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The Americas
ByManuel Corro
AGED 4713
The American Continent
Three in one
North America
Central America
South America
North America
Canada The United States Mexico
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA 1994)
Latin America
Latin America, the entire western
hemisphere south of the United States.
Latin America comprises those countries
of the Americas that developed from the
colonies of Spain, Portugal, and France.
Latin America Because these European powers used
languages derived from Latin, the term Latin America was devised to designate the parts of the New World that they colonized. • Spanish
• Portuguese
• French
Latin America Spanish is the official language in 17
countries in North, Central And South America and Two Caribbean countries
One Portuguese country: Brazil French: Haiti
Non Latin countries
Central America• English: Belize
South America:• English: Guyana• Dutch: Suriname
Caribbean• English: Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, and
Trinidad and Tobago
Mexico
Mexican Southern statesState
Yucatán Quintana Roo Campeche Tabasco Chiapas
Capital city Mérida Chetumal Campeche Villahermosa Tuxtla Gutiérrez
• Quintana Roo has border with Belize
• Campeche has borders with Belize and Guatemala
• Tabasco and Chiapas have border with Guatemala
Central America
7 countries 521,500 sq km(201,300 sq mi) 36.4 million inhabitants Geographers defined: from isthmus of
Tehuantepec (southern Mexico) to Colombia Farming is the leading economic activity The principal cash crops, such as coffee,
bananas, sugarcane, and cotton.
Central AmericaCountries and capital cities
Guatemala Belize El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Costa Rica Panama
Guatemala Belize San Salvador Tegucigalpa Managua San Jose Panama
Foreign Trade
About half of Central America's intercontinental trade is with the United States and Canada. Almost all the rest is with Western Europe, Mexico, and countries of South America.
The main exports are basic commodities: bananas, coffee, cacao, meat, chicle, cotton, mahogany, balsa, hides and skins, and rubber.
Caribbean Basin Initiative (1984) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1994)
Caribbean countries
Cuba Jamaica Haiti Dominican Republic Barbados Grenada Trinidad and Tobago
La Habana (Havana) Kingston Port Prince Santo Domingo Bridgetown St. George’s Port of Spain
South America
South America:
South America, fourth largest of the Earth's continents (after Asia, Africa, and North America)
17,820,900 sq km (6,880,700 sq mi), or 12 percent of the Earth's land surface.
2000 estimated population of 348 million, or 6 percent of the world's people.
South America: Countries and Capital cities
Colombia Venezuela Ecuador Brazil Peru Bolivia Paraguay Argentina Uruguay Chile
Bogota Caracas Quito Brasilia Lima La Paz Asuncion Buenos Aires Montevideo Santiago
South America: Non Latin countries Guyana Suriname French Guiana
Georgetown Paramaribo Cayenne
South America: People Language:
• 9 countries speak Spanish• 1 country speaks Portuguese• Other languages: English, Dutch and French• Paraguay 2 official languages: Spanish & Guaraní
Ethnology: Diverse ethnic heritage• Europeans: Spaniards, Portuguese, • Native Americans• African blacks• Mestizo• Mulatto
South America: People
Brazil
Colombia
Argentina
Peru
Venezuela
ChileEcuador
Others
Total population 348 million
50 %
South America: Agriculture
Most crop and livestock production in South America is for home consumption and domestic markets.
Staple food:
• Root crops: potatoes and cassava
• Grains: rice, wheat, beans, and corn Export-oriented agriculture is pursued in
the tropical areas and mid-latitudes.
South America: Agriculture (continued)
Tropical crops, coffee is the most important (southeastern Brazil and in west central Colombia)
Cacao is important in eastern Brazil and west central Ecuador.
Bananas are grown for export in Colombia and western Ecuador
Sugarcane for export in coastal Peru, Guyana, Suriname, and northeastern and southeastern Brazil for export and domestic markets.
Argentina and Uruguay have good grass grassy plains for raising cattle.
South America: Agriculture (continued)
Argentine wheat, corn, linseed, beef, mutton, hides, and wool are important items of international trade.
Uruguay has a long-standing export trade dominated by beef, wool and hides.
In southeastern Brazil soybeans have, since the 1970s, become an important export crop. Soybeans are less important in Argentina
South America: trade Most of South America's trade is intercontinental,
the United States, Western Europe, and Japan being major trading partners. Petroleum and its derivatives are the principal components of foreign trade.
Brazil and Venezuela dominate the continent's export trade, and Brazil accounts for much of the
imports.
•Venezuela's crude and refined oil production drive the economy, accounting for about three-quarters of the country's revenue from exports.
•A founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), most of Venezuela's oil production goes to the United States after refining in the Netherlands Antilles.
South America: trade (continued)
South America: trade The development of free trade, beginning in the late
1960s with the Andean Pact (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela)
Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with Bolivia as an associate member)
The Group of Three (Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has greatly improved South America's economic prospects.
São Paulo is one of Brazil's major manufacturing centers.
References
David J. Robinson, B.A., Ph.D. ”Central America". Microsoft® Encarta® Online
Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com (20 Nov. 2001)
"South America". Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com (20 Nov. 2001)