Geography
What is the major ecological problem facing the Amazon Rain Forest?
Deforestation
Latin American language and religion is largely a result of its colonization by which two European countries?
Spain and Portugal
Which Spanish Explorer conquered the Aztec Empire?
Hernan Cortes
Where was the Mayan Empire located?
Southern Mexico and Central America
The Inca Empire was located where?
Western South America in the Andes Mountains
What Latin American country depends on oil revenue to pay for its national government?
Venezuela
What is the predominant religion practiced in Latin America today?
Catholicism
What are three advantages the Spanish had over the Aztecs that helped them defeat them?
Guns, Germs, Steel, Horses
When did Mayan civilization begin to decline?
900 AD
Who were Francisco Pizzaro and Atahualpa?
Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca; the Incan ruler
What is urbanization?
The conversion of forests and farmland into urban cities.
Which Latin American country was Portugal's largest colony?
Brazil
Why did Montezuma II allow the Spanish into the capital city?
He though they were gods
The Mayan written language was based on what sort of symbols?
Hieroglyphs
Why did the Inca develop paved roads?
To connect their large empire for trade.
What natural landform blocks rain from the Amazon Rainforest from reaching the Atacama Desert?
The Andes Mountains
Mexico's culture is largely influenced by which three groups?
Spanish, Maya, and Aztec
Warfare
The Maya were one of the first civilizations to discover which number?
Zero
What were two farming techniques the Inca developed to allow them to farm in the mountains and deserts?
Terraced farming in the mountains; irrigation canals in the desert
What natural landform traps air pollution in Mexico City?
The Sierra Madres Mountains
Following the Treaty of Tordesillas, which country got most land in America? Where did the other country get more land?
Spain got the Americas and Portugal got Brazil and Africa
What was the Aztec capital city and what city was built on top of it?
Tenochtitlan; Mexico CIty
Mayan thinkers were well known for what two things which helped them create a calendar?
Astronomy and Mathematics
What weapon did the Spanish unknowingly bring with them that killed thousands of Inca, Maya, and Aztec?
Disease (Smallpox and Influenza)