Geography Test 1 The Americas Geography is a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION Economic Geography the branch of geography concerned with the production and distribution of commodities Cultural Geography the study of cultural products and norms and their variations across and relations to spaces and places Music dress religion food traditions art language Q What is the job that most American do AGRICULTURE 60 65 Subsistence farming is the kind of agriculture that Americans most practice 80 use subsistence agriculture Sharecropping people relocate after it stops raining People move from rural urban Urban Migration movement from farms to cities Nationalism intense pride in ones country intense spirit that brings people together Continent large land mass a top a tectonic plate o 2 plates crashing into each other causes mountains TRADE Economic geography is all about trade Q What makes America work Means of exchanging goods to improve quality of life Moving goods by water is what makes trading goods productive an easier rather than be trading on land SOUTH AMERICA Cape Horn of water Bottom of South America Terrible weather around the outside caused by opposing circulation Africa is almost identical to South America in terms of physical geography Weather systems don t land on coast so the coastline is mostly desert Amazon Basin 250 rivers that flow into each other 2nd longest river in the world Equator goes right through basin Rivers usually begin in mountains because they are very high and Soil is among the richest and most dense making it a perfect place collect water from rain for vegetation Atacama Desert caused by cold current off coast and high mountains Andes Mountains formed by pacific plate and south American plate 2nd highest mountains Most have snow and a major effect on weather If weather is coming in they almost always have a PLATEUA GREAT PLAINS high plateau on east side of Rocky Mountains Agriculture cattle corn wheat and soy Pampas high plateau that s almost identical to the Great Plains Relationship between Argentina and US competition Patagonian Plateau very high rugged large British population CHACO clay plain Doesn t drain very well Swampy Most people use it for cattle pastoral farming Llanos up in the North poor area because of chalky clay They have OIL largest deposit of it Q Why is the rainforest important Resources Biodiversity Produces oxygen as much as 15 of our oxygen comes from rainforest People are tearing down rainforest because Urbanization gold silver jade improving quality of life Brazil leading agricultural economy Slash and burn agriculture clear land by burning deprives land of regenerating minerals Amazon River cuts through Columbia Magellan llanos Angel Falls just off Orinoco River located in Venezuela Rio De La Plata Paraguay and Parana Rivers form this river Victoria Falls located in Africa biggest falls in the world Iguassu Falls one of the 3 biggest waterfalls Q What kind of ethnicities are found in Latin America 01 28 2014 Amerindians indigenous people Europeans men Mestizos offspring of Amerindians and Europeans Mulattos offspring of mestizos and African Americans In Latin America mestizos and mulattos inhabit much of the ethnicities Tierra Amerindians Helada amerindians Tierra Mestizo Tierra Templada Low elevation European population High elevation Amerindian population Q What is is that makes Eurpopeans want to come to Latin America Wanted gold but they got silver So much silve that it became worthless La Plata started growing silver Latifoondia System land in Roman Empire split into different sections Fall of the Roman empire middle ages and land tenure system became futilism Practiced futilism until the Renaissance Agricultural Revolution when science is applied to land Effects 1 Land is enclosed 2 Not a lot of people removed people accumulated into towns which didn t have rules and that s how democracy came about haciendo place in Spain not intended for productivity plantation solely for productivity free labor absentee owner exports one crop slaves Q What is the main difference between the Americas Absence of a middle class in Latin America Misdistribution of wealth No development of education in Latin America ARGENTINA Little bit of mountains Most plateaus FLAT LAND Inhabited by EUROPEANS whitest country in the world diverse filled with many diversities tremendous amounts of wealth in small groups of people maldistribution of wealth get by PRINTING people printing money causes inflation which causes them to have repeated bankruptcy extreme financial mismanagement which causes them to not reach full potential EVITA Eva Parrone 1919 pretty little Argentinian dancer captures hearts of all the poor gets colonels attention and inspires him to run and win president become famous all over the world movement named after her husband PARANISM Greatest Latin American leader of 20th century Died age 33 of cancer in 1951 4 million people attended her funeral Paranism is still the biggest movement in Argentina today American Exceptionalism b c we are all special we have a right to go to places and do whatever the hell we want Buenos Aires biggest city in Argentina 1 3 of people live here Gateway city Primate Capital city In USA NY Primate City Washington D C Capital Gateway City biggest airports etc Hub City transportation trade interstates EX Atlanta New City purpose built city ex Celebration City Weston CHILE 250 miles wide but longer than California Santiago Mediterranean climate Very dry but when it rains there is great land for fruits and vegetables Mostly covered by the Atacama Desert Higher percentage of country are mountains Amerindians and mestizos VERY EUROPEAN 70 First people came from Spain large population of Germans and Italians World capital of COPPER Salvador Allende communist president of President and secretary of state bring in CIA to overthrow the government in Chile they then put in charge the commanding general Augusto Pinoget who is the most ruthless dictators and kills all left wing people Iabella Allende witnessed uncle Salvador being murdered and became one of the greatest writers of 20th century Magical Realism deals with bizarre things that happen in Latin America 1972 Chile becomes an economic miracle 4th richest country in western hemisphere URUGUAY 01 28 2014 Low flat no mountains Almost as European as Argentina Amerindian Successful good TOURISM Today going through economic renaissance Capital City Montevideo Extremely