Annotated Learning Objectives

Annotated Learning Objectives

Chapter Five

Having learned the regional geography of South America, you should be able to:

1. Understand the major physiographic features of the realm.

Pages 236-237

·  The introductory segment of this chapter on page 237 introduces the major physiographic features of the South American realm.

·  Figure 5.1, on page 236, is a map that will be helpful in locating physiographic features.

2. Grasp the essentials of the historical geography of this continent.

Pages 238-243

·  The section entitled “The Human Sequence,” on pages 238-243, chronicles the historical geography of South America.

·  The Incan Empire is discussed in the subsection on pages 239-240.

·  The impact of the European invasion is detailed in the section “The Iberian Invaders” on pages 240 and 241.

·  A short section “The Africans” on page 242 tells of the African contribution to the cultural mix in South America.

·  The section “Longstanding Isolation” (pages 242-243) addresses factors leading to internal isolation.

·  The process of independence for the various countries in this realm is discussed in the section entitled “Independence” on page 243.

·  Figure 5.2 (page 239) is a map that displays the indigenous and colonial domains of South America.

·  Figure 5.3 (page 241) shows South America's political units and modern regions.

3. Understand the various influences that have shaped South America's culture areas.

Pages 243-246

·  South America's cultural diversity is the subject of the “Cultural Fragmentation” chapter segment that spans pages 243-246.

·  The tropical-plantation cultural region is introduced in a subsection on pages 244-245.

·  The European-commercial cultural region is discussed in a subsection on pages 245 and 246.

·  The Amerind-subsistence cultural region is the topic of a subsection on page 246.

·  The Mestizo-transitional cultural region is introduced in a subsection on page 246.

·  A region that is hard to classify culturally is termed the undifferentiated region and is the topic of a subsection on page 246.

·  Figure 5.4 (page 244) is a map of the agricultural systems found in South America.

·  Figure 5.5 (page 245) maps the cultural spheres of South America.

4. Deepen your understanding of Middle and South American urbanization, building on the Griffin-Ford model introduced on text pages 249-251.

Pages 247-251

·  Read the “Urbanization” segment on pages 247-251.

·  The Griffin-Ford model of the Latin American city is the topic of the section entitled “The ‘Latin’ American City Model” on pages 249-251.

·  A cartogram of South America is provided in Figure 5.6 (page 248). This figure also displays urban-area populations.

·  Figure 5.7 displays the generalized model of Latin American city structure developed by Griffin and Ford.

5. Describe the broad regionalization pattern of the realm, with reference to cultural patterns, historical, and political developments.

Pages 246-247, 251-277

·  Read the segment entitled “Economic Integration” (pages 246-247) for a view of how economics is in some measure bringing regions together.

·  The introductory paragraph of the “Regions of the Realm” segment (page 251) sets the stage for detailed discussion of countries by identifying four broad regions within South America.

·  Brazil by itself constitutes a geographic region and is discussed in the “Brazil: Giant of South America” section that spans pages 251-260.

·  A second region is the topic of the section called “The North: Caribbean South America” on pages 260-267.

·  A third region, “The West: Andean South America,” is discussed on pages 267-272.

·  The fourth region of the South American realm, “The Southern Core: Mid-latitude South America,” is the topic of the section that begins on page 272.

6. Understand the geographic essentials of each South American republic, including its resources, agricultural patterns, natural environments, and economic development potential.

Pages 251-277

·  Read the section on Brazil (pages 251-260). This section is broken down into various subsections, many of which focus on Brazil's subregions.

·  Figure 5.8 (page 253) is a map of Brazil showing subregions, states, and resources.

·  The “North: Caribbean South America” region includes the countries of Venezuela (pages 261-263), Columbia (pages 263-267), and the three countries collectively called the Guianas (textbox on page 261).

·  Also read the textbox on “The Geography of Cocaine” (pages 264-265) for insights into this controversial export.

·  Figure 5.9 (page 262) is a map of the Caribbean South America region.

·  Figure 5.10 (page 266) is a map of Columbia you will find a useful addition to the discussion about insurgency in the country.

·  The “West: Andean South America” region includes the countries of Peru (pages 267-269), Ecuador (pages 269-271), and Bolivia (pages 271-272).

·  Figure 5.11 (page 268) is a map of the Andean South America region.

·  The “ Southern Core: Mid-latitude South America” region includes the countries of Argentina (pages 272-275), Uruguay (pages 275-276), Paraguay (page 276), and Chile (pages 276-277).

·  Figure 5.12 (page 273) is a map of the Mid-latitude South America region.

7. Locate the leading physical, cultural, and economic-spatial features of the realm on an outline map.

Pages 236-277

·  You must integrate information from throughout the chapter to fulfill this objective.

·  You may find the map at the beginning of the chapter helpful (Figure 5.1, page 236).