Latin America Today

SS6G2, SS6G3, SS6G4,

Essential Questions1. What impact has the development of trade had on the environment in Latin America?

(air pollution in Mexico City, destruction of rain forests in Brazil, and oil pollution in Venezuela)

2. What ethnic groups were created by the blending of European, Latin America and African people?

3. Why is Latin America a region based on the languages of Portuguese and Spanish?

4. What is the relationship between the literacy rate of people in Latin America and the Caribbean and their standard of living?

5. How do the trade agreements made between countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (ie NAFTA) overcome trade barriers and encourage voluntary trade in the region?

Why do landforms help people decide where to live?

Location! Location! Location!

Environmental Issues of Latin

America

Air Pollution

• Mexico City is the 9th largest populated city in the world (newgeography.com 2012) – Tokyo was #1 in 2012

• Population and location contribute to bad air pollution

• Mountains around the city trap the polluted air.

What’s Being Done

• The government promotes public transportation to help reduce air pollution

• There are restrictions on car use and workshops to teach people about the environment.

Deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest

• One valued resource of the rainforest is its large hardwood trees.

• In the 1950s, the Brazilian government began building a major highway system.

• Opened more of the forest to loggers• Increasing amounts of the rainforest are cut

down to make croplands and pastures for the growing population.

• The rainforest is being cut down for cattle (cows)

Oil Pollution

• Oil was discovered in the part of the Amazon basin

• Oil production results in toxic wastes, air pollution, and occasional oil spillage. Streams and rivers are polluted, along with the animals that live there.

• The people of high oil producing regions suffer from high levels of cancer, skin problems, breathing problems, and digestive tract problems.

• Mexico is one of the world’s major oil producers.

• Money for oil makes a large chunk of the country’s budget.

• Most of the oil is found in the Yucatan Peninsula

• People have protested the oil industry directly, but little change has happened.

• Venezuela has been producing oil for over 90 years.

• One of the largest lakes in Latin America, Lake Maracaibo and the coast along the Caribbean is polluted

• Burns more energy, and puts out more carbon dioxide, than any other country in Latin America.

• Their main source of income comes from oil, so they keep producing it

• Various groups of citizens are calling for renewable resources and the clean up and prevention of pollution caused by their country

Natural Disasters

• Earth’s colliding plates cause volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain formation.

• Active volcanoes exist in the mountain ranges of Mexico, Central America, and the Andes

• Earthquakes occur all along this mountain region.

• Haiti was hit with an earthquake on 1/12/10• The Caribbean Islands are created from an

under water mountain range. This mountain range is created from these plates rubbing together.

• Because the earthquake was only 6 miles deep it created more damage (The deeper it is the less we feel it on the surface)

• Tropical storms and hurricanes occur often in the Caribbean Islands and the Gulf of Mexico.

• Late summer and autumn• Strong winds and heavy rains of these storms

and hurricane damage crops, forests, and buildings

• Heavy rains also cause severe flooding and mudslides in deforested areas ex. Nicaragua and Honduras

Latin American and Caribbean Culture

Ethnic Groups way of life includes its customs, traditions, and religion.

Latin American Languages

• Spanish- Mexico, all of Central America, most of South America and

Dominican Republic• Portuguese- Brazil• English- Belize, Guyana,

Jamaica and most Caribbean Islands

• French- French Guiana, Haiti

• Dutch- Suriname

Religions

• Main= Catholicism• In English speaking

countries many are Protestant

Ethnic Groups

• Mestizo- Mexico, Central America, Chile, Paraguay, and Venezuela– Mostly Spanish Catholic with some Native traditions

• Mulatto- ½ of the Cuban population • Majority of Haitians and Jamaicans are of European

descent• Native Americans still form the majority of the population

in Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, Belize, Panama, and Honduras

• In Costa Rica, more than ¾’s of the people claim Spanish ancestry.

Literacy Rate

• Latin America has struggled a long time with illiteracy. (Illiteracy means a person can’t read or write)

• Chile has a high literacy rate (high percentage of 15 years and older who can read and write)

• Mexico and Brazil have a low literacy rate, and the cities cannot handle the growing population.

• In both countries there has been a drop in illiteracy. • governments of these countries are encouraging

children to stay in school and colleges offer more courses.

Latin American Governments

SS6CG2

Brazil

• How is the Government Organized?• Form of leadership- Representative Democracy

– What does that mean?

• How do Brazilians Participate in Government?– At 16, all Brazilians are required by law to vote. – Brazilians vote every 4 years for their country’s

president.

Mexico• How is the Government Organized?• Form of leadership- Federal Republic

– What does that mean they have?

• How do Mexicans Participate in Government?• Mexicans are required to vote at the age of 18. • They vote for their country’s president every 6 years.

Cuba

• How is the Government Organized?• Form of leadership- Autocratic: Dictatorship (Communism)

– What does that mean?

• Cubans did not vote for President Fidel Castro who became Cuba’s president in 1959.

• The Communist Party control Cuba’s economy at the national and regional level.

• How do Cubans Participate in Government?

– Cubans must vote in elections at 16.– Every 5 years, Cubans vote for the 600 members of the island’s only

house of legislature, the National Assembly of People’s Power. • If there is only one group to choose from, why are people required to vote?

– Cuban law limits freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and the press.

Economies of Latin America

SS6E2

Brazil

• Free market economy• Export-oriented economy. What do they

make their money from?• It’s Gross Domestic Product has

surpassed $1.6 trillion dollars, the 8th in the world and the 2nd in the Americas in the World Bank ranking.

Mexico

• Mixed leaning towards Market• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was nearly

$1.7 trillion in 2011.• Mexico is the 16th largest exporter in the

world.• Mexico is the world's 9th largest producer of

oil, exporting nearly three million barrels per day. – This is less than Iran, China and Canada, but

more than Kuwait, Nigeria and Venezuela.

Cuba

• has a planned economy it uses a central authority to plan economic activities that adhere to socialist principles.

• Most industry and means of production are owned and run by the govt.

Free Trade Agreements

• Trade Agreements allow countries to trade (make money) easier by eliminating trade barriers like tariffs and quotas.

NAFTA

North America Free Trade Agreement allows the

U.S., Canada, and Mexico to join in free trade (no

tariffs or quotas) for certain goods.

EQ’s/ Ticket Out the Door

1. What impact has the development of trade had on the environment in Latin America? (air pollution in Mexico City, destruction of rain forests in Brazil, and oil pollution in Venezuela)2. What ethnic groups were created by the blending of European, Latin America and African people?

EQ’s/ Ticket Out the Door

3. Why is Latin America a region based on the languages of Portuguese and Spanish?

4. What is the relationship between the literacy rate of people in Latin America and the Caribbean and their standard of living?

5. How do the trade agreements made between countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (ie NAFTA) overcome trade barriers and encourage voluntary trade in the region?