Latin America Geography

Settled in Mexico City; conquered by Cortez

settled in the Andes; conquered by Spain for gold/silver; almost completely exterminated

biological swap of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the colonial powers (Europe/Africa) and the colonies (the Americas)

informal settlements of the edge of the cities; area of makeshift housing without government control, city services.

privatization, direct foreign investment, few import/export restrictions (less tariffs), business-driven market economy

employed but don't earn enough to live or get by; leads immigrants to move to the US.

assembly plants near the US-Mexico borders; built by foreign investors and earn foreign capital; exported goods to the US; used for it's benefits of lower wages, fewer benefits, and fewer regulations

a person of mixed European and Indian ancestry

• a formal organization of produced and manufactured goods; not regulated by the government; increases profits by reducing the competition
• La Familia - southwest Mexico

the scattering of a particular groups of people over a vast geographical area

pop songs glorifying drug-trafficking - based out of Mexico, but moved to other Latin American countries

people who smuggle small quantities of drugs, usually inside themselves (in their stomach) across national borders.

illegal entry of person into foreign country of which a person is not a citizen

migrant smuggler; paid by undocumented immigrants to smuggle them across the US-Mexican border.

economic and political strategies by which powerful states indirectly or sometime directly extend their influence over another weaker state.

• islands or micro states that offer financial services that are typically confidential and tax-exempt that offer their services to individual and corporate clients for a set fee.
• Bahamas and Cayman Islands
• Used for: privacy, taxation, stability, drug trade, terrorism

runaway slaves who established communities rich in African tradition throughout the Caribbean and Brazil.

the blending of African, European, and even some Amerindian cultural elements into the unique sociocultural systems found in the Caribbean.

migration of the best-educated people from developing countries to developed nations where economic opportunities are greater.

gap between the gross receipts an industry brings to a developing country and the amount of capital retained there.

a concept that explores the contradictory position of the Caribbean which are physically close to North America and economically dependent upon that region.

native group of people in Brazil; lived apart from the cities; live in the dense Amazon Basin; colonialism never even reached them

4 major islands - Cuba, Jamaica, Hispanola, Puerto Rico

Haiti and Dominican Republic

Dozens of Islands, Island Arc (produced by volcanic activity)

coastal zone off the mainland of Central and South America - political strongholds were here due to the ports.

• livelihood between home (where you come from) and the host (where you live now) countries.
• 2 way street - part of the 21st century globalization

money sent by migrants to their families back home; a way of trying to help the country or the region to help the standard or living; helps economically stabilize the other counrtries

industrial parks attracting foreign corporations; The Caribbean has a lot of appeal.

world's financial system includes about 187 countries; facilitates international trade, promotes sustainable economic growth; increase in employment and decrease in poverty

dance music; late 1950's; pre-cursor to reggae; Caribbean and US R&B

2 tone 1960's adolescents; unemployed, impoverished, associated with delinquency; black and white unity

US suburban, mixed punk & ska, faster, commercial (Radio and MTV)

wealthy people would send their children after their education to travel around Europe for a while year.

interest in the environment and desire to benefit the places where we visit; encourages local people to develop tourism in sustainable ways.

all-inclusive beach resort; all look the same; cater to the desire that you want to go to the beach; the culture doesn't matter

farming that produces only enough crops or animal products to support a farm family's needs; little sold at local market

an agreement made in 1994 between Canada, US, and Mexico that established a 15-year plan for reducing barriers to trade among the 3 countires

the flow of internal migrants from rural migrants to cities that began in the 1950's and intensified in the 1960's and 1970's

the largest urban settlement in a country that dominates all other urban places, economically and politically; generally the countries capital city

an agricultural system in which plots of land are farmed and then abandoned for a number of years until fertilization is restored, at which point they are again brought under cultivation