Study Guide for the
Geography of South
America
Number 1:
On a map of
Central America and South
America, make sure that you
know the location of following
physical features: Amazon River,
Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea,
Panama Canal, Andes Mountains,
Sierra Madre Mountains, Atacama
Desert, and the Pacific Ocean.
You should also be able to label
the following countries: Bolivia,
Brazil, Columbia, Cuba, Haiti,
Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela.
2. Save the Environment
Worksheet: Know the answers to
all the questions.
• What is the problem in Mexico City?
• Why do they have problems getting
clean water?
• Why is the Amazon Rainforest
important?
• What is the problem in the Rainforest?
• What problem has been caused by oil
productions in Venezuela?
Why is Mexico City so polluted?
•
•
•
•
Overcrowding
Industrialization
Vehicle emissions
Location at the base of mountains that
trap emissions which produce a heavy
overlay of smog
Problems associated with large
populations in Latin American cities.
• Too many people polluting the air and water
• Poor waste management
• Low literacy rates
Why do they have problems getting
clean water?
• Fertilizers and pesticides from large farms
contaminate the streams and rivers
• Lack of effective water treatment centers
Why cut down the rainforest?
• Farming
• Cattle ranches
• logging
What problem has been caused by oil
production in Venezuela?
• The coast along the Caribbean Sea has
been polluted with oil
3. What is it meant by the term
“biodiversity”? Why does biodiversity
make the rain forest more valuable?
• Biodiversity is the variety of plants and
animals.
• The rainforest is valuable because there may
be many plants that could one day be used
as medicines to cure diseases.
• The rainforest has more biodiversity than all
of the other biomes combined!
4. What effect does acid rain have on
ancient ruins and statues?
• The acid breaks down the stone material of
the statues and causes them to crumble or
even break and fall down
5. Why did Brazil’s government
decide to move the capital to
Brasilia?
• Brazil’s government encouraged settlers to
migrate to the interior of the country to
develop farms and ranches
6. What is one trade advantage of
Venezuela’s location?
• Access to the sea
• Oil close to sea ports
7. Do most people living in Mexico and
Venezuela live in urban or rural
areas? Why?
• Most live in urban areas
• Cities allow more opportunities for jobs,
education, and healthcare
8. Compare the land area and
location of Brazil and Cuba
• Cuba is significantly smaller than Brazil
and has far fewer natural resources
9. Since Cuba has few
natural resources, how do
Cubans get what products
they need?
• Cuba must import goods from other
countries to compensate for not
having natural resources
10. Latin America is ethnically
diverse because of a blending of
which three groups?
• Europeans
• Indigenous Americans
• Africans
11. Define the terms “mestizo” and
“mulatto”
• Mestizo: child of an indigenous American
and a European
• Mulatto: child of a European and an African
12. What is the difference
between North America, South
America, Middle America and
Latin America?
• North America, South America, and,
Middle America are geographic terms.
They have nothing to do with groups
of people or culture, just geography.
• Latin America is a cultural term. It
came from the Latin languages of
Spanish and Portuguese which are
spoken in that area.
13. What language do Brazilians
speak? Why?
• Brazilians speak Portuguese because Brazil
was once colonized by Portugal.
14. What languages do citizens from
Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Chile, and Peru speak?
Why?
• The citizens in those countries speak
Spanish because they were once colonized by
Spain.
15. Since Argentina has a high
literacy rate (97%), how will this
affect its standard of living?
• high lit. rates = better standard of living
• low lit. rates = poor standard of living
• So, Argentina has a high standard of
living
16. Why are most people in Central
and South America Roman
Catholics?
• The Spanish and Portuguese were Roman
Catholic and their religion spread to the
colonies in Latin America