The Andean Countries World Geography. The Andes Form the backbone of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and...
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Transcript of The Andean Countries World Geography. The Andes Form the backbone of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and...
The Andean Countries
World Geography
The AndesForm the backbone of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile (longest unbroken mountain chain in the world).
Only taller range: Himalayas
Shape physical geography… which inevitibly effects the CULTURE, ECONOMY, etc.
3 Major Environments:
Coastal Plain
Highlands
Tropical Forests
Coastal Plain
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=STS070&roll=725&frame=52
Coastal Plain Characteristics:Flat (ish) area between
the mountains and the sea.
At points it is very small (where the mountains reach almost to the sea), while at others it is almost 100 miles inland.
Atacama DesertCoastal Plain in Northern Chile
So dry it has preserved relics from ancient times such as textiles (woven hundreds of years ago) and mud¿brick buildings.
HighlandsRange from 6,500 to 16,000 feet above sea level
Altiplano = highlands in Peru & Bolivia
Páramos = highlands in Ecuador
Highlands cont.Climate varies with elevation
Alpine Tundra: vegetation at high altitudes (above the TIMBER LINE, boundary above which continuous forest vegetation cannot grow)
Tropical ForestsSelva: name for the forested regions in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia◦Rain forests of the Amazon River begin here◦Jaguars, hummingbirds, monkeys, and toucans live here, but few people
Economics and Culture:
Vertical trade: crops grown in higher elevations (potatoes, cabbages) traded for lower elevations (bananas, sugar cane)
25-55% of the population of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru are Native Americans
Andean Indians developed certain physical characteristics (larger hearts and lungs) to allow them to live in regions with less oxygen.
EcuadorFrom “equator”¼ of 12,900,000 people are from Indian descent
Quechua (KECH wah) = language, from Incas
Subsistence agriculture10 % of population has European background… but they own most of the large farms and factories (thus have substantial influence)
1960sOil discovered in the selva lowlands
Challenge to transfer from mountains to the coast (pipelines built)
Petroleum became important export
PeruFormer heart of the Inca Empire
Fell to Spaniards in early 1500s
45% of population are Native Americans and speak Quechua or Aymara
Subsistence farming, herding alpacas or llamas are main economic activities
Mestizos constitute the other majority of the population
Live in urban areas or on the coastal plain
Work for low wages in factories producing fish meal (for animal feed) or on plnatations (cotton, sugar cane, rice)
Poverty and unemployment are major issues
Asian immigration to Peru:◦1990 election of first Peruvian president of Japanese ancestry◦Improved economy and suppressed guerrilla rebellion◦Allegations of corruption led him to resign
BoliviaLandlocked: lacks profitable coastal ports
Many minerals, but the best have been removed
Most Bolivians are Indians, mostly subsistence farmers living in the highlands
Climate varies from humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
Chile“End of the land”2,700 miles long, but only averages 100 miles wide
2/3 of the population (15,000,000) are mestizos
¼ of the population is of European descent (mostly Spanish, British, German)
Relatively few Indians
Santiago: the capital, is home to about 1/3 of the country's population
High unemployment, unskilled, illiterate workers from the countryside
About 3 million people (or 1/5) live below the poverty line