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Table of Contents
North America Middle America South America
North America
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There are lots of pictures so it may take a minute for the page to open! |
Comparing Countries
1. Mexico, Central America, Caribbean Islands
2. physically and politically fragmented
3. culturally diverse
4. endemic poverty
1. Central America is a land bridge with a chain of rugged mountains extending through the center. These towering mountains rise as high as 14,000 feet, with the highest in Guatemala. On each side of these highlands exist lowlands along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts (with the exceptions of El Salvador, which does not border the Atlantic, and Belize, which does not border the Pacific). The lowlands are generally hot, humid and often plagued by disease, while the highlands are cooler and drier.
Why Central American Volcanoes Are Ideal for Studying Earth’s Evolution
2. Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the Caribbean Basin region is comprised of more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. (See map thumbnail above for this discussion.) These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean islands, consisting of the Greater Antilles on the north and the Lesser Antilles on the south and east (including the Leeward Antilles), are part of the somewhat larger West Indies grouping, which also includes the Lucayan Archipelago (comprising The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands) north of the Greater Antilles and Caribbean Sea. In a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are also sometimes included.
The Caribbean is divided into two main subdivisions: the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola [Haiti and the Dominican Republic] and Puerto Rico) and the Lesser Antilles. Within the Lesser Antilles, there are three sub-groupings: the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Antilles. Early sailing ships crossing the Atlantic took advantage of the trade winds and ocean currents. These often delivered them to the edge of the Caribbean Sea near Dominica. The Windward (direction upwind from the point of reference) Islands were so named because they were more windward at this location than the Leeward (direction downwind or downward from the point of reference) Islands.
3. natural hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, droughts, flooding, mud slides
1. Two of the most important civilizations to have flourished were the Mayan and Aztec Empires. Both possessed complex societies and high levels of technology. The Mayan Empire first rose more than 3,000 years ago and occupied the low-lying tropical plains of what is now Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and southern Mexico. The Aztec Empire, which came much later, is thought to have originated in the early 14th century. This empire stretched from Honduras to the highland areas of central Mexico, its core being in the great city of Tenochtitlan in the Valley of Mexico, the area that is today Mexico City. The Aztec civilization lasted approximately 100 years until Hernán Cortés, the Spanish Conquistadors and an epidemic of smallpox, effectively destroyed the Aztec Empire in the 1520s.
a. Maya cultural hearth
i. classical period 200-900 CE
ii. Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Yucatan peninsula
iii. theocratic structure
b. Aztec cultural hearth
i. 1300 CE
ii. Valley of Mexico
iii. Tenochtitlan (>100,000 people)
2. Multiple influences have overprinted the indigenous cultures. Four main colonial influences:
a. Spanish: dominant on the inland portions of the mainland and large islands
b. British: coastal areas of the mainland and islands
c. French: islands
d. Dutch: islands
3. legacy of colonialism
a. land appropriation
i. Land was appropriated for colonial commercial interests, resulting in a very unequal distribution of land ownership and income.
ii. Lands devoted to food crops for local consumption were converted to cash crops for export.
b. forced urbanization: relocation of the population to nucleated towns and villages, favored control and conversion to Catholicism
c. land alienation: characterized by famine (loss of 90% of population), poverty, migration, little agricultural diversity
i. implementation of the encomienda: replicate of the European feudal system that mandated the payment of tributes to the Crown, forced indigenous groups into the cash economy
ii. formation of large haciendas (estates): Crown rewarded conquistadores with huge land grants (including much land already used by the indigenous peoples) with natives tied to land, most provided protection and the teachings of Christianity … system ensured the presence of a large labor force that essentially was a slave labor force, with workers deriving little benefit from their labors beyond the ability to pay the encomienda … not efficient but brought social prestige to land holders
iii. ejidos system: hacienda system was broken up and most hacienda-land was given back to the people, often in the form of an ejidos system (land system in which the community owns the land but individuals can gain profit from it by sharing resources) … system has created its own set of problems and many communally-owned lands are being transferred to private owners
d. Presence of the Catholic Church is felt virtually everywhere in Latin America today. In most of these countries, the Catholic population ranges from 80 to 90%. Forcing the indigenous population to accept Catholicism was not an easy task for the Spaniards. One thing that made conversion easier was that Catholicism has many saints and the indigenous religions have many gods. For many indigenous peoples, Catholicism has been mixed with indigenous religions to form a combination of the two (religious syncretism).
Cuba’s massive Carnival celebrations have been held in some form or another since the 17th century. As a series of winter events tied to the Catholic Church’s calendar, Carnival was largely reserved for Cubans of mostly Spanish ancestry, while its summer counterpart, the Mamarrachos, allowed laborers and the lower classes (mostly enslaved Africans and their descendants) a period of riotous release after the sugar cane harvest. Many other Carnivals across the Caribbean are still observed in February, before Lent, but Cuba’s Carnival has evolved into an exuberant summer event that is celebrated across the country. The most famous parties, held in Havana in August and in Santiago de Cuba at the end of July, have preserved the vibrant spirit and Afro-Caribbean influences of the original Mamarrachos. Spangled and feathered groups of dancers called comparsas perform in the streets between giant effigies of religious figures and celebrities, decorated floats and conga performers. The mainstreaming of festivals that originated from marginalized communities hasn’t been entirely seamless, with periodic attempts by conservative Cubans to sanitize them, but the omnipresent rhythm of the Carnival drums is a permanent reminder of their roots in resilience, triumph and pure joy.
e. Mainland and Rimland characteristics of Middle America based on colonial-era economic activities … Both the hacienda and the plantation structures of agriculture altered the ethnic makeup of their respective regions.
i. mainland: the interior of Central America and Mexico … Euro-Indian influence, mestizo, greater isolation from European activity, mountains, altitudinal zonation climate (natural layering of ecosystems that occurs at distinct altitudes due to varying environmental conditions), hacienda landholding pattern
ii. rimland: Caribbean islands and the Caribbean coastal areas of Central America … Euro-African influence, mulatto, greater accessibility to European ships, islands, tropical climate, plantation landholding pattern … For example, sugar production had large economies of scale (large plantations with hundreds of slaves, large capital requirements) and resulted in high concentration of wealth and land ownership.
4. Caribbean Indians: A number of indigenous groups inhabited the Antilles before the arrival of Europeans, including the Arawaks, Caribs and the Tainos (the latter thought to have been descended from the Arawak tribe). Beginning with the Columbus expedition of 1492, European presence has had a dramatic effect on the demographic character of the Caribbean. Spanish brutality, enslavement, warfare and disease all contributed to the rapid decline of the indigenous Amerindian population. This left a critical labor shortage for the fledging sugarcane industry, thus prompting Europeans to actively seek and obtain slaves and indentured labor from Africa and Asia respectively. No less than five million Africans were brought to the Caribbean alone.
5. African Slave Trade:
African slaves primarily came from
West Africa where they were forcibly removed from their native lands and
taken to the Americas by
European slave traders. Tribal groups were rarely, if ever, left intact upon
reaching their new home. Instead they were intentionally mixed to dilute ethnic
identities. As a result, intact transfer of religion and languages into the
Caribbean did not occur, which consequently provided conditions for new dialects
and cultures to arise.
1. social stratification
a. development of a socially stratified society along racial lines
b. miscegenation: mixed race resulting between Caucasians and the indigenous population … began very early on during the colonial period since early migrations from Europe were primarily male
c. in most cases continued into contemporary times … one of the overriding realities of Latin America … one of the region's greatest problems
2. diversity: European and African influence, less Latin than South America, importance of pre-Columbian and African cultures, many European dominions (English, French, Dutch), sizeable Asian minorities in some countries … Caribbean changes: entirely Amerindian, dominated by European colonizers, an African majority population … Central America/Mexico changes: mixing of European culture with Amerindian culture to form various types of mestizo (people of mixed ethnicity) groups with Hispanic, Latino or Chicano identities
3. Euro-Indian vs. Euro-African: mestizos (métis) (European / Indian), mulattos (European / Black) … tend to follow a mainland-rimland pattern
4. Middle America’s climates and landscapes have a large impact on settlement patterns in the region. (In Latin America as a whole, most of the population lives on only one-third of the land.)
a. Mexico: largest concentrations in Mexico City area, with sizeable indigenous concentrations in southern Mexico
b. Central America: most in middle altitudes and along Pacific coast … Atlantic coast less settled due to lowlands, tropical rainforest, infertile soils, tropical storms
c. Caribbean: most concentrated populations generally along coasts …
because of these countries’ small sizes, tend to have high population densities
5. Middle America has faced problems in past decades with
soaring population growth and economies and infrastructures that
struggled to keep up with the rising population. However, in recent years,
population growth rates have dropped dramatically. Yet aggregate numbers
do not reflect the variation in birthrates between various countries. The most
extreme variation can be found in Cuba and Guatemala which respectively have the
lowest (1.47) and highest (3.98) fertility rates in Middle America. Cuba faces a
rapidly aging population, while Guatemala has seen an increase in younger
working-age adults. Look at the regional
population pyramids (above right). Population pyramids are used by
demographers as a tool for understanding the make-up of a given population. They
are graphs that show the age-sex distributions of different populations. Sex is
shown on the left/right sides, age on the y-axis, and the percentage of
population on the x-axis. Each grouping (ex: males aged 0-4) is called a cohort.
A population pyramid does not tell you the actual population in numbers. Rather,
it displays percentages and shows what portion of a population fall into each
cohort. In general, the more rectangular the graph is shaped, the slower a
population is growing (a more uniform population size across age groups with older
generations being replaced by new generations of approximately the same size).
The more a graph looks like a pyramid, the faster that population is growing
(older generations are producing larger new generations).
6. Internal migration (especially rural-to-urban) and regional migration (predominately for economic reasons) are increasing.
7. Poverty: Share of the region's population in extreme poverty is falling. Middle class is growing. Still an awful lot of people in extreme poverty … largest single group of people in the region is the “vulnerable” and at risk of slipping back into poverty if their fortunes change. Income disparities have improved but remain high. (All countries in Latin America are more unequal than Turkey, the most unequal OECD country from outside the region.) Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to poverty. Natural disasters have aggravated poverty in the region.
Economic Characteristics1. NAFTA (1994) trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the US: reduced and regulated trade tariffs, barriers and quotas … standardized finance and service exchanges … advantages: Mexico gained jobs, foreign owners benefitted from cheaper labor costs … effects: regional development, development of an international growth corridor between Monterrey and Dallas - Fort Worth … future: model came to a standstill in 21st century due to labor competition from China ($0.35 to $1 per hour), loss of 300,000 jobs
2. Mexico and NAFTA: promised a higher standard of living. NAFTA created more jobs for Mexicans as US companies began to invest more heavily in the Mexican market. Mexican exporters increased their sales to the US and Canada. Canada remained the United States’ largest export market. Since 1977, Mexico moved into second place (displacing Japan). 85% of all Mexican exports now went to the US. 75% of Mexico’s imports originated in the US.
3. USMCA: In early 2020, Congress approved the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) as a replacement for NAFTA. Some critics have complained that the new agreement amounts to government-managed trade. However, the USMCA is very similar to NAFTA, carrying over many of the same provisions and making only modest, mostly cosmetic changes and is expected to make only a minor economic impact. Labor has criticized the labor standards in the USMCA as unenforceable and toothless. It is feared that a measure that expands the patent length for biological substances to 10 years, thus limiting access for new generic drugs to enter the market, will make it harder to bring down drug prices. It is also feared that the data and IP provisions of the USMCA run the risk of turning Canadian firms into "data cows" of foreign big data.
4. CAFTA: The goal of the Dominican Republic-Central America-US Free Trade Agreement (2005) or CAFTA-DR is to eliminate tariffs and promote market access for the participants, which include Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the US.
5. tropical deforestation in Central America: 3 million acres of woodland
in Central America disappear each year ... causes: clearing of rural lands to
accommodate meat production and export, rapid logging of tropical woodlands to
meet global demands (new housing, paper and furniture), population explosion
(cut to provide crop-raising space and firewood)![The Caicos Islands (pronounced KAY-kohss) in the northern Caribbean are known for their beautiful beaches and clear waters. The islands lie primarily along the northern perimeter of the submerged Caicos Bank, a shallow limestone platform formed of sand, algae, and coral reefs covering 2,370 square miles. [NASA satellite photo]](../images/Caicos.gif)
6. tourism: Caribbean countries are small with limited agricultural potential and economic opportunities. Yet the increased cost of acquiring goods for purchase keeps the costs of living high ... advantages of tourism: state and regional economic options, a clean industry, educational ... disadvantages: disjunctive development, degrades fragile environmental resources, inauthentic representations of native cultures
How biodiversity conservation can unlock opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean
1. In general, the struggle for power between Liberals and Conservatives has dominated politics during most of post-independence history. As their name suggests, conservatives are generally resistant to change that would threaten their favored position in society. They favor monarchies and strong central governments. Liberals, on the other hand, emphasize the importance of reason and favor republics with greater democracy. Liberals have sought to reduce the importance, wealth and political power of the Catholic Church, and support greater freedom of religion. Conservatives have sought to maintain the church’s privileged position. They also favor economies dominated by a few large monopolies (power and status quo), while liberals favor a more competitive marketplace and free trade.
2. The Cold War complicated matters in Middle America as the Soviet Union and
the US competed for influence throughout the region. The US did not want Middle
American countries governed by rulers it perceived to be friendly to the
Soviets. The US feared that if Middle American governments became communist, the
rest of Latin America would become communist (the domino theory), including
Mexico, which borders the US. Because of this, the US has consistently supported
(politically, economically and militarily) conservative authoritarian leaders
throughout the region. The result has been a region dominated by powerful
dictators and the relative absence of democracy.
3. Middle America
b. Central America
i. Belize
vii. Republic of Panama
c. Caribbean Basin
i. Greater Antilles: Republic of Cuba, Hispaniola (Republic of Haiti and Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (US)
ii. Lesser Antilles: Anguilla (UK), Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba (Netherlands), Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands (UK), Cayman Islands (UK), Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat (UK), Overseas Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (France), Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Overseas Collectivity of Saint Martin (France), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands (UK), Virgin Islands (US)
iii. The Netherlands Antilles dissolved on October 10, 2010. Curaçao and Sint Maarten (the Dutch two-fifths of the island of Saint Martin) became autonomous territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba (BES) now fall under the direct administration of the Netherlands.
Political Resources on the Net
Google's Arts & Culture collection virtual world museum tours
Central America Regional Headlines
Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexico | The Aztecs founded Mexico City in 1325 AD. Spanish conquistadors led by the legendary Hernán Cortés conquered it two centuries later. In fact, the combination of ancient Indian traditions and young European ambitions is what makes the modern capital of Mexico unique. All of Mexico City's contrasts – high crime rates vs. local hospitality, ultra modern skyscrapers vs. Aztec pyramids, slums vs. magnificent palaces, hills vs. plains — provide the city with a special unforgettable atmosphere. | The Oldest Surviving Book in the Americas | Ocomtún: A long-lost Maya city that was just discovered | Mexico’s first female president takes office. | Mexico City’s metro system is sinking fast. | Mexico City is running out of water.
The ancient city of Chichen Itza, located in the northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, was founded in the 7th century CE during the golden age of Mayan culture. One of the key structures in Chichen Itza is the Temple of Kukulkan, a 79-foot-high pyramid built for the Supreme God of the Wind and Rain, and the founder of royal dynasties and large cities. The Maya depicted Kukulkan as a feathered serpent with a human head. This is why a feathered serpent appears in the Temple of Kukulkan on every spring and autumn equinox. At about 3 pm on those days, the sunlight casts a series of shadows against the western balustrade of the main stairway, creating an optical illusion of a 121-foot-long snake that follows the sun wriggling down to its own head carved at the base of the staircase … a unique collaboration of nature and architecture.
Sacred Sites of Mexico | Swimming with the sea lions of Los Islotes | Intimate Portraits of Mexico’s Third-Gender Muxes | An Intimate Look at Mexico’s Indigenous Seri People | The Muxes of Mexico: A Third Gender | 500-Year-Old Walls and a Haunting Past: Exploring the Haciendas of Central Mexico
Belize | Garífuna life in Belize | Journey into the Maya underworld | Belize Picture Gallery | Take a tour of Belize and explore its national parks, Mayan ruins and its six political districts.
Costa Rica | Costa Rica (5:09) | The Real Costa Rica is an amateur site but it covers a lot of ground and is surprisingly accurate. It’s also quite interesting. The Tico Times is a daily English-language online newspaper based in San José, Costa Rica, and the leading source of English-language news in the region, first as a weekly print newspaper and later as a Web-only publication. Monteverde, Costa Rica, a small community in Puntarenas, is considered a major ecotourism destination in Costa Rica. The area is host to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and numerous other reserves. | Top things to do in Costa Rica | Places to Visit in Costa Rica (a travel site but lots of good pictures and descriptions) | Sacred Sites of Costa Rica | Is this the Silicon Valley of Latin America? | Costa Rica’s lush rainforests, which blanket a quarter of the country, are being infiltrated by cartels on a quest to find new trafficking routes to evade the authorities.
El Salvador, the smallest country in Central and South America, has traditionally been one of the top ten countries of origin (4:34) of foreign–born persons in the US. About half the population lives below the national poverty line, able to buy food but not clothing and medicine. Over half of these families live in a situation of extreme poverty. Forty-seven percent of the population does not have access to clean water. The capital, San Salvador, is a mix of modern amenities and extreme poverty. | El Salvador Guide | An Introduction to the Culture of El Salvador for Providers of Disability Services in the US | Costa Rica Cam
Guatemala | Maya Pyramids, Tikal, Guatemala: The first Mayan settlements were established on the continent of North America around 2000 BCE. This ancient civilization greatly influenced history with its writing, art, architecture, mathematics and astronomical systems. Tikal was originally known as Yax Mutul; that is how it's referred to in hieroglyphic inscriptions. From the 1st to the 9th century, Yax Mutul was the capital of the Mutul Kingdom. The city reached its apogee in 600 to 800 CE with a population of perhaps 90,000 people. Then, at the end of the 10th century and for unknown reasons, it suddenly went into decline and was engulfed by the surrounding jungle. The city – an area greater than 6 square miles – has been completely mapped. It contains about 3000 structures, including various palaces, the Acropolis, funeral ritual grounds and even a prison. Many of the ancient structures have not yet been excavated. | Sacred Sites of Guatemala | Anticorruption campaigner Bernardo Arévalo, the most progressive Guatemalan leader in decades, won the 2023 presidential election in a landslide but faces a barrage of legal attacks aimed at preventing an orderly transfer of power. | Guatemala’s new president is sworn in, despite efforts to stop him.
Honduras was home to several important
Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the
Maya, before the Spanish invaded in
the
sixteenth
century. The Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant
Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the
indigenous culture. Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a
republic, although it has consistently endured social strife and political
instability, and remains one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Honduras has the
world's highest murder rate.
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Honduras News
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Sacred Sites of Honduras
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Tegucigalpa
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The Mystery of the Healthy Coral Reef
The name Nicaragua was coined by Spanish colonists based on the name of the chief of the most populous indigenous tribe in the 1500s. Those colonists settled along Lake Nicaragua, the largest of several freshwater lakes in southwestern Nicaragua and the dominant physical feature of the country. It is also the largest lake in Central America. It is believed that Lake Nicaragua, together with Lake Managua to the northwest, originally formed part of an ocean bay that, as a result of volcanic eruption, became an inland basin containing the two lakes, which are linked by the Tipitapa River. The ocean fish thus trapped adapted themselves as the salt water gradually turned fresh. Lake Nicaragua is the only freshwater lake containing oceanic animal life, including sharks, swordfish, and tarpon. | LANIC Nicaragua | Culture | Nicaragua Canal | Nicaragua Canal 2 | A Guide to Lake Nicaragua's Islands | Sacred Sites of Nicaragua
Panama Canal: 100th Anniversary, from census.gov | Panama | The earthbound bite back | History and geography | Panama Canal | Through the new Panama Canal | Economy | Open All Night | EIU: Panama | Rural poverty in Panama | Panama trade | What It’s Like Crossing the World's Deadliest Jungle | The Rival to the Panama Canal That Was Never Built | 'We left pieces of our life behind': Indigenous group flees drowning island.
Some of the most interesting environments in the Caribbean are not apparent to a terrestrial explorer. The coral reefs and animal life of the islands are of great interest to recreational divers from all over the world. The importance of this natural resource to tourism is immeasurable. | Coral Reef Fishes - Coral Reef Life on Sea and Sky (Check out the links on this page.) | What Are Coral Reefs And What's Their Purpose? (4:42) | Ecological and socioeconomic strategies to sustain Caribbean coral reefs in a high-CO2 world | Caribbean coral reefs ‘will be lost within 20 years’ without protection
Hurricanes represent one of the most important weather-related threats to the environment of this region. The islands of the Caribbean, with their low elevation, are particularly vulnerable to these impressive super-storms. The sheer power exerted in only a matter of hours by a hurricane can reshape the environment of an island for many years after the event. Strong winds, high volumes of precipitation and tremendous coastal surges all contribute to the destructive power that these storms are known to produce.
Whether it is the Dominican Republic, Jamaica or the US Virgin Islands, a trip to the beaches and ecosystems of the Caribbean makes it clear why the Caribbean has become a popular vacation destination for millions each year.
Take a virtual field trip around the islands of the Caribbean from Bermuda to Trinidad.
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. Culturally, it is considered part of Latin America. It is a multiethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, and a close relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. | Cuban Missile Crisis | Russia and Cuba | US-Cuba Relations | Cuba’s New Now | Cuba Today in pictures | Life in Cuba Today: 53 Years of Castro | Sacred Sites of Cuba | Cuba | Photos of Life in Rural Cuba in the Mid-1950s
Travel to the Dominican Republic and learn more about sustainable eco-tourism in one of the two countries found on the isle of Hispaniola. | Sacred Sites of the Dominican Republic | Dominican Republic | USAID online courses on Sustainable Tourism | Focus on Globalization: the Dominican Republic
Haiti, in the West Indies, occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is two-thirds mountainous, with the rest of the country marked by great valleys, extensive plateaus and small plains. Its history as a French colony based on sugarcane plantations worked by slaves brought from Africa, has given it a unique culture. France agreed to Haiti’s independence in exchange for 150 million francs. The enforced payments to France reduced Haiti's economy for years and began a post-colonial history of poverty and instability, punctuated every few years by devastating storms, hurricanes, floods, mudslides, earthquakes, revolts, coups d’état, outbreaks of cholera, etc. | Haitian Embassy | 88 Little Known Facts about Haiti | In Haiti: A Road Trip Documentary (1:13:53) | Haiti and the Dominican Republic | Revolutionary Haiti and the US | Sacred Sites of Haiti | Reparations to slavers are the root of Haiti’s misery. | ‘This Is It. This Is Our Chance.’ It’s Time for Everyone to Get Out of Haiti’s Way. | The Root of Haiti’s Misery | America’s long history of anti-Haitian racism, explained | A Portrait of Haitians Trying to Survive Without a Government | Haiti gang wars push hunger to worst levels on record. | Haiti’s Many Problems and Very Few Solutions, Explained | Haiti was the first and only nation to pay reparations to its former slave masters and their descendants for generations, setting off a cycle of perpetual debt.
Puerto Rico is located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea and is the largest insular territory of the US. It is an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands such as Mona, Culebra and Vieques. The capital and most populous city is San Juan. Puerto Rico’s aging population constitutes a major health challenge for the future. | The Tanks of Flamenco Beach | In Puerto Rico, a new generation votes for change.
Anguilla
(4:59), a
British overseas territory
in
the Eastern Caribbean, includes a small
main
island and several offshore islets … the first in the chain of the
Leeward Islands. Protected areas include
Big Spring Cave, known for its prehistoric petroglyphs, and
East End Pond
(3:13), a wildlife conservation site.
Fountain Cavern is the Eastern Caribbean’s most intact ceremonial
site from ancient times and features petroglyphs, offering bowls and a
stalagmite carved in the likeness of Jocahu, the Supreme Deity of the
Arawak people. The Caribs, a tribe of cannibals, captured the island
from the peaceful Arawak tribe and completely eradicated them. The earliest
Amerindian artifacts found on
Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BCE, and
the remains of some settlements date from 600 CE. Those influences and the
influences of the colonial era have made Anguilla a
melting pot of cultures. Today, tourism is the major industry. |
Nature Explorers Anguilla |
Anguilla Cam
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island country lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands. The capital and largest port and city is St. John's, on Antigua. | Redonda (an uninhabited Caribbean island which is politically part of Antigua and Barbuda) | A Weekend in Antigua | Economy | Politics | LANIC: Antigua and Barbuda | The Daily Observer | Culture | Take a trip to Antigua and Barbuda and experience more than just their spectacular beaches. | Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba is a
constituent country of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands in the southern Caribbean Sea, located about 990 miles west of
the main part of the Lesser Antilles and 18 miles north of the coast of
Venezuela. It measures 20 miles long
from its northwestern to its southeastern end and 6 miles across at its widest
point.
Aruba is one of the four countries that form the
Kingdom of the Netherlands, along
with the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Unlike much of the Caribbean
region, Aruba has a
dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn
landscape. It is a generally
flat, river-less island
with white sandy beaches on the western and southern coasts of the island,
relatively sheltered from ocean currents.
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Aruba Cam
The Bahamas is a group of about 700 atolls and cays that is part of the Lucayan Archipelago in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, of which only between 30 and 40 are inhabited. Nassau is the capital and largest city, located on New Providence. The islands have a tropical climate, moderated by the Gulf Stream (4:01). The Bahamas became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as monarch. In terms of GDP per capita, the Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas (following the US and Canada). Its economy is based on tourism and finance. | Bahamas Out Island Culture | Blue holes of the Bahamas | Development: The Bahamas
A former British colony, Barbados became independent in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance, and today this beautiful and highly-developed island is mostly about tourism. Barbados is a flat coral island pushed out of the sea by volcanic activity, but there are rolling hills and many deep ridges and gullies, with an interesting distribution of flora and fauna. Coral reefs fringe the Barbados shoreline and the constant breezes of the trade winds give Barbados a mild and pleasant tropical climate. Within the Barbados coral core there is a vast array of caves and underground lakes which provide an excellent supply of drinking water that is among the purest in the world. Geologically, Barbados is unique, being actually two land masses that merged together over the millennia. Historic Bridgetown, the Barbados capital, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. | Bajan Culture | Barbados country fact sheet | The Barbados Rebellion
Unlike Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten (each of which have separate country status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba voted for direct ties with the Netherlands and now constitute “the Caribbean part of the Netherlands.” Each island is now legally akin to Dutch municipalities, with adjustments for their small size, their distance from the Netherlands and their geographic situation in the Caribbean region. Every resident of the three islands who has Dutch nationality now has the right to vote in elections for the Dutch House of Representatives and the right to vote in European Parliament elections. They are not, however, allowed to vote in Provincial Council elections because they are not part of any Dutch province. | Bonaire Marine Park | Kralendijk, Bonaire (3:47) | Rincón, Bonaire | Washington-Slagbaai National Park, Bonaire | Pekelmeer, Bonaire | Oranjestad, Sint Eustatius | Sint Eustatius: The Golden Rock | St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR) | Statia National Marine Park | St. Eustatius Parks | The Bottom, Saba | Mount Scenery, Saba | Saba Photo Gallery | Saba, the Unspoiled Queen | Exploring the Dutch Island of Saba (9:45) | Salt Works
Welcome Guide to the British Virgin Islands | Four large islands (of 36): Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, Virgin Gorda | BVI History | BVI Geography | UK and the BVI | BVI Newbie | British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands | History | Geography | UK and the Cayman Islands | Includes: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman | Culture
Curaçao, along with the Netherlands, Aruba and Sint Maarten, is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It includes the main island and the uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao. Its capital is Willemstad. | Environmental Pollution | History | CURINDE | True Nature (9:31) | Christoffel Park | Curaçao’s Coral Challenge: Reviving the Rain Forests of the Sea | Curaçao | Papiamentu
Much of volcanic Dominica – the nature island – is blanketed by untamed rainforest (6:42). Roseau (2:53) is Dominica’s compact, noisy, chaotic capital, situated on the coast and the Roseau River. Morne Trois Pitons National Park, with its lakes, fumaroles, volcanoes, hot springs and dense tropical forest, stretches across 17,000 acres of Dominica’s mountainous volcanic interior. Named for Dominica’s tallest peak, the park was established to protect the habitat of the Sisserou parrot (the national bird) and the Jaco parrot. Dominica, the youngest island of the Lesser Antilles, is still forming. | This is Dominica (12:35) | Soufriere Scott’s Head Marine Reserve | Soufriere Sulfur Springs | Dominica News Online
Grenada consists of the main island and smaller surrounding islands, including Carriacou and Petit Martinique. Most of the population lives on Grenada, which is also home to the capital, St. George's, whose colorful homes and Georgian buildings overlook narrow Carenage Harbor. The islands are of volcanic origin with extremely rich soil. Grenada's interior is very mountainous and several small rivers with beautiful waterfalls flow into the sea from these mountains. The national bird of Grenada, the Grenada dove, is found only on Grenada and is one of the most critically endangered doves in the world. Grenada is known as the Island of Spice because of the production of nutmeg and mace crops, of which it is one of the world's largest exporters. Grenada's modern focus, however, is tourism. | Grenada Marine Protected Areas
Guadeloupe is an overseas region of France located in the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Columbus was the first European to land on Guadeloupe, while seeking fresh water, and is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island. The main territory of Guadeloupe consists of the twin islands of Basse-Terre to the west and Grande-Terre to the east, the two being separated by a narrow channel, the Salée River. | Marie-Galante (a dependency of Guadeloupe) | Les Saintes (a small archipelago and dependency of Guadeloupe) | 10 Reasons to Love the Guadeloupe Islands | History | Britons flee French island of Guadeloupe as rioters turn on white families | Pointe-A-Pitre | Official Site
Jamaica | Come back to Jamaica and visit the largest English-speaking country in the Caribbean. | As Cost of Importing Food Soars, Jamaica Turns to the Earth | Jamaica Cam
Martinique, one of the Windward Islands, is an overseas region of France located in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Volcanic in origin, Martinique is a mountainous island crowned by the still-smoldering Mont Pelée, which wiped out its former capital of St-Pierre in 1902. | Photos | Time lapsed Discover Martinique (0:58) | Pointe-A-Pitre | History and Geography | Culture
Montserrat is nicknamed The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. It is a British overseas territory. In recent decades, hurricanes and active volcanoes (3:40) have battered the 40 square mile island. | Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat (6:17) | The Caribbean Island That's Half Paradise, Half Mud-Drowned Wasteland | Montserrat: a modern-day Pompeii in the Caribbean | Montserrat’s Unexpected Life | Montserrat
The Soufriere Hills, Montserrat, West Indies site is maintained by the Michigan Technological University as part of their volcano monitoring activity around the world. The Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat has been very active in recent years. This site contains links to information about the volcano itself, as well as many images of the volcano in various stages of eruption. Additionally, there are links to the Montserrat Tourist Information Board, a good site that illustrates the impact of geography on people since much of the island has been evacuated due to the volcanic activity.
Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts) is an overseas collectivity of France in the northern Leeward Islands. This arid, volcanic rock of just eight square miles is home to an eclectic mix of iguanas and night-blooming cactus. | History | St. Barts webcam | Picture Gallery
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is a two-island country located in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population. The country is a Commonwealth realm, with the British monarch as head of state. St. Kitts and Nevis were among the first islands to be occupied by Europeans. Today, the economy is dependent on tourism, agriculture and small manufacturing industries. The islands also provide fantastic diving sites due to abundant marine life. A major sugar exporter for centuries, the large plantations are now beautiful estates that have been converted into hotels and resorts. | St Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia | Although many thousands of St. Lucians
have emigrated to various parts of the Americas and Europe, especially during
the 20th century, their identification as St. Lucians remains strong,
even among those born in the diaspora. The question of a
shared culture is contentious, for
Saint Lucians are divided along many lines, yet there is a strong sense of
belonging to a
place, a locality, of which they have
a sense of possession.
|
History |
Local Citizens Leading Coral Restoration Effort in St. Lucia |
Economy |
St Lucia
Saint-Martin, encompassing the northern 60% of the island of Saint Martin, is a French overseas collectivity. Its capital is Marigot. Tourism is the main economic activity. | History | Photo Gallery | Culture
St. Vincent and the Grenadines consist of the island of St. Vincent – mountainous, well forested and dominated by the volcano Mount Soufrière – and the Grenadines – a chain of nearly 600 islets with a total area of only 17 square miles that extend for 60 miles between St. Vincent and Grenada. | Photo Galleries | Young Caribbean Team Braces for Daunting Task in World Cup Qualifier | History | Bank of SVG | Reefs in SVG | St Vincent and the Grenadines | Island Hopping in the Grenadines
Sint Maarten, along with the Netherlands, Curaçao and Aruba, is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It encompasses the southern 40% of the divided island of Saint Martin. Its capital is Philipsburg (25:05). | The Daily Herald | History | St Maarten government MPs support call for a referendum on independence | Culture
With a GNI per capita of $14,400, Trinidad and Tobago is one of the wealthiest and well-developed nations in the Caribbean … although it still has problems. In November 2011, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development removed Trinidad and Tobago from its list of developing countries. Trinidad’s economy is strongly influenced by the petroleum industry. Tourism and manufacturing are also important to the local economy. Tourism is a growing sector, although not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. Agricultural products include citrus, cocoa and others. | Breathless in Trinidad and Tobago (25:25) and The Black Diamond: Lake Asphalt (7:16) are two excellent videos on Trinidad and Tobago. | Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency over rising crime.
The Turks and Caicos Islands, or TCI for short, are a British overseas territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the northern Caribbean region. | History | Geography | Economy | the islands | Environmental Protection | Turks and Caicos Islands
The US Virgin Islands includes three main islands (St Thomas, St Croix and St John), the small and historically fascinating Water Island just off St Thomas, and roughly 50 other islands and cays. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, and are an organized, unincorporated United States territory. Covered with red-roofed buildings and houses, capital city Charlotte Amalie sits amid lush green hills and is widely considered the most beautiful port in the Caribbean. | Governor Kenneth E. Mapp | Virgin Islands National Park | Virgin Islands Daily News | Energy Snapshot | USVI webcams | USVI Lighthouses | US Virgin Islands' Economy, from census.gov | St Thomas Virgin Islands Cam | St Croix Virgin Islands Cam
There are lots of pictures so it may take a minute for the page to open!
1. population concentrated along periphery
2. cultural pluralism
3. minimal regional economic interaction
1. South America can be divided into three physical regions: mountains and highlands, river basins, and coastal plains. Mountains and coastal plains generally run in a north-south direction, while highlands and river basins generally run in an east-west direction.
a. mountains and highlands: primary mountain system situated on the far western edge of the continent, the Andes, is also the world’s longest (5,500 miles) … highest peak (22,841 feet), Aconcagua, is tallest mountain outside Asia … altiplano of Peru and Bolivia … Patagonia region of Argentina and Chile consists of lower-elevation plateaus and rugged glaciers … Brazilian Highlands, south of the Amazon River in Brazil, are made up of low mountains and plateaus … heavily forested plateau of the Guiana Highlands located between the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers
b. 
river basins:
Amazon basin (2.7 million square miles) in the central north fed by
tributaries from the
glaciers of the Andes (The glaciers are melting so quickly, it's hard to
find a good current photo.) and defined by
dense, tropical
rain forest (Every second, the
Amazon River empties 7,381,000 cubic feet of freshwater into the Atlantic
Ocean.) …
Paraguay/Paraná basin covers over 1 million square miles and is made up of
vast grasslands, supplies water to the Pampas (plains biome, most important
grazing and cropland areas on the continent) of South America, includes
Iguazu Falls (a massive series of waterfalls) …
Orinoco basin a giant arc north of Amazon for more than 1,700 miles and
covers an
area of about 366,000 square miles, the
Llanos (a vast savanna or grassland region) is primary biome of the Orinoco
River basin
c. coastal plains: areas of low, flat land next to a seacoast … found on the northeastern Atlantic coast of Brazil and the western Pacific coast of Peru and Chile … both extremely dry, western coastal plain includes Atacama Desert (driest region in the world with average rainfall of 0.04 inches a year, some parts have never had rain in recorded history), a rich source of copper
d. The Darién
Gap: a sliver of jungle that is the only land route between Central
America and South America, a roadless and lawless crossing on the border
between
Colombia and Panama consisting of more than sixty miles of dense rain forest,
steep mountains and vast swamps. Thick, hot and prone to intense rain and
landslides, sliced by raging rivers and steep mountains, the Darién jungle has
acted as a vast natural barrier between North and South America for generations.
Guerrillas and other armed groups have long used the dense forest for cover and
drug smuggling, sometimes attacking those who dare to pass. Diseases like
malaria and dengue are common. Deep in the jungle, travelers are faced with high
heat and humidity, robbery, rape, human trafficking, wild animals, insects and
the absolute lack of safe drinking water.
2. South America’s extreme geographic variation contributes to the continent’s large number of biomes (a community of animals and plants that spreads over an area with a relatively uniform climate). With an unparalleled number of plant and animal species, South America’s rich biodiversity is unique among the world’s continents.
1. Of the civilizations of South America, one of the most important was that of the Incan Empire. The empire, which originated around the 13th century and lasted nearly 350 years, occupied the highland areas of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. The ancient Incan language of Quechua is still in use in parts of South America today. Agriculture was extremely important to the native peoples of the region. Their advancements in farming and crop domestication, which were quickly brought back to the old world by European explorers, ultimately helped transform modern Europe.
a. cultural hearth: intermontane basin around Cuzco (1200-1535 CE)
b. altiplano (high plain) key to settlement patterns
c. 12 million population at high point
d. impressive transportation networks and integration efforts: built an expansive network of roads including forts, inns, food storage facilities, signal towers
2. There are other indigenous groups in South America: Aymara, Guna, Huaorani, Guaraní, Mapuche, Quechuas and many others.
3. The importation of African slaves represented a major shift in the cultural landscape of South America. Most slaves were brought to Brazil. Their unique cultural practices were integrated with indigenous Indian beliefs as well as European rituals.
4. South America’s cultural spheres:
a. tropical plantation
i. resembles Middle America rimland
ii. location, soil, climate favor plantation crops, especially sugar
iii. initially relied on African slave labor
b. European commercial
i. most “Latin” part of South America
ii. includes the Pampas (temperate grasslands)
iii. economically most advanced
iv. excellent transportation networks and quality of life
c. rural Amerindian
i. correlates with former Inca Empire
ii. feudal socioeconomic structure persists
iii. includes some of the poorest areas
iv. subsistence agriculture must contend with difficult environmental challenges
d. mixed Mestizo
i. surrounds Amerindian subsistence region
ii. culturally and agriculturally mixed zone
iii. transitional economies
e. undifferentiated / Amazon
i. characteristics difficult to classify
ii. sparsely populated
iii. notable features: isolation and lack of change
iv. Amazonia development may prompt significant changes.
5. Columbian Exchange: (Use the thumbnail above right.) contact between the people, plants and animals of the old and new worlds … Both sides were forever changed by the introduction of different species … The Spanish and Portuguese brought a number of crops with them: wheat (flourished in upland areas), grapes and olives (produced commercially in temperate zones of South America), sugar cane (became the dominant cash crop of Caribbean and Brazilian tropical lowlands), coffee (emerged as a large export crop that was cultivated in the upland areas of Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil) … a number of crops were transported to Europe: corn, potatoes, manioc, hot peppers, tomatoes, pineapple, cacao, avocados … diseases: smallpox, measles, whooping cough, bubonic plague, diphtheria, influenza … Europeans brought: horses, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, rats
Demographic Characteristics1. urbanization: movement to and clustering of people in towns and cities (79%)
a. Latin America is the most urbanized of the world’s developing regions. It is the only developing region with more poor people in cities than in rural areas.
b. Increase based on rate of natural increase and internal migration (consolidation of lands, mechanization of agriculture, more opportunities in cities).
c. A number of cities are classified as megacities (more than 10 million people): Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires.
d. Urbanization will define the human geography of South America in years to come. Individuals and families face increasing job insecurity, lower wages and a reduction in social services such as electricity and water.
2. diversity: largest number of indigenous groups in the world, largest concentration of Africans outside Africa and of Japanese outside Japan, creole (African descent who emigrated from British and French colonies in the Caribbean), large populations of mixed races: mestizo (European/Indigenous), mulatto (European/African), zambo (African/Indigenous)
3. population distribution: interior sparsely populated, most live in upland coastal regions and in cites … During colonial era, preferential treatment was given to city dwellers, providing a motivation to move to the cities.
4. Latin American City Model (Griffin-Ford Model): Latin American cities are built around a core central business district (CBD). Out of that district comes a commercial spine surrounded by elite housing. These areas are then surrounded by three concentric zones of housing that decrease in quality as one moves away from the CBD. (Look at the illustration of the model by using the thumbnail to the left.)
a. commercial / CBD: focus of employment, entertainment and economic activity … Roads, trains and buses are fairly reliable here.
b. spine: connects CBD to retail areas, a corridor of retail that leads to the mall (formal retail economy, taxed and licensed by the government) on one end and the market (informal economy, traditional area beyond control/taxation of government, unlicensed people sell homemade goods and services, may or may not be legal) on the other
c. industrial park: jobs of those in the middle and lower class, in a convenient place for those who are without transportation
d. zone of maturity: residential area in which a stable population has gradually transformed the district into one that is fully serviced, best residential areas outside the spine area and attracting most of the middle-class
e. zone of in situ accretion: mix of middle and low income housing,
generally thought of as a transitional area (moving either up or down), homes
vary widely in size, type and quality of materials
f. zone of peripheral squatter settlements: new residents / impoverished / unskilled, virtually no infrastructure, many homes are built by residents using whatever materials they can find, older settlements better developed as residents often continually work to improve the areas, contrasts with affluent and comfortable suburbs that ring North American cities
g. disamenity/periferico: relatively unchanging slums (barrios or favelas) that may not be connected to regular city services and are mostly overrun by gangs and drug lords … periferico: on the ends of the disamenity sectors, home to the poorest of the poor of the city, normally overpopulated, not serviced by the city
h. elite residential sector: forms on either side of the spine that contains amenities attractive to wealthy (water and electricity, as well as offices, shops, restaurants, etc), where nearly all of city's professionally built houses are located, large tree lined boulevards
i. gentrification: process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle to upper-middle class owner-occupied area
j. middle class residential tract: outer semi ring on either side of elite residential sector, middle-class housing clustered around an agglomeration such as a mall
Look at city maps for some South American cities by using the links below (or find others online). See how they fit the Latin American city model. Some of the maps are older, some newer, but they were all drawn long after the cities were founded … Keep in mind that the maps reflect changes made to the cities over the years so none of them will fit the model perfectly.
If your Spanish is rusty, the following might be helpful in reading the maps or go to SpanishDict for translations.
área
area
convento
convent
monumento
monument
avenida
avenue
correo
post office
museo
museum
banco
bank
cuartel
quarter
palacio
palace
biblioteca
library
escuela
school
panteón
mausoleum
calle
street
estación
station
parque
park
capilla
chapel
gubierno
government
parroquia
parish church
casa
house, business
huerta
farmers market
plaza
plaza, square
catedral
cathedral, center
iglesia
church
policía
police
cementerio
cemetery
jardin
garden
puente
bridge
centro
center
mayor
bigger, older
río
river
ciudad vieja
old city
mercado
market
santuario
sanctuary
colegio
college
metropolitano
metropolitan
teatro
theater
comercia
trade
ministerio
ministry
universidad
university
congreso
congress
monasterio
monastery
zona
zone, area
1. An early obstacle to industrial growth in South America was the scarcity of coal. South Americans have gradually developed their natural-gas reserves and hydroelectric plants produce most of the continent's electricity.
2. The bi-polar distribution of land established during three centuries of colonial rule is still, after nearly two centuries of independence, one of the crucial underpinnings of persistent high levels of income inequality in South America.
3. Economic integration has been difficult because individual countries have traditionally been oriented toward Europe and the US, not toward each other. Since World War II, South America has sought greater economic independence. An increasing number of South American industrial centers have developed heavy industries to supplement the light industries on which they had previously concentrated.
4. There have been some efforts at economic integration with varying degrees of success.
a. MERCOSUR
d. NAFTA (expand into South America to include Chile)
1. South America’s political geography is defined by a desire to reduce foreign influence. This desire plus the nationalization or privatization of industry (both with mixed results), as well as the influence of indigenous groups, are the primary forces affecting politics in South America.
2. Mestizos were at the heart of South America’s revolutionary movements but freedom did not end in stability. Colonialism left most of the continent with strong militaries, weak economies and class divisions. South America has suffered violent political transitions, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, decades defined by the Cold War’s global struggle between the US and the Soviets. More recent struggles have generally been between populist-oriented movements and more traditional elites.
3. South America’s physical geography keeps these countries from unifying. It leads to limited interaction resulting in underdevelopment and instability.
4. South America
a. Caribbean North: Republic of Colombia, Territorial Collectivity of Guyane (or French Guiana, France), Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Republic of Suriname, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Coastal locations, early European plantation development, forced migration of black laborers
b. Andean West: Plurinational State of Bolivia, Republic of Ecuador, Republic of Peru
Amerindian populations, subsistence agriculture, mountainous environments, poverty
c. Southern Cone: Argentine Republic, Republic of Chile, Easter Island (or Rapa Nui or Isla de Pascua, Chile), Falkland Islands (UK), Republic of Paraguay, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (UK), Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Heart of European commercial culture
d. Federative Republic of Brazil
Half of continent’s land and people, federal republic, ethnic diversity, Portuguese, Catholic, substantial mineral resources
Political Resources on the Net
Google's Arts & Culture collection virtual world museum tours
Latin American Revolutions: Crash Course (13:42)
Among the many major geophysical regions in Latin America, the Andes are one of the more dominant landforms. Beginning in northwestern Venezuela and ending in Tierra del Fuego, the Andes are relatively young mountains that extend nearly 5,000 miles. Aconcagua in Argentina, at 23,000 feet in altitude, is considered the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere. While the physical geography is obviously quite different from other areas in Latin America, the culture of the Andes is equally distinctive.
Argentina | Take a tour of Argentina and learn about Argentine culture through video! Learn about the gaucho, the tango and many more cultural icons of Argentina through sound, music and pictures! Take a virtual tour through Buenos Aires, the pampas and Patagonia, and see first-hand the great waterfall at Iguazú. | How Long Will the ‘End of the World’ Stay Wild?
Approximately 0.5 to 1 million gallons per second of water flow down Iguazú Falls, Argentina and Brazil depending on the season. The waterfalls are unbelievably cool! A true endless flow of water! The entire canyon is covered with a thin mist created by the falling water.
Down the rabbit hole | Argentina’s ancient mummy children (4:09) | A graphic past, emblazoned on walls | Meet Argentina’s frozen mummies. | Mysterious Pattern in a Cave Is Oldest Rock Art Found in Patagonia
Buenos Aires, Argentina. Part I | Buenos Aires, Argentina. Part II: The first tour includes Recoleta Cemetery, the main street with great lights, the palace of the Argentine National Congress and, of course, the most recognizable slum of Buenos Aires with the romantic name Villa 31. The second tour includes panoramas of the town of La Plata in the Province of Buenos Aires.
Bolivia | The western part of landlocked Bolivia (If you don’t read Spanish, use Chrome and tell Google to translate.), enclosed by two chains of the Andes, is a great plateau — the Altiplano, with an average altitude of 12,000 feet. Almost half the population lives on the plateau, which contains Oruro, Potosí and La Paz. At an altitude of 11,910 feet, La Paz is the highest administrative capital city in the world. The Oriente (final home of Che Guevara), a lowland region ranging from rain forests to grasslands, comprises the northern and eastern two-thirds of the country. Lake Titicaca, at an altitude of 12,507 feet, is the highest commercially navigable body of water in the world. Culturally, more than 60% of Bolivia's citizens are Indian, predominantly Quechua and Aymara. | Culture | Sacred Sites of Bolivia | Bolivia ended its drug war by kicking out the DEA and legalizing coca | Bolivia’s Results in Economic Field | President Evo Morales (Bolivia’s first Indian president) | Bolivia Bella (The entire site is worth exploring. Use the links to the left of the page.)
Brazil | Take a virtual trip to Brazil and see what life is like in South America’s largest country. | The road transforming the Amazon | Development: Brazil | Snake Island: Ilha da Queimada Grande | Moving to the City | The Lost City of Z: A quest to uncover the secrets of the Amazon | Under the Jungle | Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) Cam | Vivid Street Scenes from Salvador, Brazil | A visual story on how human development is wreaking havoc on the Amazon rainforest and on Earth’s climate | The War for the Amazon Rainforest | One Man Dies, and an Entire Uncontacted Tribe Vanishes in Brazil | This radio program (NTS) offers an hour of the classic sounds of Brazil. | What if You Were Stranded on Snake Island? (8:27) | A severe drought pushes an imperiled Amazon to the brink. | Where the Flavors of the Amazon Rainforest Delight
Chile | Sacred Sites of Chile | South America’s Powerful Women Are Embattled. Is Gender a Factor? | Patagonia’s ice-carved waterways | Chile volcano erupts with ash and lightning | Living with the World's Oldest Mummies | The world’s driest desert blooms into a rare, fleeting flower show. | A brief but brilliant flower bloom is unfolding in Chile's Atacama Desert, a rare event that occurs every 5 to 7 years depending on rainfall patterns. | Chile's Route 7 is a tough, lonely drive to the end of the world.
Easter Island, Chile is often called the most remote inhabited piece of land in the world. Too, this small island of 102 square miles holds the greatest number of unsolved mysteries. There is much more to this island than meets the eye. There are phenomena, which are absolutely atypical not only of this region but also of the natives. The Rapa Nui, Easter Island's native population of 4,000 people, have a rich and unique mythology. Furthermore, this is the only island in the entire Polynesian region that developed a written language. And of course, there is the main attraction of Easter Island: the famous moai statues. These monoliths are made of solidified volcanic ash. They are up to 66 feet tall, and each of them weights over 20 tons. There are a total of 997 moai statues on the island. On the slopes of Rano Raraku volcano the statues give the most authentic impression. Giant figures are in different stages of completeness: they are shoulder deep in the ground or even merged with the walls of the dead volcano. Complete or not, the elongated heads don't look human and researchers remain unable to identify their origin. There is another unsolved question: Why did one of the emperors of the ancient Inca visit such a remote island? And he was not just a common emperor, he ruled during the Golden Age of the Inca Empire and his father built Machu Picchu, the famous Peruvian landmark. Throw in a unique — still un-translated by scientists — ancient written language, along with a cult of a mystical Bird Man, and you can see why there is such interest in Easter Island.
The name
Patagonia usually sparks thoughts of
virgin landscape located in the most
remote part of the world. Patagonia is a sparsely populated region located
at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile. The
region comprises the
southern section of the Andes mountains as well as the deserts, steppes and
grasslands east of this southern portion of the Andes. Patagonia
has
two coasts; a western one toward the Pacific Ocean and an eastern one toward the
Atlantic. Patagonia is divided into three distinctive
environments: a stormbound Pacific coast with deep fjords, an enormous
icecap (actually two icecaps separated by a few fjords), and the endless golden
plains of the
Argentine pampas. The border between southern Chile and Argentina is
probably one of the most irregular and peculiar in the world. Originally a
Spanish dominion, the first attempt to divide Patagonia between Chile and
Argentina took place in 1881 and defined the border as "the highest peaks
which divide the waters," but this appeared to be easier said than done.
There's an
area of the ice field just northwest of
Fitzroy that is still currently in dispute, and tensions are still high
around the issue ... In Argentina, you often see bumper stickers saying Los
hielos son Argentinos! (The Ice is Argentine!) and, at times, Chile puts
land mines along a section of the border.
Patagonia by #TimestormFilms (4:31)
|
A Visit to 5 of Patagonia’s Most Remote Schoolhouses
Colombia | Colombia's equatorial position affords it a diversity of landscapes, climates, vegetation, soils and crops matched by few countries. In addition, a wealth of ancient civilizations left behind a fascinating spread of archaeological and cultural sites throughout Colombia. The one-time Tayrona capital, Ciudad Perdida, built between the 11th and 14th centuries, is one of the continent's most mysterious ancient cities, arguably second only to Machu Picchu. Even more shrouded in mystery is San Agustín, where more than 500 life-sized ancient sculpted statues of enigmatic origin dot the surrounding countryside. And then there's Tierradentro, where elaborate underground tombs scooped out by an unknown people add even more mystique to Colombia's past. | Colombia is Magical Realism (a travel site but some wonderful videos) | Culture | Radio Colombia (If you don’t read Spanish, use Chrome and tell Google to translate.) | Bogotá | Colombian Government and FARC Agree to Peace Pact | Sacred Sites of Colombia | In Search of Colombia’s ‘Lost City’ | What It’s Like Crossing the World's Deadliest Jungle | Politicians charge millions to send migrants to the US. | Where Anteaters and Anacondas Roam, and Ranchers Are Now Rangers | Paleo-Indians changed Latin America. Rock art proves it. | A Reggaeton ode to Colombia is a hit, but it’s not music to everyone’s ears.
Ecuador | Ecuador is four worlds in one: the Andes (La Sierra), the Amazon (El Oriente), the Pacific coast (La Costa) and the Galápagos islands (Isabela). The historic centers of Quito and Cuenca are lined with plazas, 17th-century churches and monasteries, beautifully restored mansions and Spanish colonial architecture. Beyond the cities, there are Andean villages with colorful textiles and sprawling markets, Afro-Ecuadorian towns (Afro-Ecuadorian Culture 19:13) and remote settlements in the Amazon (Auca tribe, the Huaoranis) where shamans still harvest traditional rainforest medicines. | Amazon Watch | Sacred Sites of Ecuador | Culture | How the Galápagos inspired Darwin (5:00) | Development: Ecuador | Quito Ecuador virtual tour | The Galápagos got back its giant tortoises - and a whole lot more. | Vowing to bring peace back to a shattered country, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa has deployed the military to take on what he calls “terrorist” groups. | Remnants of sprawling ancient cities are found in the Amazon. | What It’s Like to Live on the Galápagos Islands | Clinging to Life | He trekked up Ecuador’s tallest mountain twice a week for six decades to hack ice off a glacier with a pickax. He is believed to have been the last of his breed. | The Quest to Save the World’s Most Coveted Chocolate
The Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) are a remote South Atlantic archipelago. With rugged terrain and cliff-lined coasts, its hundreds of islands and islets are home to sheep farms and abundant birdlife. The capital, Stanley (10:28), sits on East Falkland, the largest island. The town's Falkland Islands Museum has themed galleries devoted to maritime exploration, natural history, the 1982 Falklands War, etc. As a British overseas territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, while the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defense and foreign affairs. | Wildlife | Culture | Falkland Islands Television | Falkland Islands War | Address by Gavin Short regarding the future of the Falklands | Whose Oil Is It?
French Guiana | French Guiana is an overseas region of France located on the north Atlantic coast of South America. The capital is Cayenne (see especially the pictures at link). Heavily-forested French Guiana was originally inhabited by indigenous people: Kalina, Arawak, Emerillon, Galibi, Palikur, Wayampi and Wayana. However, by 1852 the French had begun using the territory as a penal colony where, until 1939, deported convicts were imprisoned in dreadful conditions. Part of France since 1946, Guiana joined the European Union and its official currency is the euro. A large part of Guiana's economy comes from the presence of the Guiana Space Center at Kourou, now the European Space Agency's primary launch site near the equator.
Guyana | On expedition to the borderlands between Guyana and Brazil, Denis Katzer lived with Guyana’s last remaining Wai-Wai Indians tribe at a river bend of the Essequibo River and recorded their way of life on photo and film, thus preserving it for posterity. | ‘It changed so fast’: Oil is making Guyana wealthy but intensifying tensions.
Visit Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America. Despite its mainland location, Guyana has strong cultural ties to the Caribbean.
Paraguay
| Paraguay,
a landlocked country in South America, is rich in
natural resources: the world's
largest drinking water reservoir (Guarani
Aquifer) is beneath its soil, the
biggest hydroelectric producer -- the
Itaipú Dam -- is on its border with
Brazil. It's also the world's fifth largest exporter of
soya beans, as well as a renowned
producer of beef. Despite this, it is
one of the poorest countries in South
America.
Mestizos (Spanish + Amerindian)
account for more than 80% of the population and
Guarani is, side by side with Spanish,
the country's official language.
Franciscan and Jesuit missions
mingled with the Guaranis' dream of
Yvy maraë´y, a land without evil,
and produced singular societies. The ruins of the Jesuit missions of
La Santisima Trinidad de Parana and
Jesus de Tavarangue are witnesses to
that peaceful past. Modern Paraguay is largely based on
political uncertainty and
economic hardship, and
corruption is ubiquitous.
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Sacred Sites of Paraguay
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Culture
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Geography
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El Niño Upsets Seasons and Upends Lives Worldwide
Peru | Sacred Sites of Peru | A lake that hides a 500-year-old secret | Peru’s other lost city | Visit a snow festival in the Peruvian Andes that marks the start of the harvest season. | Learn Peru's hidden history, from the cloud forests of Amazonas to the volcanic city of Arequipa. | Mysterious holes in the Andes may have been an ancient marketplace.
No one knows exactly what Nazca Lines are. The only indisputable fact is that they are located in South America, at the Nazca Desert plateau in the southern part of Peru. However this is where the indisputable facts end, leaving scientists with numerous unsolved mysteries. Scattered around the plateau, the lines are gigantic geoglyphs representing geometrical and natural objects. They are carved about 4.5 feet wide and 1-1.5 feet deep in the ground. It is impossible to recognize an actual image from the ground level as one can only see the big picture from the distance. This is why the Nazca Lines were discovered only in 1939 when airplane flights became possible. Ever since that time, scientists have searched for answers. The majority of them share the opinion that the lines were created by the Nazca Civilization that flourished on the plateau from 100 BCE to 800 CE, long before the Inca Civilization. But what purpose did the lines serve? The themes of Nazca Lines include flowers, geometric shapes, animals, birds and even insects. The smallest figure is a 151-foot spider and the largest is a 935-foot pelican. You might also be interested in The Geoglyphs in Palpa Valley, South America, Peru. | The Ancient Peruvian Mystery Solved from Space
The
American explorer
Hiram Bingham III
spent a great deal of time exploring South America in the early 20th century and
writing about his journey from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Lima, Peru. He is
best known for his discovery of Machu Picchu — even though we has wrong about
it. Bingham thought it was the lost city of Vilcabamba, another site he'd been
searching for. In fact, Machu Picchu was built in the 15th century as a summer
home for an Incan emperor named Pachacuti. Despite the explorer's error, Machu
Picchu is considered one of the greatest archaeological finds ever. Bingham also
served as a history professor at both Harvard and Yale, and he is listed as one
of the inspirations for the movie character Indiana Jones.
Machu Picchu, the ancient city of the Inca Empire, is a 15th-century Inca site located 7,970 ft above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley which is 50 miles northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450, but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham.
What is life like in the Andes Mountains? Living as an American archaeology student in Peru | Cultures of the Andes in pictures, music and stories provided by Ada and Russ Gibbons | Learn about the Incan language of Quechua.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are sub-Antarctic islands. They are governed together as a British overseas territory. South Georgia is one of the most visited locations in Antarctica. It is spectacularly picturesque and is frequently described as being "The Alps in the mid-ocean." Over half the island is permanently glaciated, wildlife is abundant, approaches by sea usually straightforward and it is steeped in the history of Antarctic exploration and of Antarctic whalers and sealers. The only permanent population is a manned British Antarctic survey base of up to 18 people at Grytviken. The South Sandwich Islands on the other hand are isolated and are not often visited other than by survey ships on scientific excursions. The prevailing weather conditions usually make the approach difficult since the islands rise very steeply out of the sea and are subject to active volcanism. The only access to South Georgia or the South Sandwich Islands is by sea. The UK has claimed and exercised de facto control over the islands since 1775. Argentina claimed sovereignty in 1927 and, although its 1982 military incursion was unsuccessful, continues to push its claims. | Global Ocean Legacy | Pictures | Resurrection Island | What on Earth are the Sandwich Islands?
Suriname lies on the northeast coast of South America and gets its name from its earliest inhabitants, the Surinen Indians. Dutch colonization was confined to a narrow coastal strip, while escaped African slaves fled into the interior and reconstituted their western African culture. Suriname is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Americas. Most of its people are descended from African slaves, and Indian and Indonesian indentured servants brought over by the Dutch to work as agricultural laborers. However, there is little assimilation between the different ethnic groups, which confine their contacts to the economic sphere. Similarly, most political parties are ethnically based. Since gaining its independence from the Netherlands in 1975, the small country has been plagued by military dictators, coups d’état, armed rebellion, civil war, inflation, unemployment, border disputes and natural disasters. Suriname’s capital is Paramaribo. The country depends heavily on mining and processing its declining reserves of bauxite.
Uruguay | Uruguay is a food-exporting country known for its verdant interior and beach-lined coast. The capital, Montevideo, revolves around Plaza Independencia, once home to a Spanish citadel. The plaza leads to Ciudad Vieja (2:32), with art deco buildings, colonial homes and Mercado del Puerto, an old port market. Uruguay has always been something of an underdog. Yet after two centuries living in the shadow of its neighbors, South America’s smallest country is finally getting recognition for its political, economic and social stability. It has less economic disparity, the best overall road system, the most reliable electrical grid and one of the fastest overall internet speeds than anyplace else in Latin America, quality medical care, safe drinking water and good public transportation, and is noted for tolerance and inclusiveness. | LANIC: Uruguay | Uruguay Timeline | Traditions and Folklore | Uruguay Media | What does sustainable living look like? Maybe like Uruguay | Uruguay’s center left reclaims power in presidential election. | Known as “the world’s poorest president,” former-President José ‘Pepe’ Mujica of Uruguay dies.
Venezuela | Sacred Sites of Venezuela | How Bad Off Is Oil-Rich Venezuela? It’s Buying US Oil | The Guardian: Venezuela | Expedition to the headwaters of the Orinoco, looking for the Yanomami Indians | Venezuela’s presidential contender flees, and hopes for democracy dim.
Imagine high mountains with steep vertical walls and flat tops in the middle of dense jungles. On the tops, water accumulates after even a slight amount of rainfall, eventually coming down in numerous waterfalls. One of these, Angel Falls, Venezuela, is the highest waterfall in the world. The highest point of the falls reaches 3,200 feet, with water falling from a height of 2,600 feet. The height of the falls is so great that by the time the water reaches the ground it has become tiny particles that turn into fog. Venezuela is also home to tepui mountain formations. A tepui (or tepuy) is a strange-looking mountain with a flat top called a "table-top" (because it is flat like a table). These unique geological formations are found mostly in the Venezuelan Guiana Highland. The word tepui comes from the language of the Pemon Indians and means ‘house of the gods.' The tepui formations are completely isolated from each other. Each tepui towers over the jungle making it a home to unique plants and animals.
There are lots of pictures so it may take a minute for the page to open!
Joe Simon took his Canon 5D Mark III to Rio and what he captured is beyond lovely.
He rode cable cars and filmed at popular locations to get all the footage and
he made Rio De Janeiro look like another level beyond paradise.
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official
languages -- English and French, 45% is Roman Catholic and the rest are mostly
other Christian denominations with the United Church and Anglican sects as the
largest groups, social development is high as evidenced by an average life
expectancy of approximately 80 years. The majority of Canadians live in an
east/west direction within 200 miles of the border, with the majority living on
the Atlantic side of the country. The Canadian population has evolved slower
than the US. In 1886, the completion of the transcontinental Canadian Pacific
Railway sparked a period of settlement in the far west and the Prairie
Provinces.
For
centuries, explorers searched in vain for the fabled Northwest Passage, hoping
that they could find a navigable route through the Arctic pack ice that would
allow merchant ships to quickly sail between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Such a route proved elusive until famed Norwegian explorer 
