Chapter 13 Questions and Vocabulary

• Llano: A grassy plain.

• Cordillera: A related set of separate mountain ranges.
• Campesino: In Latin America, a tenant farmer or farm worker.
• Altiplano: A plateau region located in the Andes of Bolivia and Peru.
• Paramo: A plateau in the Andes of Ecuador.
• Timber line: The boundary in high elevations above which continuous forest vegetation can’t grow.
• Selva: A forested region in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
• Estuary: The wide mouth of a river, where freshwater river currents meet salt water.
• Piedmont: A region of rolling foothills.
• Gaucho: A cowboy who herded cattle in the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay.

1. Physical characteristics of the Guianas?

• Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana—in the northern tropics along N. coast of S. America
• Tropical wet climate, vast stretches of rain forest, + narrow coastal plain on the Atlantic Ocean
2. How are the Guianas culturally distinct from the rest of South America?
• S. America—Spanish/Portuguese + Roman Catholicism
• Guyana—English (once English colony of British Guiana) + Muslim/Hindu
• Suriname—Dutch (colony of Netherlands until 1975) + Muslim/Hindu
• French Guiana—French (overseas department of France)
3. How do physical characteristics + climate regions of Venezuela influence the nation’s economic activities?
• The Andean Highlands: In the last 30 years the government has used its oil wealth to launch programs
to improve living conditions for the country’s poor—who live in ranchitos (small shacks).
• Waterfalls and Grasslands: region important for grazing cattle in the llanos/savanna area
• Elevation + Climate: Venezuelan farmers grow different crops at different elevations (EX: Coffee trees
suited for growing in the climate zone called “tierra templada”—mild temp.)
• An Oil-Rich Region: 4 large beds of “liquid gold” lie in the E. llanos, the Orinoco delta, the lowlands near
Lake Maracaibo, + offshore.
4. Legal agricultural crop that Colombia’s economy depends on?
• Coffee, grown on more than 300,000 small farms
5. What are problems than Colombia faces with its single crop dependency?
• A country that depends on 1 crop is at risk if world demand for coffee drops/if the coffee trees are
destroyed.
6. Which crops are commonly grown in tierra templada? Tierra Fria?
• Tierra Templada: Coffee, corn, citrus fruit
• Tierra Fria: Potatoes, wheat, barley, apples
7. Physical characteristics of Andean countries?
• Longest mountain chain in the world; higher than any range except the Himalayas
• Stretch 5,500 miles from the Caribbean Sea to the S. tip of S. America
• Coastal Plain:
o Between mountains + sea
o Stretches from the Pacific coast of Colombia to the S. end of Chile.
o Atacama Desert—1 of driest + most lifeless places on earth; N—along the coast of Ecuador—
oppressively hot + humid rain forests; S—Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers, and mild,
rainy winters
• Highlands:
o Inland from the coastal plain—peaks of Andes range form 6,500 to 16,000 ft above sea level.
o Between cordilleras lie highland valleys and plateaus
o Climate varies with elevation
 o High elevation—known as alpine tundra—grows above the timber line—only plants that can
survive cold temperatures, gusting winds, spotty precipitation, + short growing seasons grow in
the alpine tundra
o Highest altitudes of the Andes—mountaintops snow-covered + cold year-long
 Further N—mountain temperatures are warmer, rains are more frequent, + rain forest
growth is thick and lush
• Tropical Forests:
o Inland, E. slopes of the Andes descend to forested, steamy tropical lowlands
o Many animals but not many humans
8. How is “vertical trade” and example of how the people of the Andes have adapted to their environment.
• People at different elevations meet to trade their crops
• Since people grow crops suited to their own climate zone, here they trade “up” and “down”
9. Physical effects of living in the Andes on native populations?
• Have developed unusual physical characteristics—larger heart + lungs that let the live + work in the
thin, oxygen-poor air.
10. Which country has the worst health care, + why?
• Guyana
o Infant Mortality Rate: 49
o Life Expectancy (years): 62.3
o Population per physician: 8,946—not enough doctors for so many people
11. What is Ecuador’s economy like? Peru’s?
• Ecuador:
o traditional lifestyle in the highlands—practicing subsistence agriculture
o owns the largest farms + factories—most political influence
o OIL—most important export—during 1990s government mismanagement and fluctuating oil
prices hampered Ecuador’s economic growth
• Peru:
o 45% of Peru’s population=Indians—most live by subsistence farming/herding llamas + alpacas
in the highlands
o Most mestizos live in urban areas/near the coastal plain—earn low wages in factories that
export cotton, sugar cane, + rice—characterized by unemployment + poverty
o Minority of people of European descent control most of the country’s wealth + are leaders in the
government + army
o Fujimori (president) made economic reforms + suppressed a terrorist movement
o Struggled to abolish political abuses + establish a truly democratic government
12. Affect of climatic conditions on economic activities in Bolivia?
• Landlocked—lacks profitable coastal ports + factories of Ecuador + Peru
• Cold, thin air of the high plateau makes physical activity difficult for nonnative-born people
• At higher elevations (where mostly subsistence farmers live) they herd alpacas and llamas
13. How is Chile’s population different from the rest of the Andean countries?
• Chile has relatively few Indians.
14. Describe the economic activities in Chile.
• Fruit, vegetables, + wine grapes grown in abundance in the Central Valley
o Ships these during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter—good markers in US + Europe
o Most of Chile’s cities + factories are also in the Central Valley; fishing industry
15. Physical characteristics of the southern grassland countries?
• Made up of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina
• All regions bound together by a great river system
o Great Rivers
 Rio de la Plata—an estuary
 4 rivers in the Plata estuary : Uruguay, Pilcomayo, Paraguay, + Panama
 River system provides an inexpensive + efficient way for people in this functional region
to ship goods
 o Andean Region
 Highest peaks of the Andean are in W. Argentina
 Includes 4 highest mountains in W. Hemispheres, including Mt. Aconcagua
 Andes gradually give way to gently rolling piedmont region
o Tropical Lowlands
 Gran Chaco—“hunting land”—interior lowland region of savanna
 Temperatures are mild and change a little
 Rainfall is seasonal
 Summer rains turn are into mud
 Winter soil is dry and windblown
o Grasslands
 Pampas of Argentina and Uruguay are 1 of S. America’s best-known features
 These temperate grasslands stretch 100s of miles, used by gauchos
 Pampas—Argentina’s breadbasket, producing 70% of meat and 80% of grain
 Pampas—warm summers + cold winters
 Violent winter thunderstorms—known as “pamperos”
o Patagonia
 S. of Pampas lies the windswept plateau of Patagonia
 Desolate, dry, cold + sometimes foggy plain is well suited for raising sheep
 Natural resources—rich deposits of oil + bauxite
16. Venn Diagram over political + economic scenes of Paraguay + Uruguay
• Paraguay:
o Economy based on agriculture, mostly cotton
o Government responsive to people’s needs—previously ruled by military dictator
o Hydroelectric power
• Uruguay:
o Processing meat
o Politically, has an unstable history
o Military took power—ruling for 12 years
o Must import fuel + consumer goods—expensive
o Large, comfortable middle class—few slums
o Required to vote—fined if do not
• Both:
o Livestock + grains
o Free democratic elections
17. Describe wealth in Argentina
• Wealthiest in terms of GDP, although unevenly distributed
18. Impact of urbanization on Argentina?
• Heavy air pollution blankets Buenos Aires
• Buenos Aires—capital city that looks to Europe for fashions, art, food, + style
• Magnet pulling people who seek jobs + a better way of life