Agriculture
Agriculture
• Latifundia and Minifundia Large
agricultural estates owned by wealthy
families or corporations are called
latifundia. 
• Small government-owned farms on
which rural farmers grow crops for their
families are called minifundia. 
• These highly mechanized commercial
operations produce high yields in return
for low labor costs.
(cont.)
• Campesinos have begun combining
their farms into large, jointly run
cooperatives.
(pages 237–238)
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(pages 237–238)
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Section 1-6
Agriculture
Section 1-8
Industry
(cont.)
• Cash Crops and Livestock Latin
American countries are the world’s
largest producers of coffee, bananas,
and sugarcane for export. 
• Industrial Growth Latin America’s
physical geography–high mountain
ranges and dense rain forests–has
made the growth of industry and
access to natural resources difficult
in many areas. 
• Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil raise
cattle for export on large ranches in
grasslands areas. 
• Countries are at economic risk,
however, if weather or other disasters
destroy their cash crops.
• Political instability in some Latin
American countries has made foreign
investors wary of investing in Latin
American industry.
(pages 237–238)
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(pages 238–240)
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Section 1-9
Section 1-11
Industry (cont.)
Industry (cont.)
• Countries with relatively stable
governments and sufficient human
and natural resources have begun
to overcome these obstacles.
• Maquiladoras Foreign-owned factories
called maquiladoras–most of which are
built along the U.S.-Mexico border–
provide jobs to people in the host
country. 
• They also benefit the foreign corporations
by allowing them to hire low-cost labor
and provide duty-free exports. 
(pages 238–240)
• On the other hand, the maquiladoras
also keep wages down, may encourage
dangerous jobs, and often pollute the
environment.
(pages 238–240)
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Section 1-12
Section 1-13
1
Trade and Interdependence
Trade and Interdependence
• NAFTA By encouraging trade among the
United States, Mexico, and Canada, the
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) has strengthened Mexico’s
economy. 
• Foreign Debts Many Latin American
countries have used loans from foreign
countries to finance industrial
development. 
• Other Latin American countries are
watching to see whether a free trade
agreement like NAFTA could help their
economies as well.
(page 240)
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(cont.)
• The economic troubles of the 1980s
caused many of these countries to
restructure their loans to allow more
time to repay, but at a higher total cost. 
• Repayment of foreign debt, in turn,
caused needed domestic programs to
be halted in some countries for lack of
funds.
(page 240)
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Section 1-15
Section 1-17
Transportation
Transportation (cont.)
• Latin America’s physical geography has
limited the building of roads, but the
region does have a major highway
system, the Pan-American Highway. 
• Some Latin American countries have good
railroads; other countries lack the funds to
maintain their rail systems. 
• As a result, inland waterways such as the
Amazon River, the Paraná-Paraguay
Rivers, and the Panama Canal are still
major transport routes for both
passengers and cargo. 
• Air travel will help overcome the obstacles
of Latin America’s physical geography, but
it remains a relatively expensive mode of
transportation for most Latin Americans.
• A trans-Andean highway runs through
the Andes and links cities in Chile and
Argentina.
(pages 240–241)
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(pages 240–241)
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Section 1-19
Section 1-20
Communications
Checking for Understanding
• Communications networks are still
developing in many countries of Latin
America. 
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
• Newspapers, radio, and television may
be censored during political unrest. 
• Few Latin Americans own phones or
computers, although some countries
are beginning to provide public access
to the Internet.
(page 241)
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__
B 1. farm workers; generally, people A. export
who live and work in rural areas B. campesinos
__
E 2. farm crop grown to be sold or
C. latifundia
traded rather than used by the D. minifundia
farm family
E. cash crop
__
I 3. trade agreement made in 1994
by Canada, the United States, F. developing
country
and Mexico
G. service industry
__
F 4. country in the process of
H. maquiladora
becoming industrialized
I. North American
__
A 5. commodity sent from one
Free Trade
country to another for purposes
Agreement
of trade
(NAFTA)
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Section 1-22
Section 1-24
2
Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
A.
B.
C.
__
D 7. in Latin America, small farms
D.
that produce food chiefly for
E.
family use
__
H 8. in Mexico, manufacturing plants F.
set up by foreign firms
G.
__
G 9. business that provides a service
H.
instead of making goods
I.
__
C 6. in Latin America, large
agricultural estates owned by
families or corporations
export
campesinos
latifundia
minifundia
cash crop
developing
country
service industry
maquiladora
North American
Free Trade
Agreement
(NAFTA)
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Section 1-25
End of Section 1
Managing Rain Forests
Managing Rain Forests
• Latin American rain forests are gradually
disappearing. 
• As the rain forest is depleted, there are
fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide,
a greenhouse gas that is increasingly
trapping more heat in the atmosphere
and contributing to global warming. 
• More than 13 percent of the Amazon
rain forest has been destroyed for
roads, settlements, and mining. 
• Deforestation threatens the lifestyles
of indigenous people and risks the
extinction of many species of plants and
animals that grow or live nowhere else.
(cont.)
• Brazil and other rain forest countries
are working to provide for the needs
of their populations–living space and
natural resources–without further
destroying the rain forest.
(pages 242–244)
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(pages 242–244)
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Section 2-6
Managing Rain Forests
Section 2-7
Managing Rain Forests
(cont.)
• Farms and Ranches Versus Forests
Slash-and-burn farming–clearing land
by cutting and burning vegetation–
results in depleted soil that can be used
for only a year or two. 
• Farmers and ranchers then move on
and clear more land.
(pages 242–244)
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(cont.)
• Planting for the Future Commercial
logging operations also destroy the rain
forest. 
• Brazil has set aside about 10 percent of
its Amazon rain forest for national
forests or parks in which logging is
banned. 
• Citizens in Costa Rica are working to
conserve their forests, as well. 
• Reforestation, along with new farming,
mining, and logging methods can
protect the forests.
(pages 242–244)
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Section 2-8
Section 2-9
3
Urban Environments
Urban Environments
• Overcrowded Cities As Latin America’s
rural workers migrate to cities, they often
cannot find adequate housing or jobs. 
• Building a Better Life National and
local governments, international
agencies, and grassroots efforts have
begun to help Latin American countries
address the problems of their
overcrowded cities.
• Some are forced to live in makeshift
slums and shantytowns, where
diseases spread rapidly because of the
lack of sanitation systems or running
water. 
(cont.)
• Many countries have no clean air laws,
making air pollution a serious problem
for people in these cities.
(pages 244–245)
(pages 244–245)
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Section 2-11
Regional and International Issues
• Disputed Borders In Latin America
many territorial disputes have occurred,
usually over the rights to natural
resources.
Section 2-12
Regional and International Issues
(cont.)
• Population Growth and Migration
High birthrates that contribute to
overpopulation in some Latin American
countries have begun to slow down. 
• However, many skilled workers who
might otherwise remain in their home
countries and help address many
problems are emigrating from Latin
America.
(pages 245–247)
(pages 245–247)
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Section 2-14
Regional and International Issues
(cont.)
• Disaster Preparedness Physical
geography makes Latin America
especially vulnerable to natural disasters
such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
and hurricanes. 
• Governments in the region are
cooperating to help Latin Americans
prepare for and anticipate emergencies
rather than reacting after the fact.
Section 2-15
Regional and International Issues
(cont.)
• Industrial Pollution Environmental
laws have not kept up with the growth
of industry and commercial farms. 
• Air and water pollution have increased.
(pages 245–247)
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
• Chemical runoff is now crossing borders
and threatening neighbor countries.
(pages 245–247)
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Section 2-16
Section 2-18
4
Checking for Understanding
Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
__
E 1. makeshift communities on the
edges of cities
A. sustainable
development
A. sustainable
development
__
C 2. traditional farming method in
which all trees and plants in an
area are cut and burned to add
nutrients to the soil
B. deforestation
__
D 4. replanting young trees or seeds
on lands where trees have been
cut or destroyed
__
B 5. the loss or destruction of
forests, mainly for logging or
farming
C. slash-andburn
__
A 3. technological and economic
growth that does not deplete the
human and natural resources of
a given area
C. slash-andburn
B. deforestation
D. reforestation
D. reforestation
E. shantytown
E. shantytown
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Section 2-21
Section 2-22
Section 1: Living in Latin America
(pages 237–241)
Key Points
• Latin America’s economy is based on the
export of agricultural products. 
• A small group of wealthy families or businesses
owns a large percentage of the agricultural land
in Latin America. 
• The economy of many Latin American countries
is linked to one or two cash crops. 
• The maquiladora system, trade agreements,
and international borrowing are attempts to
speed the industrialization of many Latin
American countries.
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End of Section 2
Chapter Summary 1
Section 1: Living in Latin America
(pages 237–241)
Section 2: People and Their
Environment (pages 242–247)
• Geographic and economic realities have
presented obstacles to developing
transportation and communications in the
region.
Key Points
Key Points
• A key challenge for the Latin American region
is sustainable development. 
• Damage to the Amazon rain forest has both
local and global consequences. 
• Slash-and-burn cultivation contributes to Latin
America’s environmental challenges. 
• Latin America’s urban environmental problems
are a result of rapid urbanization.
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Chapter Summary 2
Chapter Summary 3
5
Section 2: People and Their
Environment (pages 242–247)
Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
Key Points
• Solutions to the region’s environmental
concerns will come through cooperation among
local, national, regional, and international
governments and organizations.
__
G 1. the loss or destruction of
forests, mainly for logging or
farming
__
F 2. technological and economic
growth that does not deplete the
human and natural resources of
a given area
__
B 3. in Latin America, large
agricultural estates owned by
families or corporations
__
E 4. farm crop grown to be sold or
traded rather than used by the
farm family
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
campesino
latifundia
minifundia
maquiladora
cash crop
sustainable
development
G. deforestation
H. service
industry
I. reforestation
J. shantytown
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Chapter Summary 4
Chapter Assessment 1
Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
__
A 5. farm workers; generally, people
who live and work in rural areas
__
C 6. in Latin America, small farms
that produce food chiefly for
family use
__
J 7. makeshift communities on the
edges of cities
__
D 8. in Mexico, manufacturing plants
set up by foreign firms
__
I 9. replanting young trees or seeds
on lands where trees have been
cut or destroyed
__10.
business that provides a service
H
instead of making goods
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
campesino
latifundia
minifundia
maquiladora
cash crop
sustainable
development
G. deforestation
H. service
industry
I. reforestation
J. shantytown
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Chapter Assessment 2
6