GEOG 202 Lecture 12Outline of Last Lecture o Caribbean Issues- Ch. 4: Latin Americao Physical Settingo Environmental Issueso Climateo Extreme Geography o Population and SettlementOutline of Current Lecture o Culltureo Geopolitical Frameworko Economy- Ch. 6: Sub-Saharan AfricaCurrent Lecture-Urban Form: Spanish Colonial Town -Extreme variations in socio-economic conditions Squatter Settlements -No infrastructure -No emergency services -No sewage -Little water -Few roads -Extreme poverty These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.-Informal economy -Selling extra meals made-Dancing lessons -Dangerous -Usually around outskirts -Rural Settlement: Land control in Latin America was (and is) the basis of powerAgrarian Reform: redistribution of land to the poor Settlement of Amazon since 1960's-Capital moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in interior -More highways -Government sponsored mining -Land to peasants -Migrations to region Laborers from Europe, esp. 1870s to 1930s Japan and China -Son of Japanese immigrants, Alberto Fujimori, was president of Peru1990-2000 Recent Migrations -To rural areas between countries -Economic -Political -Massive emigration to US, Europe, and Japan -Established 44 million oCultureoLanguages - coherent -Spanish 2/3 of population-Portuguese1/3 of populationBrazil -Many indigenous languages oReligion - coherent -90% catholic-Syncretic regions Blended catholic and indigenous Mayan tributes to spirits of the dead African blended religions in brazil and CaribbeanoGeopolitical Framework oEuropean colonization -Spain and Portugal -Manufacturing forbidden oTreaty of Tordesillas: Pope divided world into Spanish and Portuguese colonies in 1494 oDemocracies of dictators?-Young democracies at odds with military dictatorships -Combined with corruption and widespread poverty -Can lead to populist unrest and unstable political situation-Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Incited class warfare, civil unrest Promised social reforms Bought power Opposed US Now, Nicolas Maduro?-Venezuela TodayProtests or Revolution -Rising lawlessness -Deteriorating economy -High inflation -Shortages of food and other products -Harsh suppression of dissent -Corruption. Should be wealthy OPEC country oEuropean Contact: Iberian Colonial Experience (1492-1800s)-Columbian ExchangePeople, plants, animals, and diseases -Pre-Contact civilizations disappeared Mayan, Aztec, IncanEx. Ruins at Machu Picchu (World Heritage Site)-Lost city of the Incas -High in the Andes near Cuzco, Peru -Rediscovered in 1911 -Peru's most popular tourist site -Dilemma: How much development? Who decides?oEconomyoHistorically, quest for silver oStill, extractive economy:-Oil and gas in Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia -Agriculture-DrugsInsurgencies and Drug Trafficking -Recent news suggests drug war coming under control in Colombia, but moving elsewhere(Parts of Mexico?)o 1994 NAFTA treaty: North American Free Trade Agreement -Between US, Mexico, and Canada -Changed scale of trade -Removed some trade borders oRegional problem- Argentina went bankrupt in 2001 Currency worthless and society collapsed -Riots -Food scarcity -Electricity, water problematic Long term debt, corruption continues -Continuing problems in VenezuelaNationalization of industry Continued shadow of Chavez over MaduroRelationship with US: Bad Brain drainoEconomic Expansion-Brazil:Agriculture booming Soybeans, corn, sugar cane Granite countertops? -Chile:Addressing debt with new retirement system Telescope oLatin American Issues:-Overcome povertyEconomically free markets orSocialist government controls?-Elite vs. impoverishedIs there an influential middle class? Migration -Governance Coercive or free?International alliances? Drug cartels, corruption, and rule of law -Ch. 6: Sub-Saharan Africa oSouth of the Sahara Desert oNot ArabicoSimilar livelihoods oShared colonial experience oPhysical SettingoLarge land mass straddling the equator oPlateau continent oRift Valley -Some of the earliest signs of human habitation -Much of Africa's
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