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| Where is Latin American located? | south and southeast of the United States. Northern border of Mexico to southern tip of South America and includes the West Indies |
| Why was the name "Latin America" given to the area? | Most people speak Spanish or Portuguese, languages derived from Latin. Laws are also based on ancient Roman law or Napoleonic Code of France,another Latin nation. |
| What are the four main geographical areas of Latin America? | South America, Central America, Mexico, and Caribbean America |
| What is Mexico's largest and most important region that lies between the Western Sierra Madre and the Eastern Sierra Madre? | the Central Plateau |
| What islands are formed when the mountaintops rise above the water? | the Greater Antilles |
| What is the longest mountain range in the world and the highest mountains in the western hemisphere? | the Andes in South America |
| What are the principal rivers of Latin America? | the Amazon, the Riode la Plata, the Orinoco, and the Sao Francisco which are all located in South America |
| What is the longest river in Latin America and the second longest river in the world? | the Amazon |
| What is one of the most fascinating species in the Amzon that often attacks and dangerously wounds humans and large animals that come into its waters? | piranha |
| How much of the total fresh water in the world does the Amazon carry? | 20 percent |
| What is the second largest river system in South America and its most important commercial waterway? | Rio de la Plata or river of silver |
| What is a partially enclosed body of water connected with the open sea and affected by its tides? | estuary-like the rio de plata |
| What three countries does the Rio de Plata serve? | Argentina, Uruguay, and Parguay |
| One of the world's major seaports that is second to New York in its volume of trade. Its principal exports are meat and grain | Buenos Aires |
| This is Latin America's third largest river system that rises in the Andes Mountains and snakes for 1,500 miles through southern Venezuala before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. | the Orinco |
| A river in the Brazilian Highlands that rises and flows northward for 1,000 miles before it twists around to the southeast and empties into the Atlantic | Sao Francisco |
| Located on the border betwen Bolivia and Peru, this is the highest navigable lake in the world | Lake Titicaca |
| The largest lake in Central America and located on the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rico? | Lake Nicaragua |
| What was one major engineering achievement? | the construction of a railroad linking the sea-level city of Lima, Peru with copper mines in Cerro de Pasco, one of the highest cities in the world |
| This waterway connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in the early twentieth century | Panama Canal |
| What is a vast network of roads that have been built in Mexico in the North to Chile in the South | Pan American highway |
| When it is summer in the US, what season is it in Brazil? | Winter because much of the land of South America lies south of the equator in the Southern Hemisphere |
| A major region at the Southern tip of South America that is bleak, forlorn, and almost unpopulated. Wool and meat from the sheep and oil and natural gas are the only commercial products of the region. The name of the region means "land of the big feet". | Argentina Patagonia |
| A major region in South America that is a vast, grassy, treeless plain that stretches from the Andes mountains to the Atlantic Ocean similar to the prairies of North America. Meat, wool, hides, and grains are the regions major exports and important deposits of oil, natural gas, and uranium have been found. Its name means "land mass or space" | Pampas |
| What is the major city of the Pampas and the capital of Argentina? | Buenos Aires |
| This major region in South America is north of the Pampas. It is an arid land dotted with swamps during the rainy season and dense stretches of imprenetrable jungles. It is extremely hot throughout the year. Main products are commercial timber, yerba mate (bitter tea), and tannin (finish leather). | the Granchaco |
| This major region in South America covers almost all of eastern Brazil and forms 2,000 miles of that country's coastline. It includes most of Brazil's richest farmlands, important mineral reserves and major population centers, including San Paulo, Belo Horizonta, Rio de Janiero. Brazil's famous coffee growing plantations are located here as well as berry and sugar plantations | Brazilian Highlands |
| This major region in South America is a sparsely inhabited, underdeveloped region generally regarded as Brazil's last frontier. It is an area of woodlands and wooded grasslands. Its name means "thick forests" | Mato Grosso |
| This major region in South America is the largest lowland are of South America that occupies all the land drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. Most of the region lives on or near the equator where rain falls almost every day and the nights are hot and humid with no change of season. It is covered by tropical rain forests everywhere. Products include rosewood, ebony, mahogany for making fine furniture, bark of the cinchona tree used for making quinine to treat malaria victims and cocoa beans for chocolate. | Amazon Basin |
| This major region in South America are tropical grasslands, savanna that are located north of the rain forests of the Amazon in Venezuala and easter Colombia. The principal industry is cattle raising. | the Llanos |
| People who live on the llano plains who are descendants of Spanish colonists and Indians and are skilled horseback riders | Llaneros |
| A major region in South America that consists of the Guiana Highlands and a narrow coastal plain. The area is noted for gold, diamonds, bauxite mines, sugar, rice, citric fruits and bananas. Cattle are raised and fish and frozen shrimp are exported | the Guianas |
| A major region with a vertical climate meaning that the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature. It has distinct bands of climate and vegetation at different elevations. | the Andean Highlands |
| A plateau with an elevation of 12,000 to 14,000 feet which is the most densely populated part of Bolivia and Peru. Many people have trouble breathing. Soroche or mountain sickness is common. Excellent for growing potatoes. | the Altiplano |
| A region in South America that underwent a climate catastrophe caused by the equational Pacific warm water current where the trade winds were upset, especially in the South Pacific. One-quarter of Bolivia's population was in danger of famine. | the Andean Highlands |
| What countries are often grouped together as the Andean countries? | Chile, Bolivia, Ecuado, and Peru |
| A long and narrow region in South America that is one of the longest deserts in the world. The greatest wasteland, the Atacana Desert in Chile, is rich in copper and sodium nitrates. Contains Chile's Central Valley which is a rich farming area where most of the Chilean people live. Chile's capital, Santiago is located here. | the Southern Pacific Coast |
| A place in a desert where there is enough water for people and crops | An oasis |
| These strike primarily the Caribbean basin and occasionally along the Pacific coast of Mexico. They occur mostly from August through November | Hurricanes |
| A region in South America that was the site of one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions in Latin America in 1985 forcing a mud avalanche to race down a mountain at speeds of 30 miles per hour covering the tiny town of Amero | Nevada del Ruiz in Colombia |
| A land bridge from Asia to North America formed during the Ice Age crossed by a moose, caribou, and mammoths in search of food and warmer temperatures. | Bering Strait |
| What were some of the causes of the problems of Latin America agriculture? | lack of modern technology, continued use of inefficient farming techniques, latifundas or vast estates given to the wealthy few who were favorites of the Portuguese or Spanish kings, the landowners employed peasants to work the land with primitive implements. |
| A major development in farming that was a system of human-made ditches and canals that carried water from rivers and streams to fields which made it possible for farmers to water their crops even during the dry season | Irrigation |
| This was the first major civilization in the Americas in Mexico who lived along the Gulf of Mexico near the present day city of Veracruz in 1500 BC-400 BC. They reached a very high level of culture with stone temples, hieroglyphic writing and a calendar, colossal sculptures of heads weighing 20 tons each which can still be seen in Mexico today. | the Olmecs |
| The earliest civilization to appear in South America which flourished in the northeastern highlands of Peru from 700 BC to 200 BC. They were highly developed and sophisticated and built large temples with painted sculptures and produced beautiful ceramics, gold objects, and textiles. | the Chavin |
| From 1500-1200 AD, this was an ancient ruin in Western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca and was believed to have been the center of a culture originated by a people called Aymara. It had great temples built of massive stones weighing 100 tons and fitted together with extroardinary precision with cement. The excelled at ceramics and pottery. | Tiahuanaco |
| From AD 300-900, this civilization flourished in the central valley of Mexico about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City. People grew corn, were skilled sculptors and stone cutters and appeared to have been peace-loving. The Pyramid of the Sun, Mexico's tallest pyramid, which stands 216 feet high and covers 10 acres at its base is found here. | Teotihuacan |
| From 1000-1400 AD, these people gained influence in Mexico's Central Valley, making their capital at Tula. Rulers were warriors and their god demanded human sacrifice. They excelled at architecture, arts, workers of metal and stone, and developed a sophisticated calendar. | the Toltecs |
| From 1200-1400 AD, these people were city dwellers on the norther coast of Peru that developed a system of irrigation to improve the soil. | The Chimu |
| From 1200-1541, these people lived in the mountains of Columbia. They were skilled farmers and weavers known for their gold and copper ornaments. They had a well organized government and a highly developed religious system that included human sacrifice. | The Chibcha |
| Where did Mayan civilization develop? | In the rain forests of Guatemala as early as 2500 BC using the slash and burn method of agriculture |
| The greatest Mayan city and ceremonial center already flourishing in the first century AD with a great Plaza. Surrounding the plaza were several large temples, pyramids, a cluster of smaller temples, and a large palace complex | the Tikal |
| Why was the society of Maya organized like a pyramid? | At the apex, or narrow top, were a king or queen and a small number of priests and nobles who made all major decisions in each city-state. Below them were merchants and artisans who handled the day-to-day affairs of the community. At the broad base of the pyramid were farmers, workers, and slaves. |
| What was the agricultural economy of the Mayas based on? | corn or maize and tending the milpas, or cornfields. The Maya also raised sweet potatoes, beans, onions, and squash |
| Why did the Mayan rulers pray, fast, burn incense, and shed their own blood in self-mutilation? | They believed that the Earth had been created and destroyed four or five times and would be destroyed again so they needed to persuade the gods to delay the destruction |
| Who were the principal gods of the Mayan religion? | the gods of rain, the heavens, corn, and death |
| What were some of the Mayan cultural achievements? | arithmetic which included the number zero, calendar of 365 days to track comets and predict eclipses, created a system of writing. |
| How did the Mayan civilization come to an end? | They abandoned their great cities in Guatemala and moved northward into the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. They were coquered by the Spanish in 1546 |
| Who was the chief Aztec god? | Huitzilpoehtli, the god of sun and war |
| Why did the Aztecs build their capital city on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco in the Central Valley of Mexico? | They came to a place where an eagle perched on a cactus and was eating a snake |
| What was the center of the Aztec empire built on the site of present-day Mexico City built on islands in the middle of Lake Texcoco connected to the mainland by movable bridges? | Tenochtitlan |
| Huge rafts covered with earth and floating on a lake, "floating islands" | chinampas |
| Who was at the top of the Aztec society? | emperor who was considered divine |
| Who were the nobles of the empire? | great warriors since warfare was highly respected |
| Who were below the warriors? | merchants and traders and then free peasants and aritsans |
| Who were at the bottom of the social scale? | slaves who were usually prisoners of war |
| Where did the Aztecs live? | thatch-roofed huts |
| What did the Aztecs wear? | roughly woven cotton clothing |
| What did the Aztecs eat? | maize, beans, peppers, avocados, pineapples, squash, fish, turkeys, geese, and ducks |
| How were boys educated in the Aztec society? | formal education started at 10 or 12. Sons of commoners, merchants, artisans were taught religion, grammar, and the art of war. Sons of nobility went on to higher education and could choose careers as soldiers, priests, and government officials. |
| How were the girls educated? | In separate schools and taught religious duties, weaving, and other domestic chores until they were 16 or 17 when their families would arrange their marriages for them. |
| How did the religious beliefs of the Aztecs lead to their downfall? | They angered their neighbors by offering their members as human sacrificies. They mistook Hernan Cortes riding on a horse as Quetcalcoatl, the original Aztec ruler |
| Where did the Incas create their civilization in 1200-1535? | In South America in the Andean Mountains of Peru |
| How did the Incas get their name? | religion was based on sun worship and the emperor who was believed to be descended from the sun god was named "Inca" meaning "children of the sun" |
| What did the Inca farmers grow? | potatoes, corn, maize, peanuts, squash, tomatoes, and beans |
| What animals did the Incas domesticate? | the Alpaca and the llama, animals they used for meat and as sources of very fine wool |
| What did the Incas mine? | gold and silver |
| What industries did the Incas develop? | spinning and weaving of cotton and wool and pottery making |
| How did the Incas keep records and send messages? | intricate bundles of knotted and colored string called a quipa |
| How were the Incas advanced in medicine? | knowledge of anasthetics and performing brain surgery |
| Where was the authority centered in the Inca society? | in the emperor or Lord Inca who had absolute power over the lives of his people from birth to death |
| What was the Inca capital? | Cuzco or the city of the sun |
| Who conquered the great Inca empire? | Spanish who arrived in 1533 to an Inca empire divided by civil war |
| What three major Indian civilizations were flourishing in the Americas in 1500? | the Maya in Central America, the Aztec in Mexico, and the Inca in Peru |
| Why did Prince Henry, a son of the Portuguese king, establish a school for sailors in 1416? | to gain a share in the profitable slave trade controlled by the muslims and to obtain gold from the kingdoms in West Africa and acquire new lands and peoples in Africa for Portugal and convert them to christianity. He also wanted to find a direct route to India and the East Indies so that they could trade directly with Asia |
| Who rounded the southern tip of Africa, now called the Cape of Good Hope in 1488? | Bartholomew Dis |
| Who sailed along the West Coast of Africa across the Indian Ocean to India in 1497? | Vasca da Gama |
| He was a Spanish captain who conquered the Aztecs, destroyed Tenochtitlan, and began to ship Aztec treasure back to Spain. He set about building Mexico City upon the ruins of the Aztec capital and went on to conquer the Maya Yucatan. Soon all of Mexico was controlled by Spain. | Hernan Cortes |
| He was a Spanish settler who defeated the Incas in 1535 and set up a new Spanish capital at Lima on the Pacific Coast. From here, treasure ships carried Inca silver and gold back to Spain | Francisco Pizarro |
| He was a Portuguese sea captain who claimed Brazil for Portugal? | Pedro Alvares Cabral |
| A Spanish king who was all-powerful. He made all the decisions and approved all the laws. His subjects owed him total and unquestioning loyalty | Absolute Monarch |
| A person who acted in the place of the king to govern the colonies for him | A viceroy |
| A large area governed by a viceroy | A viceroyalty |
| A court appointed by the king to make sure that the viceroy carried out his orders | An audiencia |
| The only elected body chosen by a small group of wealthy colonists | An audiencia |
| The economic policy of Spain and Portugal regarding their colonies. Under this policy, the colonies were to provide the home nation with raw materials. They were also to serve as markets, buying the manufactured goods that the home country provided. | mercantilism |
| How did the Spanish protect ships carrying silver and gold from pirates? | escorted the ships across the Atlantic |
| People who were born in Spain or Portugal who dominated society, controlling most of the power and wealth were called? | Peninsulares |
| People who were born in America but whose parents or grandparents were Spanish. They managed the farms and directed the mining of silver and gold? | Crillos |
| People of mixed Spanish and Indian parentage? | Mestizos |
| People of mixed Spanish and black parentage? | Mulattoes |
| A deed granting a colonist a group of Indians to serve him as laborers in exchange for money, protection, and possible conversion to Christianity was called? | Encomienda |
| Indians who were in debt and worked for a colonial employer until the debt was paid which rarely happened? | Peons |
| A new system that required all male Indians to work for a certain amount of time each year in Spanish mines, factories, farms, and ranches. | Repartimiento |
| Why did European colonization have a disastrous effect on the Indians of the Americas? | harsh conditions of near-slavery and diseases. The Spanish and Portuguese brought with them germs that were new to the Americas. The Indians had no resistance to these diseases, especially smallpox, and millions of them died |
| What was the official religion of both the Spanish colonies and of Brazil? | Roman Catholicism |
| Who was the head of the Church and appointed all priests and bishops and levied special taxes to support the church? | the king |
| What was the role of women in Latin American colonial life? | Women were not permitted to control their dowries or inheritance. Fathers arranged marriages for their daughters. Men could end the marriage but women could not. |
| What were the reasons for the Latin American discontent with Spanish and Portuguese rule? | Colonial social structure did not give them an active role in the government, the mercantile trade policy of the parent countries limited their economic development and prevented them from becoming prosperous. Patriotic feelings sparked by the French Revolution and the American War for Independence |
| What became the first Latin American nation to gain independence by defeating the French in 1804? | Haiti |
| Hailing him as the "Liberator", the people elected him the first president of a new republic called Gran Colombia which included present-day Colombia, Venezuala, Ecuador, and Panama? | Bolivar |
| Why should presidential candidates pay attention to issues related to Latin America? | Need to win the Hispanic vote because they are the largest minority in the country, one of the country's major and most reliable suppliers of petroleum, instability in Venezuala with Hugo Chavez and his friendship with Fidel Castro, Castro is 77 and Cuba could have a regime change, radical turn away from good relations with the US, flood of refugees seeking asylum in US due to major changes in government, ongoing guerilla insurgency in Colombia along with possible Middle Eastern and al Queda cells. |
| What does the economic disparity between the rich and poor in Latin America lead to? | frustration and flow of undocumented workers across the border, primarily from mexico |
| What threatens to unleash a wave of new boat people washing up on the shores of Florida and Puerto Rico? | Recent political upheavals in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as well as growing frustration in Cuba |
| What is the dispute about between Bolivia and Chile? | border dispute |
| What comes from Colombia? | supply of cocaine and other drugs from Colombia through channels in Mexico and the Caribbean. Proposals to legalize the cultivation of the cocoa leaf. |
