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Latin America
Additional Notes
Factors Controlling Climate
1. Latitude
2. Altitude, or
elevation
1.
2.
Temperature
Orographic effect
3. Proximity to water
4. Prevailing wind direction
5. Cool or warm ocean
currents
Elevation and Climate
See Chart Page 208
• Environments in the
Andes change with
elevation
– Tierra Caliente
• Lower than 3,000 ft.
– Tierra Templada
• 3,000 to 6,000 ft.
– Tierra Fria
• 6,000 to 10,000 ft.
– Paramo
• 10,000 to 16,000 ft.
– Tierra Helada
• Above 16,000 ft.
• Tierra Caliente
– The Hot land
– Tropical crops
•
•
•
•
•
Bananas
Cacao
Rice
Sugarcane
Pineapple
• Tierra Templada
– Temperate land
– Many people live in this
zone
– Staple crops
• Coffee, corn, wheat,
cotton, potatoes, tobacco
• Some tropical crops
• Tierra Fria
– Cool Land
– Cool forests and
grasslands
– Staple Crops
• Potatoes, wheat, oats,
barley, beans, corn, rye
• Paramo
– Above the tree line
– Frost may occur any
night of the year
– Altiplano
– Hardy crops and herding
• Potatoes, grasslands
• Sheep, Llamas, Alpacas
• Tierra Helada
– Above the snow line
– Of little use for human
habitation
Issues of Development
• Developing countries
1. Traditional
2. Rural (high % in
agriculture)
3. Subsistence agriculture
and nomadic herding
•
1. Modern
2. Urban (less than 10% in
agriculture)
3. Commercial agriculture,
fishing, grazing, forestry
w/hunting and gathering
4. Simple technology
5. Muscle power
6. Localized (dual) economy
•
•
• Developed countries
cash crops and minerals
gray economy
4. Complex technology
5. Machine power &
manufacturing
6. Global economy
More Comparisons
• Developing countries
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Low GNP/GDP
Low life expectancy
High infant mortality rate
Substandard education
and literacy
Poor infrastructure and
communications
Shortage of capital
Unstable, ineffective
government systems
High Population Growth
rates
• Developed countries
1. High GNP/GDP
2. Life expectancies above
65 years
3. Low infant mortality
4. Highly developed
education systems
5. Extensive transportation
and communications
6. Large financial sectors
7. Democratic government
systems
8. Stable Population
Barriers to development in Latin
America
• Shortage of capital to develop resources and
industry
– High overseas debt
• Low literacy rates due to fewer children actively
pursuing their education at the elementary and
older age groups
• Many people trapped in cycle of poverty
• Unstable, often ineffective or corrupt
governments
• Exploding population
Tourism
Pros
• Revenue is generated from
the money tourists spend
for hotels, meals,
transportation and other
entertainment
• This revenue creates job for
the host country
• For some countries tourism
may be the only chance for
true development
Cons
• Can cause overcrowding
• Much of the revenue may flow
out of the country
– to travel agents
– construction companies
• It can disrupt cultures
– Cheap trinkets vs. real
handcrafts
– Shell necklaces in Polynesian
Islands
• More people may mean more
pollution and other negative
impact on the environment
A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
• A palindrome is a word or
phrase that reads the
same backwards as
forwards
• The above is one of the
best-known
• It refers to Theodore
Roosevelt who was
President during the time
the United States began
work on the Panama
Canal