Chapter 13, Section 1
The Northern Tropics of South
America
OBJECTIVE: Students will
identify the geographic
influences on Venezuela’s
economy.
AGENDA:
1. PDN
2. Map of S.America
3. Notes
4. Exam Grades Back
5. TOTD
7.2.8.A Explain the characteristics of
places and regions.
Anchor: CC8.5.6-8.D: Determine the
meaning of words as they are used in
text.
OBJECTIVE
• DESCRIBE HOW MIGRATION AFFECTED THE
POPULATION OF THE GUIANAS.
Introduction
• Grouped around Brazil there are 12 other countries
separated into three regions.
– Northern Tropics
– Andean Countries
– Southern Grassland Countries
• The countries of the Northern Tropics are located
along the northern coast of S. America.
The Guianas
• Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are
known as the Guianas.
– Share tropical wet climate
– Vast stretches of rain forest
– Narrow coastal plain on the Atlantic Ocean.
– Their human characteristics give each a distinct
personality.
Guianas Continued…
• Differences reflect each country’s history and
pattern of colonization.
• Set the Guianas apart culturally from the rest
of S. America (ex. Language and Religion).
Guianas Continued…
• Guyana’s official language is English because it
was once an English colony of British Guiana.
• Suriname – Dutch
• Religions in both countries consist of Christian,
Muslims and Hindu.
• French Guiana - French
Effects of Migration
• Ethnic compositions varies in the three
Guianas and reflects patterns of migration.
• Europeans brought enslaved Africans to work
on colonial sugar plantations.
• Asians from China, India and Southeast Asia
began migrating to the area as workers in the
mid 1800s.
• Today, most Guyanese belong to these two
groups.
Effects of Migration Continued…
• People of Asian descent make up about ½ the
population, many speaking Indian.
• Another 43% are of African ancestry.
• Suriname/French Guiana = 50% Asian, 10%
African, 30% Mulattoes, rest are indigenous.
OBJECTIVE REVIEW
• How did migration affect population in the
Guianas?
NEW OBJECTIVE
STUDENTS WILL IDENTIFY THE GEOGRAPHIC
INFLUENCES ON VENEZUELA’S ECONOMY.
Venezuela
•
•
•
•
24 million residents (1 mil. Guyana).
$3,530 GNP ($780 Guyana).
73.1 years average life expectancy (64 Guyana).
Shares typical culture of S. America.
– Official language = Spanish
– Mestizos or of European descent
– Roman Catholics
The Andean Highlands
• Venezuela’s landscapes are varied.
• Northwest,
Andes tower
over narrow
coastal plains.
Most people live
in the fertile
mountain valleys,
Caracas is located
here.
Andean Highlands continued…
• Side by side with the sidewalk cafes,
universities and department stores are scenes
of poverty.
• 1/3 of people live in ranchitos (small shacks).
Waterfalls and Grasslands
• Guiana Highlands, covers nearly half of the
country.
• World’s highest waterfall, Angel Falls, is
located in the Guiana Highlands.
• 3,200 ft. drop
into the Churun
River, a tributary
of the Orinoco.
Waterfalls and Grasslands continued…
• Between the two highland regions, flows the
Orinoco River.
• Along both sides of the river stretches a wide
tropical grassland, or savanna, region called the
llanos (means Plains in Spanish).
• Llanos flood from April to December (rainy season).
• Hot sun burns the vegetation
and the soil becomes
parched/cracked for the
rest of the year.
Elevation and Climate
• Venezuela lies between the tropics, but their
climate depends more on elevation than distance
to the equator.
Tierra Helada Alpacas
An Oil Rich Region
• Four (4) large beds of “liquid gold” lie in the
eastern llanos, the Orinoco delta, the lowlands,
near Lake Maracaibo and offshore.
• Petroleum dominates their economy, making it
one of the top 10 oil producers in the world.
– Developing bauxite and iron mines, building power
plants and setting up factories that will provide jobs
when the oil wells run dry.
OBJECTIVE REVIEW
• What are the geographical influences on
Venezuela’s economy?
NEW OBJECTIVE
• Students will prove the problems of one-crop
agriculture in Colombia.
Colombia
• Named after Christopher Columbus.
• Only country in S. America that borders both the
Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
• 40 million residents (2005).
Physical Characteristics
• Colombia has three distinct physical regions–
lowlands, mountains, and the llanos.
• 75% of country’s people live in the fertile valleys
between three cordilleras.
– Parallel mountain ranges of the Andes.
• Bogota, Colombia’s capital and largest city, lies on
the high plateau of the Andes.
A Single Crop
•
•
•
•
Colombia’s farmers depend heavily on coffee.
Grown on 300,000 small farms.
Most farms are owned by a few wealthy families.
They rent small amounts of land to tenant farmers
at high prices.
• Tenant farmers, or
campesinos, are often
barely able to grow
enough food for their
families.
A Single Crop Continued…
• A country that depends on one cash crop, such as
coffee, is at risk if world demand for coffee drops,
or if coffee trees are destroyed.
• Govt. is trying to reduce Colombia’s dependence
on a single cash crop by encouraging the export of
other farm products.
The Drug Trade
• Huge quantities of marijuana and cocaine, a
dangerous addictive drug made from the leaves of
the coca plant, are exported illegally from
Colombia.
• Twice as much money as coffee is brought in by
drugs.
• Those who control the drug trade, control power.
Cooperation and Conflict
• 1950s, violent dispute between two major
political parties.
– 200,000 people were killed in a bloody civil war.
– In 1958, parties agreed to work together.
– Colombia struggles with the challenges that result
from social inequality.
– Few people hold a majority of the country’s
wealth and power, while many suffer from
extreme poverty.
OBJECTIVE REVIEW
• What are the problems of one-crop
agriculture in Colombia?