Chapter 1
Latin America
Physical GeographySection 1: Land and Water
A. As You Read
Directions: As you read Section 1, answer the following questions. If necessary, write your answers on another sheet of paper.1. Where is Latin America located?
In the Western Hemisphere, south of the United States
2. What three regions make up Latin America?
Mexico and Central America; the Caribbean; South America
3. Where do most of Mexico's people live?
The Central Plateau
4. In which two ways were the islands of the Caribbean formed?
Islands form from coral deposits forming over thousands of years and from the tops of underwater mountains.
5. Which 4,500 mile-long mountain range runs along the western coast of South America?
The Andes Mountains
6. Where in Latin America is the world's largest tropical rain forest found?
In South America's Amazon River Basin
7. Why is the Amazon River called the "Ocean River"?
It carries more water than any other river in the world.
It contains 20 percent of all fresh river water on the Earth.
It has more than 1,000 tributaries.
B. Reviewing Key Terms
Directions: Complete each sentence by writing the correct term in the blank provided.8. A narrow strip of land that has water on both sides and joins two larger bodies of land is a isthmus.
9. The plains of Argentina and Uruguay are used to graze cattle and are called the Pampas.
10. Rivers and streams that flow into a larger river are known as tributaries.
11. Some of Mexico's best farmland lies on a high, flat area known as a plateau.
12. A material made up of he bodies of tiny sea animals and forms small Caribbean islands is coral.