Chapter 9 = The Cultural
Geography of Latin AmericaSECTION 1 – MEXICO
-world’s most populous Spanish
speaking country (142 PPSM)
-external migration for job
opportunities & better economy-
internal migration b/c limited land
& access to social services
-Mayans & Aztecs main native
groups
-Mayans ruled S. Mexico and N. CA
from 250-900 A.D (video 1 & video 2)
-Aztecs capital Tenochtitlan
(Mexico City); grew crops on chinampas(→)
-Spanish landed in Mexico in 1519
-Hernan Cortez defeated Aztecs in 1521
-many natives blend
Catholic beliefs (those of the Europeans) & native beliefs – called syncretism
•1700’s – LA countries rise up against European rule
• Mexico – led by Fr. Hidalgo, 1821 →
•Rule switched to small
groups of people, mostly clergy, wealthy, military
•Caudillo emerged
•1917 – reforms; became a federal republic w/3
branches, pres w/ ONE 6 year term
Mexico’s president,
Enrique Pena Nieto, elected 12/2012 →
•SECTION 2 – C. A. and CARIBBEAN
•blended w/European, native, & African
•Africans first came as
slaves when natives began dying
•External migration in last 100 years; causes
challenges
•Hispaniola – 1493; 1st
permanent Euro. settlement
Toussaint Louverture, leader of Hatian revolution
• Colombian Exchange- plants, animals, & infectious diseases between Americas and Europe
• Natives wanted freedom
– Freedom brought new issues; many areas
still trying to end corrupt politics
•some countries turned to communism (Cuba)
•Religion tends to mirror the conquering people, normally Catholic in Central America; voodoo is practiced in Haiti & DR
Fidel Castro,
Former Communist
Leader of ←Cuba
Raul Castro,Current
Communist
Leader of Cuba(Fidel’s
Brother) →
• PANAMA CANAL
• 1819 - Panama was part of federation/country of Colombia; Colombia rejected US plans to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, so U.S. supported revolution that led to independence of Panama in 1903.
• French attempted construction of a canal in the 1880s; was successfully built from 1904 to 1914
by U.S
• U.S. held land running @ 50 miles across the isthmus of Panama; ownership returned to
Panama in 1999
• It takes @ fifteen hours to traverse canal through three sets of locks (@ half the time
is spent waiting for traffic)
Section 3 – South America•Natives, Africans,Asians, Europeans
•Some of the world’s most populated cities
•Incas were one of the strongest native cultures (video)
•Were hierarchical –emperor, priests, army commander at top; farmers at the bottom
• SA’s population pattern is affected by geography – rainforests, mountains,
and deserts in the interior discourage human settlement
• b/c of this, there are many megacities
(cities w/more than 10 million people) on the coast
•After US & FR
Revolutions, many SA countries fought for
independence
•Simon Bolivar of Venezuela and Jose de San Martin of Argentina
•Most were independent by
the mid-1800’s
SimonBolivar
← Jose de San Martin
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