Latin America: Physical Geography
1. Latin America lies predominantly in which latitude belt?
Major Water Bodies – Circle and Label
Caribbean Sea
Gulf of Mexico
Lake Maracaibo
Rio de la Plata
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Points of Interest
Look at Plate 13 of The Geography Coloring Book and read the accompanying text. The islands of the Caribbean are known
as the West Indies. There are over ________ islands in this archipelago.
The islands of the West Indies are divided into three general groupings. Locate and label each.
1. ___________ are made up of over 2000 coral islands southeast of Florida. Only ____ of these islands are inhabited.
2. The _________ Antilles are the four largest islands of the Caribbean. They include the islands of Cuba, Jamaica,
and Puerto Rico. ________________ is the island that contains both the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
3. The group of small islands that extends in an arc east and south of the Greater Antilles is known as the _______
Antilles.
Tectonics
Look at the tectonic map in the Atlas. Notice that the region
has a lot of tectonic activity. Don’t worry about the plate
names; just know the approximate location of the boundaries.
In South America, the Andes Mountains are created by
tectonic activity along the boundary between the Nazca Plate
and the South American Plate. Draw this [convergent /
divergent / transform] boundary.
The mountains of Middle America are called the Sierra
Madres. They are created by tectonic activity associated with
the boundary between the Cocos Plate and the Caribbean and
North American Plates. Draw this [convergent / divergent /
transform] boundary on the map at left.
At the east end of the Caribbean Plate, there is another
[convergent / divergent / transform] boundary that is
responsible for the creation of the volcanic islands that make
up most of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. To the north and
south of the Caribbean plate are two [convergent / divergent /
transform] boundaries that run east and west across the
Caribbean Sea. Draw in these three plate boundaries.
Landforms
Middle America is dominated by _________ landforms. This includes most of the islands of the West Indies. Exceptions
include the Yucatan Peninsula, the western two-thirds of Cuba, and the Bahamas. The landform of all of these areas is
________________
One of the global phenomena that led Alfred Lord Wegener to the theory of plate tectonics was the fact the east coast of
South America looks like it would fit right into the west coast of Africa. That’s because the two used to be part of the same
supercontinent. As in Africa, the dominant landform of most of eastern South America is shield. Just as in Africa, these
shield areas form _________ topography. In South America, there are two distinct shield areas. These are separated by the
____________ River, the largest river by volume in the world
North of the Amazon, these higher plateaus are called the Guiana Highlands. The plateau area south of the Amazon is the
Brazilian Highlands. Mark these two areas on the map. There are also outcroppings of shield in southern Argentina.
All shield areas are dominated by ancient [igneous / metamorphic / sedimentary] rock. As in Africa, the soils associated
with these plateau areas are generally [fertile / infertile]. Shield areas correspond to the number _________ on the map at
above. The shield areas have important deposits of [fuel / non-fuel] minerals.
Brazil, which contains most of the shield landforms, is
a major mining country. Brazil mines about 20% of the
world’s iron ore and manganese. It is also a major
exporter of semi-precious gemstones – like those sold
by the pound at tourist stores.
Latin America has much [more /less] sedimentary
cover than Africa. The largest areas lie in South
America and are associated with the Amazon River
Valley and areas just east of the Andes Mountains.
Look at the fuel mineral map on pages 58-59 of the
Goodes World Atlas. Notice that the largest arrow
comes from an area called Maracaibo. Venezuela
controls about 5% of the world’s total petroleum
reserves. Most of these are concentrated in Lake
Maracaibo. This is the second largest petroleum
reserve (the Persian Gulf is the largest). Petroleum
wealth gives Venezuela (and its political leaders) an
enormous amount of clout.
It is likely that there are petroleum deposits associated
with the Amazon Basin, but exploration of this area has
just begun.
The rivers of Latin America are more navigable than those of Africa. Why? The major river of Latin America and the
biggest river in the world is the _______________________. Circle and label it on your map above.
The Rio de la Plata is an estuary like the Chesapeake Bay. It is located between the countries of _________________ and
________________. Circle and label the Rio de la Plata on the map.
The Rio Grande forms the eastern border between the United States and Mexico. Circle and label it on the map.
CLIMATES
High and Low Pressure
[Low / high] pressure is dominant over the Equator. [Low /
high] pressure belts (20-30° north and south latitude) fall
over and the north Caribbean in the north and over Chile,
Argentina and Paraguay in the south.
Tropical rainforests correspond to the letter ___ on the map at
left. In South America, tropical rainforests are found in the
Amazon Basin, a coastal strip on the northwest extending
from Ecuador through Colombia, and the southeast coast of
Brazil. Tropical rainforest is also found on the east coast of
Central America, south of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Tropical savanna areas correspond to the letter ___ on the
map at left. The Guiana and Amazon Highlands have tropical
savanna climates. In Middle America, tropical savanna
climates are found on most of the islands, as well as the west
coast south of the Tropic of Cancer.
Moving poleward from the tropical savanna areas are steppes
and desserts. Steppes correspond to the letter _____ on the
map and deserts correspond the letter _____. The largest area
of desert and steppes is found in Northern Mexico, beginning
around the Tropic of Cancer.
The Atacama Desert of South America is one of the driest
places in the world. There are places in the Atacama Desert
where it has not rained in recorded history. It is located in
coastal areas from southern Peru to Northern Chile. Locate
and label the Atacama Desert on the map at left. Why is the
Atacama Desert so dry?
Notice that southern Argentina is dominated by desert and steppe climates because the deserts switch sides as you move from
the low to the middle latitudes. Why?
The “cone” of South America is located in the middle latitudes. Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are entirely in the middlelatitude belt.
On the west side, Chile has two mid-latitude climates. Central Chile, which lies closer to the low latitudes, has
_____________ climates (letter ___ on the map) while southern Chile has _______________ climates (letter ____ on the
map). So, Chile is quite similar to California with respect to both climate and landform. What agricultural crops do you
expect to find in Chile? Why are Chilean soft fruit exports so important to the United States?
On the east side, the ______________________ climate is dominant from about the Tropic of Capricorn south into northern
Argentina. This corresponds to the letter ____ on the map above. This region is known as the Pampas. It is very similar
climatically to the southern part of the United States. Like the southeast of the U.S., the Pampas region should have trees as
the natural vegetation, but frequent fires have caused the dominant natural vegetation to be tall grass. It is likely that most of
the fires were man made. The Pampas is a major area of livestock ranching, with sheep and cattle the most important exports.
Mountain climates correspond to the letter ____ on the map above. They are found in the Andes Mountains. Label the Andes
on the climate map above. They are also found in the interior of Central America, from the Tropic of Cancer to the south.
Compared to Africa, the mountains in Latin America are much [higher / lower]. Why?
Just as in Africa, mountains attract higher population densities in Latin America. Why?
Mountains are so important in Latin America that the different altitudinal zones have distinct names. Know the following
altitude zones and the dominant crops associated with each zone: tierra caliente, tierra templada, and tierra fria. The most
densely populated of the altitudinal zones is the tierra _________________. Why?