Physical Geography
What is the cause of earthquakes and volcanoes in the region?
Two tectonic plates meet at the region’s edge of Pacific South America.
What four countries make up Pacific South America?
Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile.
The regular weather pattern that appears in Pacific South America affects the fishermen. How?
It warms the Pacific waters and causes the fish to leave the fishing areas.
Which country has the highest percentage of South American Indians?
Bolivia
What is the name of a Spanish governor?
A viceroy.
What effect does elevation have on this region?
It has the biggest effect on climate and vegetation in Pacific South America.
What is an altiplano?
A broad, high plateau that lies between the ridges of the Andes
Despite it being very dry in parts of Peru, small settlements of people have been able to live there. How do they get their water?
There are rivers that bring snowmelt from the Andes (the glaciers melt).
What can be found in the Peruvian desert seen only from the sky?
The Nazca Lines which are outlines of animals and shapes.
How often does rain fall in the Atacama Desert?
Roughly once every 20 years.
What is the name of the ocean and weather pattern that affects the Pacific coast?
El Niño.
Who captured the Inca King?
Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca king and demanded gold and silver for his release.
What natural resources does Bolivia have?
Bolivia has tin, gold, silver, lead, copper and zinc deposits.
What is the official language of Pacific South America?
Spanish
What do we call an American-born descendant of Europeans?
Creoles
Rivers from the altiplano have nowhere to go and collect in two large lakes. Name one.
Lake Titicaca.
How many climate zones are there in the Andes?
What is the Strait of Magellan?
The Strait of Magellan links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
What highly organized civilization had nearly 12 million people in their empire?
The Inca
What physical feature do all the countries in Pacific South America share?
All countries in the region share one main physical feature: the high Andes Mountains.
Why is it difficult to produce large crops in Pacific South America?
The region’s mostly cool, arid lands make it difficult to produce large crops for export.
Coastal Chile is one of the cloudiest and driest places on Earth. How do the clouds and fog form?
They form when a cold current in the Pacific Ocean chills the warmer air above the ocean’s surface.
What does Chile export more than any other country in the world?
Copper
This civilisation had to deliver messages across the kingdom. How did they do this?
A system of relay runners
Which parts of Pacific South America did the Inca Empire extend to?
From northern Ecuador to central Chile.