1/7/2010
Maya Civilization
• 3000 years ago
• Classic period
Aztec civilization
Aztec Civilization
200-900 A.D.
• Honduras,
Guatemala, Belize
• Yucatán Peninsula
of Mexico
• Theocratic
structure
•
Pinnacle of a long sequence
of civilizations in the Valley
of Mexico
•
Tenochtitlán
–
Elizabeth J. Leppman
Founded about 1300 A.D.
– Population > 100,000 at
Conquest
– Site of modern Mexico
city
Inca
•Culture hearth - altiplano
.
around Cuzco by A.D. 1300
20 million subjects at its
zenith.
► European
Conquest (1492)
 Within 40 years of Columbus, all population
centers in region subjugated
 Superior military technology
 Vulnerability to disease
►Smallpox,
•Terraced hillsides and
sediment-filled valleys
measles
 Within 150 years, total population of
Americas reduced by 90%
•Impressive transportation
networks and integration
efforts
►Beginning
►Mixing
of slave trade
of populations
•A highly centralized state
Spanish and Portuguese Trade Routes, Major conquest centers;
circa 1600
►A
Global Exchange of Crops and
Animals
► New
urban Settlements
Figure 3.10
► Church
1)
2)
3)
4)
Spanish settlement in the Caribbean; Mexico
Spanish settlement of the Inca empire
Portuguese settlement of Brazil
Northern European settlements in the Guiana’s
and State
► Mercantilism
1
1/7/2010
Colonial Heritage of Middle
and South America
The Legacy of Colonialism
► Land
alienation
 Appropriated for colonial commercial interests
 Converted to cash cropping for export
► Results:
Figure 3.11




Famine
Poverty
Migration
Decreasing agricultural diversity
► Underdevelopment
Population Patterns
► Major
Percent Urban Population
migration
 Rural to urban
► Population
Distribution
 No relationship between population and physical
landforms
► Population
Growth
 Fast, but some countries are going through
demographic transition (contraception)
Percent Urban by Region
Overurbanization
Figure 3.16
AP Photo/Silvia Izquirdo
2
1/7/2010
CURRENT GEOGRAPHIC
ISSUES
Income Disparity
► Power
and wealth in the region was
concentrated in colonial elites
► Remains so today despite:
 Economic modernization
 Urbanization
Table 3.2
► Assumption
of huge government debts
during 1970s and 1980s
 No economic benefit
 Supported by taxes on the poor
►The
3 Phases of Economic
Development
 The Early Extractive Phase
 The Import Substitution
Industrialization Phase
►Nationalization
of industry; land reform
►Colonialism
 Haciendas
 Plantations
 The Current Structural Adjustment
Phase
►Free
Trade Zones, maquiladoras
► The
Informal Economy
 Causes: Canceled subsidies
 Positive effects: Workers support their
families
 Negative effects: Workers pay bribes
instead of taxes
3
1/7/2010
►Regional
Trade and Trade
Agreements
► Is
 NAFTA
 Mercosur
 FTAA
► Mixed
result: increases income
inequality, yet helps economies achieve
more economic independence
First Indigenous President in
South America
Democracy Rising?
 All democracies except Cuba
 Some threatened with coups d’état
 Democracy fragile and not necessarily
transparent
Geography of Cocaine
Figure 3.27
Figure 3.26
Reuters/David Mercao
Human Impacts on
Middle and South America
Environmental Issues
► Tropical
Forestlands in the Global
Economy
Figure 3.32
 Threats: logging, clearing for agriculture or
mining
 Promoted by Brazil’s government
 Funded by Asian investors
 Increasing regulation
► Implications
for global warming
 Amazon = “Lungs of the World”
4
1/7/2010
► The
Environment and Economic
Development
 Past: Governments argued that
environmental regulation too expensive
 Present: New focus on sustainable
development
►Eco-tourism: natural
and cultural experiences in
unfamiliar environments
► The
Status of Women
 Rural Women: poor, illiterate
 Urban Women
►Smaller
families, urban life, education
organizers in politics, business, unions
►Women Presidents: Nicaragua, Panama, Chile,
Argentina
►Active
 Most rapidly growing segment of tourism
► First
world region to be fully colonized
 Racial and cultural mixing
► Majority
live in cities
 Formal and informal economy
► Abundant
natural resources
 Increase in trade
 Environmental concerns
► Uneven
development
 Emigration, remittances
► Negative
effects of globalization
 Emerging of new political actors
5