© T. M. Whitmore

Exam 1 on Tuesday•Covers text reading (Chapters 1-3) &

class lectures through North America only (i.e., nothing on Latin America)

•Multiple choice – thus needs a scantron sheet & pencil

•Review session:Monday OR Sunday? 7 PMHere? or Saunders 220?Email to advise

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Today•Latin America & the Caribbean

Very Diverse Physical environment

Legacies of Indigenous (pre-Columbian) peoples

The Columbian “encounter”

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Last Time -- QUESTIONS? •North America

PovertyDefining “regions” – the “South”

•Latin America & the Caribbean (combined)Very Diverse Physical environment

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South America sub-regions

•Andes mountains•Shield rock highlands of Brazil

and Venezuela/Guianas•Lowlands and major river basins

AmazonOrinocoParana & Paraguay (Río de la Plata)

3 physiographic regions1) Andes2) “highlands”3) lowlands

NASA WorldWind

Río de la PlataModerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image of the Rio de la Plata estuary (Argentina), with input of river water from the Uruguay and Parana rivers notably visible. Buenos Aires is the semi-circular gray area southeast of the inland end of the estuary. Click on the image for a larger version.

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South American Climates•Equatorial Amazonia

•Wet-dry tropical forest and savannah

•Temperate humid SE South America

•Semi-arid Southern cone

•Andean mountain climates

•Western coastal deserts

•Chilean Mediterranean & Marine West coast

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Equatorial Amazonia & Wet-dry tropical forest and savannah•Abundant rain in Equatorial rainforest

•Seasonal rainfall in wet-dry tropical savannahSavannah vegetation

savanna

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© W.H. Freeman & Co.

© T. M. Whitmore

© T. M. Whitmore

Temperate humid SE South America & Semi-arid Argentina•Temperate humid SECfa climate (temperate, i.e., non-tropical) (like NC)

Pampas grasslands

•Semi-arid Southern ConeRain shadow E of Andes in Patagonia and along foothills farther N

Grasslands

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Andean mountain climates & Western coastal deserts

•AndesPrinciple of altitudinal vegetation zones

Tectonics

•Coastal DesertsEl Niño phenomena (warm water instead of cold along coast)

Many areas with no rain at all – except in El Niño events

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winds

windsDry ---- Wet

Dry ---- Dry

Wet ---- Dry

Terraces near Tarma, Peru

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N. AtlanticGyre

S. AtlanticGyre

Trade winds

Trade winds

S. PacificGyre

Peru

(Hum

bo

ldt)

Current

El Niño Conditions

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Chilean Mediterranean & Marine West coast

•N Chile = Atacama desert;

•Mid Chile = a Mediterranean climate (like Spain or Italy or S California!);

•S Chile = cool wet “marine west coast” climate (like Oregon or Washington or W Europe!)

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Pillars that form modern Latin America: # 1

•Legacies of Indigenous (pre-Columbian) peoples Geography of Indigenous peoples (Amerindians) of Latin America - Pre-Columbian (at time of European arrival)

Amerindian contributions to agriculture

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Indigenous peoples: Northern Mexico

•Bands and small pops - collectively often called Chichimechunting and gathering economies

small populations (1 - 2 m)

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Indigenous peoples: Mesoamerica

•State-like political structures (Aztec, Tarascan, Huastec, Zapotec, Maya, etc)

•Large populations

•Significant urbanization

•Sophisticated agriculture systems

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Chichimec N Mexico

Mesoamerica

Tenochtitlán•

Aztec Maya

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Indigenous peoples: Caribbean

•3 major cultural groupsCiboneyTaino or ArawakCarib

•Large populations

•Special agriculture (conuco) and fishing

Carib

Taino or Arawak

Ciboney

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Indigenous peoples: Amazonia

•Smallish populations

•Larger pops and sedentary agricultural lifestyle along major rivers

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Indigenous peoples: Southern Cone

•Much like Northern Mexico

•H-G

•Low populations < 2 m

Inca

Amazonia& Lowland SA

SouthernCone

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Indigenous peoples: Andean highlands and

coast•Inka empire: Columbia to N. Chile

•Well organized conquest state

•Large populations

•Sophisticated agriculture exploiting many elevation niches

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Indigenous peoples III•Andean highlands and coast

Inka empire: Columbia to N. ChileWell organized conquest stateLarge populationsSophisticated agriculture exploiting many elevation nichesTerraces (andenes in Spanish, hence Andes)

Inca

Amazonia& Lowland SA

SouthernCone

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Amerindian contributions to global agriculture I

•Some major Foods: Maize (corn)Beans (lima, green, black, pinto,

etc.)PeanutsPotatoes (NOT Irish!) Squashes (including pumpkin)Sweet potatoes (what are incorrectly

called yams)ChiliesVanillaCacao (Chocolate - that staff of life)Pecan

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Amerindian contributions to global agriculture II

•Foods: PapayaCashewManioc (or cassava, yuca - you know

as tapioca)AvocadoTomatoes (what did the Italians do

before 1492?)PineappleGuavaand many, many others (especially

fruits)

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Amerindian contributions to agriculture III

•Non-foodsCotton (all commercial types)TobaccoRubber (latex)Coca (source of cocaine)Indigo (blue jeans dye)Hemp/sisal

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Amerindian contributions to agriculture IV

•Animals Guinea pigLlamaAlpacaTurkeyand very few others

•About 1/3 of the world’s total agricultural crops are Amerindian in origin

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Pillar # 2: Legacies of Spanish and Portuguese

colonialism•Conquest of Latin America

•Amerindian population collapse

•Colonial economic systems in Latin America

•Other legacies of colonialism in Latin America

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Conquest of Latin America •Columbus - 1492 (+ 4 other voyages)

•1519 Cortés left Cuba to conquer Aztec state

•Pizarro arrived on Peru coast 1527 and found Inka in civil war => relatively easy conquest in 4 years

•Portuguese conquest confined to Brazil after its “discovery” in 1500 => Brazil speaks Portuguese while most of LA speaks Spanish

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Amerindian population collapse

•Caused primarily by infectious disease brought by Europeans, their African slaves, and animals

•Amerindians never exposed to common Old World diseases such as: smallpox, typhus, plague, severe influenza, measles, malaria, yellow fever, and many others 1st exposure infected everyone (called virgin soil diseases)

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Consequences for Amerindians•Pre-Columbian population of Latin

America ~ 50-60 m

•Horrifying scale of lossAbout 90% of Amerindian pop died in 100-150 yrs

Compare with European Black Death –it killed 25 - 35% in Europe over 100 yrs in 1300s

•Nadir (minimum) population ~ 5 m!

•Contemporary population ~ 40 m

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Amerindian Population Collapse

© T. M. Whitmore

© T. M. Whitmore

AMERINDIAN DEPOPULATION

REGIONPRE- COLUMBIAN

POPULATION (millions)NADIR

POPULATION (millions)CURRENT

POP (millions)

NorthAmerica

3 - 4 0.2519thth C

2 - 3

Mexico 17 217thth C

11

CentralAmerica

5 - 6 0.517thth C

6 - 7

Caribbean 3 virtually extinct16thth C

0

Andes 14 - 15 1.5 - 2 17thth C

17

Lowland SouthAmerica

9 217thth C (?)

2

TOTALS MID 50s < 10 NEAR 40

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Amerindian & Mestizo Populations

•European men and Amerindian women produced mestizos

•Mestizos are a majority in most of Spanish-speaking Latin America

•Large minorities of pop speak Amerindian languages in: Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, PeruE.g., new president of Bolivia speaks Aymara