geography

Use the Unit Atlas to add to your knowledgeof Latin America, whichstretches from Mexico tothe tip of South America.As you look at the mapsand graphs, notice geo-graphic patterns andspecific details about theregion. For example, thegraph gives details abouttwo large rivers in theregion.

After studying thegraphs and physical mapon these two pages, jotdown answers to thefollowing questions inyour notebook.

Making Comparisons1. Which river systems

dominate South

America?

2. How are the Andes

Mountains of South

America similar in

location to the Rocky

Mountains of the United

States?

3. Compare Latin America’s

landmass and population

to those of the United

States. Based on that

data, how might the

overall population

densities of the two

compare?

190 UNIT 3

Latin America

7,941,950 sq. mi.

ContinentalUnited States

3,165,630 sq. mi.

Comparing Data

Landmass

Rivers

Mountains

Population

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

United States�281,422,000

Latin America�517,385,900

Population ( in millions)

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

Length of Mountain Chains ( in miles)

Nile109,475

Mississippi600,000

Paraná610,700

Amazon7,000,000

Discharge Rate ( in cubic feet per second)

Atlas1,500 miles

Alps660 miles

Himalayas1,500 miles

Andes5,000 miles

For updated statistics on Latin America . . .

DATA UPDATECLASSZONE .COM

Mt. Aconcagua22,831 ft.(6959 m)

LesserA

ntillesG r e a t e r A n t i l l e s

WE S T

I N D I E S

CENTRAL A MERICA

SierraM

adre

SierraM

adre

Occidental

Oriental

AMAZON

BASIN

AN

DE

S

BRAZILIA

N

Gra

nC

haco

Lla

nos

HIG

HLAN

DS

Pampas

AtacamaDesert

PanamaCanal

Tierradel Fuego

Pata

goni

a

Gu iana Hig h l a n d s

Mato GrossoPlateau

Baja

California

AN

DE

S

YucatánPeninsula

Cape Horn

Arag

uaía

R.

SOUTH AMERICA

Amazon R.

Orinoco R.

Paraná

R.

Negro R.

Rio

Grand

e

Par

agua

yR

.

M

adei

ra

R.

Río de la Plata

PACIFIC

OCEAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

Caribbean Sea

Gulf ofMexico

Drake Passage

Gulf

ofC

alifornia

LakeTiticaca

120°W

10°S

0°

10°N

Equator

20°N

30°N

20°S

30°S

40°S

50°S

10°S

10°N

0°

20°N

30°N

20°S

30°S

40°S

50°S

110°W 100°W 90°W 80°W 70°W 60°W 50°W 40°W 30°W

120°W130°W140°W 110°W 100°W 90°W 80°W 60°W 50°W 40°W 30°W 20°W70°W

Tropic of Capricorn

Tropic of Cancer

ARGENTINA

PARAGUAY

ECUADOR

SURINAMEGUYANA

PANAMACOSTA RICA

EL SALVADOR

GUATEMALA NICARAGUA

HONDURAS

BELIZE JAMAICA

HAITI

BAHAMAS

CUBA

VENEZUELA

MEXICO

COLOMBIA

CHILE

BOLIVIA

URUGUAY

PERU

B R A Z I L

U N I T E D S T A T E S

GalápagosIs.

FalklandIs.

South Georgia Is.

NetherlandsAntilles

FRENCHGUIANA

Caribbean Sea

A T L A N T I C

O C E A NDOMINICANREPUBLIC

ST. KITTS & NEVISANTIGUA &BARBUDA

BARBADOSST. LUCIA

DOMINICA

GRENADAST. VINCENT &THE GRENADINESTRINIDAD &TOBAGO

PuertoRico

Martinique

Guadeloupe

Hispaniola I.

N

S

EW

Elevation

Mountain peak

(4,000 m.)(2,000 m.)

(500 m.)(200 m.)

(0 m.)Below sea level

13,100 ft.6,600 ft.1,600 ft.

650 ft.0 ft.

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

Azimuthal Equal–Area Projection

191

Latin America: Physical

LATI

N A

MER

ICA

Patterns of Human Geography

Study the historical andpolitical maps of LatinAmerica on these twopages. In your notebook,answer these questions.

Making Comparisons1. What differences do

you notice when you

compare the 1800 map

to the map of Latin

America today?

2. What are some of the

similarities between the

1800 map and the

contemporary map of

Latin America?

3. What former Portuguese

colony in South America

is the largest country in

the region today?

192 UNIT 3

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

Caribbean Sea

Gulf of Mexico

20°N

40°N

20°S

Tropic of Cancer

40°S

60°W 40°W 20°W80°W100°W120°W

Equator0°

Tropic of Capricorn

Mexico City

Caracas

Bogotá

Asunción

La Paz

Santiago

Lima

MontevideoBuenos

Aires

Quito

Rio de Janeiro

VICEROYALTY

OF

BRAZIL

VICEROYALTY

OF

NEW SPAIN

VICEROYALTY

OF

RIO DE

LA PLATA

VICEROYALTYOF PERU

VICEROYALTYOF

NEW GRANADAGUIANA

CUBA

UNITEDSTATES

SANTODOMINGO

SAINTDOMINGUE

N

S

EW

British

Dutch

French

Portuguese

Spanish

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

Azimuthal Equal–Area Projection

Latin America, 1800

Manaus

Medellín

Maracaibo

Mérida

Cali

BelémGuayaquil

Recife

Salvador

GoiâniaSanta Cruz

Rosario

Belo Horizonte

Fortaleza

Guadalajara

Tijuana

Monterrey

Chihuahua

Ciudad Juárez

Pôrto Alegre

Acapulco

PueblaCórdoba

Cayenne

Rio de Janeiro

Curitiba

Port-au-PrinceKingston

Havana

México City

Georgetown

Caracas

Tegucigalpa

Belmopan

Bogotá

San José

PanamáCity

San SalvadorManagua

Guatemala City

Paramaribo

Asunción

BrasíliaLa Paz

Sucre

São Paulo

Santiago

Lima

MontevideoBuenos

Aires

Quito

LesserA

ntillesG r e a t e r A n t i l l e s

WE S T

I N D I E S

Amazon R.

Ro de la Plata

Orinoco R.

Paran

R.

Negro R.

Par

agua

yR

.

Rio

Grand

e

Madeira

R.

Ara

gua

aR.

P A C I F I C

O C E A N

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

A T L A N T I CO C E A N

Gulf

ofC

alifornia

Caribbean Sea

Gulf ofMexico

120°W

10°S

10°N

Tropic of Capricorn

20°N

30°N

20°S

30°S

40°S

50°S

10°S

10°N

20°N

30°N

20°S

Tropic of Cancer

30°S

40°S

50°S

110°W 100°W 90°W 80°W 70°W 60°W 50°W 40°W 30°W

120°W130°W140°W 110°W 100°W 90°W 80°W 60°W 50°W 40°W 30°W 20°W70°W

0° Equator 0°GalápagosIs. (Ec.)

Aruba (Neth.)Netherlands Antilles (Neth.)

CaymanIs. (U.K.)

FalklandIs. (U.K.)

South Georgia(U.K.)

Juan Fernández Is.(Chile)

FRENCHGUIANA (Fr.)

ARGENTINA

PARAGUAY

ECUADOR

SURINAME

GUYANA

PANAMACOSTA RICA

EL SALVADORGUATEMALA

NICARAGUA

HONDURAS

BELIZE JAMAICAHAITI

BAHAMAS

CUBA

VENEZUELA

MEXICO

COLOMBIA

CHILE

BOLIVIA

URUGUAY

PERU B R A Z I L

U N I T E D S T A T E S

San Juan

SantoDomingo

Caribbean Sea

A T L A N T I C

O C E A NDOMINICAN

REPUBLIC

ST. KITTS & NEVIS

CUBA

ANTIGUA &BARBUDA

BARBADOS

Montserrat (U.K.)

ST. LUCIA

DOMINICA

GRENADAST. VINCENT &THE GRENADINES

TRINIDAD &TOBAGO

PuertoRico (U.S.)

Virgin Is.(U.S. & U.K.)

Martinique (Fr.)

Guadeloupe (Fr.)

Turks & Caicos (U.K.)

Anguilla (U.K.)

N

S

EW

National capital

Other city

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

Azimuthal Equal–Area Projection

193

Latin America: Political

LATI

N A

MER

ICA

Regional Patterns

On these pages areseveral thematic mapsand a pie graph. Onemap shows the climatesof Latin America.Another depicts theurbanization of theregion. A third mapshows the languages of the region. Look atthem and see what youcan learn about LatinAmerica. Answer thesequestions in yournotebook.

Making Comparisons1. What is the climate in

much of the interior of

South America? How

does it differ from the

climate along much of

the coast? How might

the climate have affected

settlement in the interior?

2. What language do the

people speak in Brazil?

What language is spoken

in most countries in the

region?

3. Where is most of the

population located in

South America? Where

is there less population?

Why might people have

settled in these areas

rather than the others?

194 UNIT 3

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

Caribbean Sea

Gulf ofMexico

20°N

20°S

Tropic of Cancer

40°S

60°W 40°W 20°W80°W100°W120°W

Equator0°

Tropic of Capricorn

N

S

EW

Tropical wet

Tropical wet and dry

Desert

Semiarid

Mediterranean

Humid subtropical

Marine west coast

Highland

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

Azimuthal Equal–Area Projection

Climates of Latin America

SOURCE: BritannicaBook of the Year, 2000

Religions of Latin America

Other Christians 4.0%

Roman Catholic 88.6%

Nonreligious 3.1%

Spiritists 2.3%

Other 2.0%

More than 75%

50% to 75%

Less than 50%

No data

Percentage of population living in urban areas

2000population(millions)

0

10

20

195

LATI

N A

MER

ICA

Urbanization of Latin America

Languages of Latin America

Portuguese

S p a n i s h Spanish Spanish

Guarani

Q u e c h u a

Maya

Aymara

French

Haitian Creole French

English

English

Sranantongo, Dutch

English

English

S p a n i s h

S p a n i s h

S p a n i s h

SpanishPACIFIC OCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

Caribbean Sea

Gulf of Mexico

N

S

EW

Indo-European

Other languages

Spoken languageFrench

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

Azimuthal Equal–Area Projection