Physical Features
What one feature runs from the north of Mexico to the tip of South America?
Mountains
What type of climate does the Mexican Plateau have?
Semiarid climate.
What is the most widespread type of vegetation in Latin America?
Broadleaf evergreen forest.
Name the three main civilizations in Latin America and give the location of each.
Maya, Aztecs, and Incas.
What is the main religion in Latin America?
Christianity
What mountain range lines the western side of South America?
The Andes Mountains.
What is the coldest part of Latin America?
Farthest south near Antarctica.
What is an example of broadleaf evergreen forest?
Rainforest, jungles, and cloud forest.
What two countries colonized Latin America?
Spain and Portugal.
What are the two most widespread economic activities in Latin America?
Livestock raising and subsistence farming.
What is an isthmus?
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that links two larger landmasses.
Why does Latin America have many climates?
Large range of latitudes and wide range of altitudes.
What is the largest vegetation zone in Latin America?
The Amazon Rainforest.
What was the Columbian Exchange?
Swapping of items between Europeans and Americans
What is a major crop on plantations in Brazil, Colombia, and Central America?
Coffee
What does the Isthmus of Panama connect?
Connects Central America to South America.
Most of the Caribbean islands have what time of climate?
Tropical wet and dry climates.
The Caribbean islands have a mix of what two vegetation zones?
Tropical grasslands and broadleaf evergreen forests.
What happened in the 1980s in Latin America?
Latin Americans grew tired of dictators and demanded the right to choose their leaders so countries became democracies
What is happening to the population in Latin America?
It is growing quickly and becoming more urban.
About how many dots of land are there is the island group in the Caribbean Islands?
At least 7,000 dots of land.
The mountains of Costa Rica are home to a rare ecosystem known as a _________?
Cloud forest.
What desert is so dry that almost no plants survive there?
The Atacama Desert.
What was the impact of the Columbian Exchange on Europeans and Latin Americans?
Europeans brought animals, plants, and diseases. Europeans also took back plants, animals, and diseases that had not been seen in Europe before.
Mexico and Venezuela export about ____ percent of the world’s oil.
6 percent.