CH 10 Latin America

• Altiplano


  High plateau in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia
• Microclimate


  The climate of a small area such as a valley, may also include the climate of a single plant
• Rain shadow


  Low rainfall in an area to the lee of a mountain range, where winds warm and get drier as they descend after flowing across the mountains
• El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)


  The full name of the phenomenon known as El nino, in which the warm equatorial waters push back the cold Peruvian current off the western coast of tropical South America, producing local fish kills and wider world climatic effects
• Altitudinal Zonation


  Zones of climate, vegetation, and crops that change with height above sea level
• Sedimentation


  The deposition of rock debris, including in offshore areas, where too much fine debris may kill coral reefs
• Temperature inversion


  Naturally occurring periods during the winter months when cold, dense air remains "trapped" at the surface under warmer air for several days or even weeks. The cold air is usually trapped by mountains or some related physical barrier
• Encomienda System


  The Spanish colonial system employed in Latin America in which lands were allotted to Spaniards who were responsible for exploiting their wealth and who had jurisdiction over the native peoples
• Monroe Doctrine


  An 1823 declaration asserting US rights to control activity in the Americas over those of countries outside the region
• North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)


  An economic agreement among Canda, Mexico, and te United States signed in 1994
• Remittance


  Funds sent home by workers in foreign countries
• Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA)


  A political and economic pact signed by Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba in the early 2000s with the focus of excluding the United States
• Petrodollars


  Dollars invested by Middle East oil producers during high oil prices in the 1970s
• Lost Decade


  In the 1980s, country economics in Latin America stalled because of high interest rates and debts
• Protectionism


  Governmental policies that focus on government-controlled industry and the protection of domestic products through tariffs, quotas, and red tape
• Caribbean Community Common Market (CARICOM)


  Formed in 1973 by 13 British colonies to provide special entry to US markets
• Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR)


  Trading group established in 1991 among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
• Free Trade Area of Americans (FTAA)

  An attempt by the United States and Several Latin American countries to create the world's largest trading group
• Economic leakage


  Foreign ownership and control of industry, such as tourism in many parts of Latin America, where the revenue gathered by the industry flows to the foreign owners and foreign employees and largely bypasses local communities and thus "leaks" from the local economy
• Maquiladora 


  Mexican government program that encourages foreign-owned factories to be sited in Mexico by not charging import duties on raw materials for assembly
• Isthmus


  A naturally occurring land bridge
• Post-Panamax


  The government of Panama's expansion of the Panama Canal in the early 2000s to enable larger ships to pass through it
• Free Trade Zone


  An area within a country where components can be imported without tariffs for assembly with a view toward exporting the finished goods
• Evapotranspiration


  The combination of evaporation from water and transpiration through plant leaves that produces humidity in the air
• Favela


  A shantytown in a Brazilian city
• A country that pursues a policy of import substitution


  Attempts to develop domestic industries instead of importing goods
• If the region of Patagonia is on the leeward (rainshadow) side of the Andes Mountains, the winds must be blowing from the _, and Patagonia would be located in _.

  West; Argentina
• Dr. Santiago Lopez uses geotechnologies such as _ to study the effects of slash-and-burn cultivation on the ecosystems of Amazon region


  remote sensing and GIS/GPS
• Which of the following areas in Latin America is LEAST likely to experience an earthquake?

  The east/Atlantic coast of Brazil
• The Tierra Caliente is an altitudinal zone lying from


  0-1000 meters
• Knowing that one-degree latitude is just under 70 miles, what is the approximate distance from north to south of South America?

  4600 miles
• __ was established to import, refine, and distribute oil products in Brazil

  Petrobas
• Mexico City's poor air quality is exacerbated by

  Frequent temp inversions
• The country in Central America with the most Spanish-descent population

  Costa Rica
• Which one of the following is correct concerning the Panama

  Panamax is the term used to indicate the maximum size of vessels able to fit in the locks of the Panama Canal