Latin America, Second Edition

Charles Gritzner

Description

This eBook introduces readers to the geography of Latin America, covering the culture region as a whole rather than individual countries. The volume emphasizes the region's people and their various ways of life, considering how they have adapted to, used, and changed the natural environments in which they live.

Like other titles in the 10-volume Modern World Cultures set, Latin America, Second Edition explores the geographical features, climate, and ecosystems; population, settlement, and culture; and the history and economy of the region at hand. Also covered are the region’s diversity, challenges, and prospects.

Illustrated with full-color maps and photographs, and accompanied by a chronology, glossary, and further readings, these accessible titles offer an ideal starting point for research on the culture regions of the world.

Sujets

• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Lifestyle
• Geography
• Demography
• Politics
• Latin America
• Anthropology
• History
• Social
• Culture

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438199467
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Latin America, Second Edition
Copyright © 2021 by Infobase
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information, contact:
Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001
ISBN 978-1-4381-9946-7
You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.infobase.com
Contents Chapters Introducing Latin America Physical Geography Indigenous Cultures European Heritage Population and Settlement Geography Cultural Geography Political Geography Economic Geography Latin America Looks Ahead Support Materials Glossary Chronology Further Reading About the Author and Series Editor Index
Preface

Geography provides a key that unlocks the door to the world's wonders. There are, of course, many ways of viewing the world and its people, places, and environments. In this series—Modern World Cultures—the emphasis is on people and their varied ways of life. As you step through the geographic door into the 10 world cultures featured in this set, you will come to better know, understand, and appreciate the world's mosaic of peoples and how they live. You will see how different peoples adapt to, use, and change the natural environments in which they live. And you will be amazed at the vast differences in thinking, doing, and living practiced around the world. The Modern World Cultures series was developed in response to many requests from librarians and teachers throughout the United States and Canada.

This is what the Earth looks like at night. This image is a composite of hundreds of pictures made by orbiting satellites. Human-made lights highlight the developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface.
Source: NASA.
As you begin your reading visits to the world's major cultures, it is important that you understand three terms that are used throughout the series: geography, culture, and region. These words and their meanings are often misunderstood. Geography is an age-old way of viewing the varied features of Earth's surface. In fact, it is the oldest of the existing sciences! People have always had a need to know about and understand their surroundings. In times past, a people's world was their immediate surroundings; today, our world is global in scope. Events happening half a world away can and often do have an immediate impact on our lives. If we, either individually or as a nation of peoples, are to be successful in the global community, it is essential that we know and understand our neighbors, regardless of who they are or where they live.
Geography and history are similar in many ways; both are methodologies—distinct ways of viewing things and events. Historians are concerned with time, or when events happened. Geographers, on the other hand, are concerned with space, or where things are located. In essence, geographers ask: "What is where, why there, and why care?" in regard to various physical and human features of Earth's surface.
Culture has many definitions. For this series and for most geographers and anthropologists, it refers to a people's way of life. It includes everything we possess because we are human, such as our ideas, beliefs, and customs, including language, religious beliefs, and all knowledge. Tools and skills also are an important aspect of culture. Different cultures, after all, have different types of technology and levels of technological attainment that they can use in performing various tasks. Finally, culture includes social interactions—the ways different people interact with one another individually and as groups.
Finally, the idea of region is one geographers use to organize and analyze geographic information spatially. A region is an area that is set apart from others on the basis of one or more unifying elements. Language, religion, and major types of economic activity are traits that often are used by geographers to separate one region from another. Most geographers, for example, see a cultural division between Northern, or Anglo, America and Latin America. That "line" is usually drawn at the U.S.-Mexico boundary, although there is a broad area of transition and no actual cultural line exists.
The 10 culture regions presented in this series have been selected on the basis of their individuality, or uniqueness. As you tour the world's culture realms, you will learn something of their natural environment, history, and way of living. You will also learn about their population and settlement, how they govern themselves, and how they make their living. Finally, you will take a peek into the future in the hope of identifying each region's challenges and prospects. Enjoy your trip!
Entry Author: Gritzner, Charles F.
Chapters
Introducing Latin America

Welcome to Latin America, one of the world's largest, most homogeneous, and most fascinating culture realms. Strangely, most of us norteamericanos (Northern Americans, or residents of Canada and the United States) know very little about our southern neighbors. Sadly, too, much of what we think we do know about the region is false. Stereotypes, misconceptions, and general ignorance abound. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes once said, "What the United States does best is to understand itself. What it does worst is understand others." To understand other places and people, we must learn about them. Yet former New York Times editor and columnist James Reston once noted that "Somehow the people of the United Sates will do anything for Latin America except read about it." In this book, the author attempts to provide the reader with a glimpse of the real Latin America. When you have completed your journey, he hopes that you share his deep affection for this dynamic, fascinating, and diverse region and its more than 650 million people.
There are many reasons why it is important for Northern Americans to understand Latin America. The most obvious, perhaps, is that we are neighbors, sharing the huge landmass called America that occupies much of the Western Hemisphere. Economically, in terms of labor, resources, manufacturing, and tourism, ties between the two regions are strengthening rapidly. Political instability in Latin America also can have a profound impact on Northern America. Much of the international drug trade originates in Latin America. In addition, next to the Anglo-American population, people of Latin American ancestry are the leading and most rapidly growing population group in the United States. Today, Northern American culture is increasingly showing a strong Latin imprint. Many Northern Americans enjoy Mexican food, and Mexican tequila has become a popular alcoholic beverage. Baseball fans cheer for dozens of players from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and other south-of-the-border locales. Calypso, reggae, mariachi, and salsa are just some of Latin America's contributions to the music many of us enjoy. These are just a few of the strong and rapidly growing ties that exist between Northern and Latin America.
Hemispheric Regional Divisions
Cultural regions are often difficult to define. Perhaps it is best to think of them as "convenience packages." Geographers use the concept to divide Earth's surface into manageable units of space. Clearly, the way of living in the United States and Canada differs somewhat from that of people living south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Today, the culture in both regions is predominantly of European origin, yet many differences do exist. Through time, geographers and others have divided America into a number of different regions. Today, however, the most widely used division is Northern (or Anglo) America and Latin America. This is the division used in the Modern World Cultures series and in this book. Some confusion exists, however, in regard to the terms and areas associated with the hemisphere's regional divisions. A brief list of terms and the areas to which they relate follows:
North America and South America are continents . They are physically separated by the Isthmus of Panama (which coincides with the route of the Panama Canal). For purposes of statistical convenience (as in most textbooks), the boundary is often placed at the political boundary between Panama and Colombia. (A word of caution: Today, North America is often used incorrectly in place of Anglo America, or predominantly English-speaking United States and Canada).


Source: Infobase.
Northern (Anglo) America and Latin America are culture regions. Because culture regions typically occur as broad zones of transition, it is difficult to draw a sharp line that divides the two culture realms. Much of the southwestern United States, for example, is dominantly settled by people of Latin American heritage. Traditionally, the line dividing Northern and Latin America has been placed at the border of the United States and Mexico. Within the two regions, of course, there exists tremendous cultural diversity. This is one problem geographers face when attempting to delineate regions. Regions must be thought of as generalizations within which there are always exceptions. In Latin America, for example, there are small populations that speak English, Dutch, French, and various Amerindian (American Indian), or other languages. Most people speak Spanish or Portuguese (in Brazil), both of which are Latin-derived Romance tongues.
Middle, Central, and Caribbean America are popular regions widely recognized by local inhabitants, businesses, scholars, and others. Middle America is that part of Latin America located on the North American continent. It extends from the U.S.–Mexico border southward to the border between Panama and Colombia. As such, it includes both Central and Caribbean America. Central America includes all territory on the North American ma