SOUTH AMERICA
Major geographic Qualities
Size
Almost 3.5% of the Earth's surface.


Physiography
Physiography is dominated by the Andes mountains and the Amazon basin.

Andes Mountain
Longest mountain range in the world. (7,250 kilometers (4,200 miles)
Mt. Aconcagua, is the tallest peak (22,831 feet)
Most of the highest mountains are volcanoes, some still active
Mineral deposits include gold, silver, tin, copper, platinum, lead, and zinc.
Atacama desert
Amazon River
Eleven times the volume of the Mississippi, and drains an area equivalent in size to the United States. The force of the current causes Amazon River water to continue flowing 125 miles out to sea before mixing with Atlantic salt water.
Amazon Rainforest
The largest rainforest in the world
Covers 40% of South American Land. Includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname.

People in the Amazon forest
Kaiapo Indians in the Brazilian Amazon

Population of South America
Population was estimated at more than 371,000,000 in 2005
Population is concentrated along the periphery

Culture Pluralism
Cultural pluralism exists in most countries and is expressed regionally
Cultural pluralism exists when all groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities.
Cultural Pluralism in south America
Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion of the region as a whole;
Protestantism is growing steadily
Guyana and Suriname have significant Hindu, and Muslim communities
Jewish communities, largest in São Paulo, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Racial categories in South America
Amerindian: native inhabitants
whites of European heritage
African: slaves
Asian: indentured servants
Mestizo: mixed white/Amerindian
Mulatto: mixed black/white
Creole: mixed Amerindian, African, European, Asian
Language
Most widely used language is Spanish -official language of most South American nations.
51% speak Portuguese, the official language of Brazil
Dutch is the official language of Suriname; English the official language of Guyana; and French the official language of French Guiana
Other languages
Aymará in Bolivia, Chile and Peru.
Quechua in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.
Hindi in Suriname
Indonesian in Suriname.
Italian in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia

Human Sequence
Cultural Hearth

The Inca Empire
The Inca Empire arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in early 13th century in Cuzco (1200-1535 A.D.)

Altiplanos
Altiplanos were key to settlement patterns.
Atiplanos are high-elevation valleys filled and floored by sediments from the adjacent mountains
Spectacular remnant is the Machu Picchu in Peru

Achievements of the Incas
Great Military strategists
A highly centralized state
20 million subjects at its zenith
Transportation networks and integration efforts were most impressive.
They performed successful skull surgery,
Quipu ( form of writing)
Empire extended from present day Columbia to Chile
The Iberia Invasion
With 183 men and dozens of horses Francisco Pizzaro and his brothers invaded and conquered the Incas in 1531. A treaty signed in 1494 between Spain and Portugal. East central part of (present day Brazil) became a Portuguese sphere of influence

Impact of the Iberian Conquest
Land alienation
Taxes were instituted
Forced-labor system was instituted to maximize profit
Lima, headquarters of the Spanish conquerors became one of the richest cities in the world
Legacy of the Incas
The major languages of the empire, Quechua and Aymara, were employed by the Roman Catholic Church to evangelize in the Andean region.
Today, Quechua and Aymara remain the most widespread Amerindian languages

Independence
Argentina and Chile were first to establish their independence from Spain ( 1816 and 1818) respectively
Simon Bolivar led the independent movement in the north in 1824.
States emerged based on the physical geography of the continent
Ex. Andes intervening between Chile and Argentina,
Ex. Atacama desert between Chile and Peru

Cultural Fragmentation
Latin America?????
John Augelli attempted a regional generalization of the continents.
He identified four cultural regions
Tropical-plantation sphere
European-commercial sphere
Amerind-subsistence sphere
Mestizo-transitional sphere

Tropical Plantation sphere
Resembles Middle America’s Rimland. Locations, soils, & tropical climates favor plantation crops, especially sugar. Initially relied on African slave labor.Failure of the system-Poverty striven

European-commercial sphere
The most “Latin” part of South America. Includes the Pampas - temperate grasslands
Economically most advanced.Transportation networks and quality of life are excellent.

Amerind-subsistence
Correlates with the former Inca Empire. Feudal socioeconomic structure persists.Includes some of South America’s poorest areas.Subsistence agriculture must contend with difficult environmental challenges.

Mestizo transitional sphere
Surrounds the Amerindian-subsistence region. A zone of mixture- culturally & agriculturally
Transitional -- economic connotations: extremes of European commercial and Amerind-subsistence region
Undifferentiated sphere
Characteristics are difficult to classify. Sparsely populated. Isolation and lack of change- notable features.Development of Amazonia may prompt significant changes.

Land use pattern

Hacienda system
The hacienda system was a system of large land-holdings that were an end in themselves
Practiced in Argentina, parts of Brazil,Mexico and New Granada

The Hacienda has Unique Social & Economic Implications

Large land holdings but only small amount of production. Production is small scale, only best land is used. The motive is primarily status oriented, rather than economic oriented.


ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

MERCOSUR
LAUNCHED IN 1995. A SOUTHERN CONE COMMON MARKET. INCLUDES BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, URUGUAY, AND PARAGUAY and Now VENZUELA. Bolivia and Chile are associate members

ANDEAN COMMUNITY
INITIALLY FORMED IN 1969 (ANDEAN PACT). RESTARTED IN 1995 as a custom Union
MEMBERS ARE VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, PERU, ECUADOR, AND BOLIVIA. Venezuela withdrew its membership in 2006

SOUTH AMERICAN COMMUNITY OF NATIONS
Founded in 1994 in Cuzco.A forerunner to a union of all 12 South American states similar to EU


Free trade Area of the Americas( FTAA)
Promoted by NAFTA. To create a free trade area from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego
Opposed by peasants and workers in South America

URBANIZATION
The movement to and clustering of people in towns and cities. The percentage of a country’s population living in cities. 79% - continent-wide in South America. South America's increase based on rate of “natural increase” and internal migration.5% Annual percentage increase since 1950

Argentina, Chile, Uruguay -87%
Brazil 81%
Peru 72%
Megacities ( city’s population exceeding than 10 million)
Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro- Brazil
Buenos Aires- Argentina

Urban layout

Spanish colonizers laid out their cities around a central square, or plaza, dominated by; Church and government buildings

GENERALIZED MODEL OFTHE LATIN AMERICAN CITY
Central business district (CBD)
Primary Business, employment focus of the surrounding metropolis
Reflects colonial past. Contains many high-rise buildings.Ex. Plaza de Armas in Santiago
Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires

Regional Geography

THE NORTH (CARIBBEAN SOUTH AMERICA)
VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, GUYANA, SURINAME, FRENCH GUIANA
REGIONAL CHARACTER: COASTAL LOCATIONS, EARLY EUROPEAN PLANTATION DEVELOPMENT, FORCED MIGRATION OF BLACK LABORERS

VENEZUELA – 27.2 MILLION PEOPLE
OIL FROM LAKE MARACAIBO IS CHIEF RESOURCE
CARACUS & VALENCIA - KEY CITIES

CARIBBEAN SOUTH AMERICA(CONTINUED)
COLOMBIA – 46.9 MILLION PEOPLE
COFFEE, OIL & COAL - MAJOR EXPORTS
COCAINE - LEADING ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
TORN BY INTERNAL VIOLENCE
BOGOTA & MEDELLIN - KEY CITIES

THE GUIANAS (FRENCH GUIANA, GUYANA, SURINAME) - POPULATIONS< 1.5 MILLION
ETHNICALLY DIVERSE
POVERTY STRICKEN
FACE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

THE WEST(ANDEAN SOUTH AMERICA)
PERU, ECUADOR, BOLIVIA
REGIONAL CHARACTER: AMERINDIAN POPULATIONS, SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE, MOUNTAINOUS ENVIRONMENTS, POVERTY

PERU – 28.4 MILLION PEOPLE
LIMA IS ITS PRIMATE CITY.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES - FISHING, IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE, SUGAR, COTTON, RICE, FRUIT, OIL, MINERALS (AN EMERGING ECONOMY!)

ECUADOR – 14.0 MILLION PEOPLE
MAIN EXPORTS: OIL, COFFEE, CACAO, BANANAS
GUAYAQUIL - LARGEST CITY AND COMMERCIAL CENTER
QUITO - CAPITAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER

BOLIVIA – 9.1 MILLION PEOPLE
LANDLOCKED
MAIN EXPORTS: TIN AND ZINC

THE SOUTH(MID-LATITUDE SOUTH AMERICA)
THE SOUTHERN CONE: ARGENTINA, CHILE, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY
HEART OF EUROPEAN-COMMERCIAL CULTURE SPHERE

ARGENTINA – 38.7 MILLION PEOPLE
89% URBANIZED, PERIPHERAL
BUENOS AIRES - A CLASSIC PRIMATE CITY
EXPORTS: CEREALS, MEATS, VEGETABLE OILS

URUGUAY - 3.4 MILLION PEOPLE
MONTEVIDEO - CLASSIC PRIMATE CITY
MOST EUROPEAN OF SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES
EXPORTS: HIDES, MEATS,TEXTILES

PARAGUAY – 6.3 MILLION
95% MESTIZO
LANDLOCKED LOCATION
CHILE – 16.4 MILLION
AN “ELONGATED STATE”
EXPORTS: COPPER AND NITRATES

BRAZIL
CONTAINS HALF THE CONTINENT’S LAND AND PEOPLE
A FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF 26 STATES
ETHNIC DIVERSITY - MIXTURE OF EUROPEAN, AFRICAN, AND AMERINDIAN PEOPLES
PORTUGUESE - SPEAKING & ROMAN CATHOLIC ADHERENTS
SUBSTANTIAL MINERAL RESOURCES: IRON, ALUMINUM ORE, MANGANESE, OIL, AND GAS

GREAT CITIES
RIO DE JANEIRO - CULTURAL FOCUS
SAO PAULO - INDUSTRIAL HUB
BRASILIA - A “FORWARD CAPITAL”

DEVELOPING THE AMAZON
“GROWTH POLE” CONCEPT
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
FORWARD CAPITAL
CAPITAL CITY POSITIONED IN A CONTESTED OR POTENTIALLY CONTESTED TERRITORY. USUALLY NEAR AN INTERNATIONAL BORDER
CONFIRMS THE STATE’S DETERMINATION TO MAINTAIN ITS PRESENCE IN THE TERRITORY UNDER CONTENTION.
Ex.
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
BRASILIA, BRAZIL (INTERNAL FRONTIER – “GROWTH POLE CONCEPT”)


GROWTH POLE THEORY
AIMS TO PROMOTE GROWTH IN THE HINTERLANDS
AUGMENTED BY INVESTMENT SUPPORT IN AN ATTEMPT TO SPREAD ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES AND BENEFITS
CREATE JOBS IN DEPRESSED AREAS
REDUCE UNEVEN CONCENTRATIONS OF WEALTH
DECENTRALIZE INDUSTRY
SETS OFF “RIPPLES” OF DEVELOPMENT