GEOG101: World Regional Geography

5a. Summarize the region's physical geography, including where and why earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes occur, and the significance of the Amazon River Basin

• What is the dominant physical landscape in Central America?
• Why is Middle America vulnerable to hurricanes?
• What is altitudinal zonation?
• What landforms and land cover types characterize South America's physical landscape?
• How do South America's location and landforms affect its climate?
• Where are the agricultural regions of South America?
  

Mountain ranges, lowlands, and coastal plains characterize the physical landscape of Central America, and mountainous terrain is the most prevalent. Because this region has so many mountain ecosystems, the residents of Central America have adapted their activities based on altitudinal zonation. For example, farmers grow different crops at different elevations.

Altitudinal Zones in Central and South America

Hurricanes that form north of the Equator rotate counterclockwise. Middle America is in the hurricane belt – the rimland and east coast of the mainland are susceptible to hurricanes that develop over the Atlantic; the rimland and west coast of the mainland are vulnerable to hurricanes that develop over the Pacific.
 
We see so many different physical landscapes in South America because it is so vast. These include mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, deserts, plains, plateaus, and highlands. The Andes Mountains, the longest mountain chain on Earth, are on the west coast of the continent. This area is tectonically active. The valleys, or altiplanos, between the Andes mountain range offer farmers fertile land for agriculture.
 
Although we often associate the Amazon River Basin with Brazil, it covers more than a third of the continent, including Ecuador and Peru to the west, Bolivia to the south, and Colombia, Venezuela, and other countries to the north. While tropical forests are an iconic image of South America, the realm also features the driest non-polar desert in the world. The rain shadow effect of the Andes Mountains is responsible for the Atacama Desert of Chile and Peru.
 
We often associate South America's climate with the tropical Amazon Rainforest. However, vast areas of the continent do not straddle the Equator. Since South America stretches from 12° N to 54°S, its climate includes tropical, temperate, arid, cold, and polar climate areas. Variations within these climate types exist due to the local topography.
 
South America's plateaus, plains, and highlands are agricultural regions, including the Pampas and the Mato Grosso Plateau. However, some highlands, such as the Guiana Highlands, are too rugged and remote for agricultural activity.
 
To review, see The Geographic Features of Middle and South America, The Panama Canal, The Amazon River Basin, Warmer Ocean Temperatures and Saharan Dust, The Amazon Belongs to Humanity, Atacama Desert – the Ultimate Survival, and How a Hurricane Forms.
 

5b. Compare the rimland and the mainland areas in terms of colonization, land use patterns, and economic activities

• What are the characteristics that explain the division of Middle America into the rimland and mainland regions?
• How did the pattern of land use differ in these regions?
• How does the ethnicity of these two regions reflect their colonial history?
  

Geographers divide Middle America into two regions – the rimland and the mainland – based on their location, physical geography, differing occupational activities, and colonial dynamics. The physical geography of these two regions has contributed to the patterns of land use.

Mainland and Rimland Characteristics of Middle America Based on Colonial Era Economic Activities

The colonists converted the rimland islands and coastal areas to plantation agriculture once they assumed control. Plantation agriculture, which had originated in northern Europe, increased efficiencies by growing a single crop for export on a large plot of land.
 
It took longer for colonists to penetrate the larger mainland region. Spain imposed the hacienda style of land use when they colonized this region. The hacienda system enhanced the social prestige of the colonists through land ownership rather than focusing on profits through exports. The region featured a greater amount of crop diversity.
 
In the rimland, the native Amerindian population that survived the diseases the colonists brought were forced to provide labor during the harvest. The enslaved people the landowners had brought from Africa to enhance their workforce altered the ethnicity of many parts of the rimland. The rimland became a mixture of people of European and African descent. On the mainland, the native Amerindian population engaged in subsistence farming to survive. Since enslaved people from Africa were uncommon, the ethnicity of the people who lived on the mainland became a mixture of people of Amerindian and European descent.
 
To review, see Colonization and Conquest in Middle America, Pre-Colonial Caribbean, Paths to Settle the Caribbean Islands, Languages of the Caribbean, The Colonial Landscape, Colonial Activity in South America, and The Haitian Revolution.
 

5c. Compare the locations of the Inca, Maya, and Aztec Empires with the location of the indigenous population in this region

• Why are Mesoamerica and the Andes considered one of the ancient cultural hearths of world civilization?
• What is the geographic extent of the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural hearths?
  

Geographers point to Mesoamerica (Middle America) and the Andes as two places where civilization began. We call them ancient cultural hearths because they established influential customs, innovations, and ideologies.
 
The Olmec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, and other civilizations helped build the Mesoamerican cultural hearth, which extended from central Mexico, including the Yucatán Peninsula, through the isthmus of Central America.
 
The Maya civilization (c. 900 BCE–900 CE) was centered on the Yucatán Peninsula. It extended west into today's Mexican provinces of Chiapas and Tabasco and east into what is now Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The Maya built on the achievements of the Olmec (1600–350 BCE) and made significant advancements in mathematics and astronomy. They developed an accurate calendar and made remarkable contributions to architecture, engineering, and the development of the city-state.
 
The Aztec Empire (1325–1519) extended from southern Mexico into central Mexico. Many consider the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán (today's Mexico City) one of the world's largest and most sophisticated cities. When the Aztecs conquered other groups, they demanded respect by forcing them to pay taxes and involuntary tributes. The Aztecs made significant advances in agriculture and urban development.
 
In the Andes Mountains of South America, the Inca Empire (1200–1572) extended from the present-day countries of Colombia in the north, through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, down to Chile and Argentina in the south. It was the largest empire in the Americas. Building upon the advancements of previous cultures in the Andean culture hearth before them, the Inca developed complex agricultural techniques and forms of animal husbandry suited to high altitudes and created remarkable textiles. They also built an elaborate system of roads that connected the cities and communities that made up the empire to the capital in today's Cuzco, Peru.
 
Although the Europeans decimated the Aztec, Inca, and many other Amerindian populations, we see evidence of these rich Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations in their descendants, artworks, and architecture.
 
To review, see Colonization and Conquest in Middle America, Indigenous Peoples in the Americas, The Colonial Landscape, and Inca Expansion Map.
 

5d. Summarize the pattern of European colonialism across the region, including the significance of the Treaty of Tordesillas

• What were the immediate effects of European colonists on the Amerindians?
• What evidence is there of European colonialism in Middle America today?
• Why did Spain colonize the west side of South America while Portugal colonized the east side?
• What is the significance of the Tordesillas Line?
  

The European colonists devastated the Amerindians of Middle America. Within 100 years, they had decimated 84 to 90 percent of the population with the diseases they carried, enslavement, execution, and warfare. The colonists pursued immediate profit, stole precious metals and gems, and seized the land they conquered.
 
Today, we see many of the changes the colonists brought or imposed. For example, the people in Middle and South America speak Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English. Many follow the Christian religion, particularly Catholicism. The colonists also brought domesticated animals, crops, building methods, and city planning.
 
The countries of Europe's Iberian Peninsula – Spain and Portugal – colonized all of South America with the exception of the Guianas, present-day Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Spain focused on conquering the west coast because they were already in Middle America, which borders present-day Colombia.

Colonial Activity in South America

We credit Francisco Pizzaro, a Spanish conquistador stationed in Panama, with colonizing South America after he landed in Peru to search for gold and silver. Meanwhile, the Portuguese colonists seized the land they discovered on the east coast of Brazil in 1500 to expand their empire.
 
As the Spanish and Portuguese penetrated South America's interior from opposite directions, they eventually lay claim to the same territory. They turned to the Catholic church to establish a boundary between the two colonies, which they called the Tordesillas Line of 1494. The British, Dutch, and French colonized the Guianas using the same methods they used to colonize the rimland of Middle America. Today, French Guiana is the only remaining colony on the continent of South America.

Colonies of South America, 1796

To review, see Colonization and Conquest in Middle America, Indigenous Peoples in the Americas, Colonial Activity in South America, The Colonial Landscape, The Haitian Revolution, and Inca Expansion Map.
 

5e. Outline factors that contribute to income inequality and political instability in this region

• What are the roots of inequality in Middle and South America?
• What factors contribute to the political instability of the region?
  

Middle America and South America are plagued by social, economic, and political inequality. The European colonists banned rural farmers and the descendants of Amerindian peoples and enslaved Africans from owning land or benefiting from the wealth it could produce. This economic exclusion, which also reduced their social standing and political power, led to the formation of an enormous lower class of poor workers.
 
In both regions, the social structure and human settlements reflect major disparities in socioeconomic class. Wealth and political power are centralized among an elite class that inhabits the urban cores of most cities. The urban core is frequently surrounded by a ring of middle-class settlements and a series of outer slums and squatter settlements. The peripheral populations often lack access to the services found in the central cities.
 
While some governments have attempted tax reform and created programs to aid economic development, the underlying inequalities remain. Some countries, such as Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela, have created socialist systems to address these problems, but economic turmoil has caused political instability. For many people in the region, liberation theology has provided a sense of hope by blending Christianity with political activism emphasizing social justice, poverty, and human rights.
 
To review, see Urban Development in South America, Urban Unrest Propels a Global Wave of Protests, Income Inequality in Middle and South America, Inequality and Political Instability in Latin America, Patterns of Globalization in Middle and South America, and The Deadly Genius of Drug Cartels.
 

Unit 5 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms listed above that students need to know to successfully complete the final exam for the course.

• altiplano
• altitudinal zonation
• Amazon Rainforest
• Amazon River Basin
• Amerindian
• Andes Mountains
• Atacama Desert
• Aztec Empire
• conquistador
• cultural hearth
• economic exclusion
• Francisco Pizzaro
• Guiana Highlands
• hacienda system
• hurricane
• Inca Empire
• liberation theology
• mainland
• Mato Grosso Plateau
• Maya
• mountain ecosystem
• Olmec
• Pampas
• plantation agriculture
• rimland
• Tordesillas Line