physical featuresoflatinamerica
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Latin America’s Physical Geography
Unit 6 NotesName: ___________________
![Page 2: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Latin America is divided into three regions: Mexico and Central America Caribbean South America
![Page 3: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Mexico and Central America 2,500 miles (about as wide as the US) mountains dominate the region
part of a huge system that extends from Canada, through the US, and all the way to the tip of South America
central plateau in Mexico lies between Sierra Madre mountains and makes up
more than half the country’s area Central America is an Isthmus.
isthmus = a narrow strip of land that has water on both sides and joins two larger bodies of water
many volcanoes in Central America, as a result, their soil is fertile and many people farm lands
![Page 4: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Mexican Plateau
![Page 5: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Gulf of Mexico
bordered by the US to the north, five Mexican states to the south, and Cuba to the east
![Page 6: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Sierra Madre Mountains mountain system in Mexico three major chains: the Sierra Madre
Occidental in the west, the Sierra Madre Oriental in the east, and the Sierra Madre del Sur, which extends along the southern coast The Sierra Madre range contains some of the
highest mountains and volcanoes in Mexico.
![Page 7: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Sierra Madre Mountains
![Page 8: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Mexico and Central America
![Page 9: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Panama Canal canal across the isthmus of Panama in Central
America allows vessels to travel between the Pacific and
Atlantic oceans handles a large volume of world shipping and
enables vessels to avoid traveling around South America, reducing their voyages by thousands of miles and many days. consists of artificially created lakes, channels, and a
series of locks, or water-filled chambers, that raise and lower ships through the mountainous terrain of central Panama
![Page 10: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Panama Canal
![Page 11: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Caribbean small islands are made of coral
skeletons of tiny sea animals, rock-like substance
larger islands are tops of underwater mountains examples: Cuba, Jamaica
![Page 12: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Caribbean Sea partially enclosed on the north and east by
the islands of the West Indies, and bounded on the south by South America and Panama, and on the west by Central America
a major trade route for Latin American countries
a popular resort area—noted for its mild tropical climate and beautiful waters
![Page 13: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Caribbean Sea
![Page 14: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
South America Andes Mountains—4,500 miles along west
coast They rise at some points to 20,000 feet—same
height as twenty 100 story buildings stacked on top of each other
2nd largest mountains; Himalayas are the 1st highlands east of the Andes Amazon River Basin—contains the largest
tropical rain forest (Amazon Rain Forest) in the world; covers 1/3 of the continent
![Page 15: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Andes
![Page 16: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Amazon Rain Forest
![Page 17: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
South America Atacama Desert (Chile)—one of the driest
places on earth; very little rainfall between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes
Mountains
![Page 18: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Atacama Desert
![Page 19: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
South America—Water rivers serve as natural highways where it’s
hard to build roads provide food and hydroelectric power
Amazon River—2nd largest river in the world (1st--Nile River) 4,000 miles from Peru across to Atlantic Ocean contains 20% of all fresh water in the world
![Page 20: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Amazon River—view from space
![Page 21: Physical featuresoflatinamerica](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022052823/55586025d8b42a943b8b5313/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)