| A | B |
|---|
| cassava | plant whose roots are ground into flour and eaten, like in tapioca pudding |
| favela | slum area in Brazil |
| Amazon River | largest river in the world by volume, second longest river in the world |
| llanos | hot grasslands/plains in Caribbean South America |
| Brazilian Highlands | begin south of the Amazon River basin and cover much of east central Brazil |
| landlocked | having no seacoast, surrounded by land on all sides |
| basin | lowland area surrounded by higher land |
| gaucho | South American cowhand |
| selva | Amazon rainforest |
| escarpment | steep cliff separating two fairly flat land surfaces, one higher than the other |
| hydroelectric power | electric power generated by falling water |
| buffer state | small country between two larger, hostile countries |
| welfare state | country in which government money is used for the needy people of their country |
| sisal | plant fiber used to make rope |
| altitude | height above sea level; elevation |
| caudillo | military leader |
| junta | a group of military leaders who govern a country after a coup |
| coup (d'etat) | a sudden, violent, or illegal seizure of a government |
| pampas | treeless plains of Argentina; prairie |
| campesinos | Colombian farmers |
| latex | raw material used to make rubber |
| altiplano | large, high plateau in northern Chile and Argentina, western Bolivia, and southern Peru |
| tannin | substance from hardwood trees used to make leather |
| estancia | ranch in Argentina |
