Notes
Physical geography and climate
- The Andes are the longest continental mountain range. The Amazon has the greatest river flow and the biggest rainforest. The Atacama is extremely dry; the Pampas are grasslands in Argentina.
- The Isthmus of Panama links the continents. Vertical zones (tierra caliente, templada, fría, helada) change crops and climate with altitude.
Countries and culture
- Brazil is the largest country in South America (Portuguese, capital Brasília). Bolivia and Paraguay are landlocked. Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. Hispaniola holds Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
- Indigenous civilizations: Maya, Aztec, Inca. Spain and Portugal ruled from the 1500s; independence came mostly in the early 1800s. Culture blends Indigenous, European and African influences.
Economy
- Many countries export primary goods: coffee, oil, copper, soybeans, bananas. Dependence on one export is risky.
- Large cities attract migrants, producing informal settlements. Deforestation of the Amazon is a major environmental issue.
Topics in this unit
Each topic has its own short notes and practice.
Practice
Bogotá is Colombia's capital; Lima is Peru's, Santiago Chile's, Caracas Venezuela's.
Cool-warm midlands are ideal for coffee.
The Amazon flows east across Brazil into the Atlantic.
Portugal claimed the eastern part of South America, so Portuguese is spoken there.
Bolivia and Paraguay have no ocean coast.
Deforestation threatens the Amazon.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Peru has a dry Pacific coast, high Andes mountains and a rainforest to the east. Its capital, Lima, is large and many rural people have migrated there.
(a) Explain how the Andes create very different environments within a short distance.
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Elevation changes temperature and rainfall; lowlands are hot, mid-elevations temperate, and high peaks are cold. This is vertical zonation.
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(b) Name one civilization that once ruled this region and its capital.
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The Inca Empire, with its capital at Cusco.
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(c) Describe one push factor and one pull factor for migration to Lima.
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Push: poverty or lack of farmland in the countryside. Pull: jobs, schools and health care in the capital.
Check off the points you earned: