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Welcome to Latin America

Quick Facts

Area: 6,858,673 square miles Population: 327 million. Main Languages: Spanish,Portuguese, Native American Languages. Density: 44.9 people per square mile. Mountain ranges: Andes, Blanca, Occidental Birthrate: 27.5 Death rate: 7.7 per 1,000 people Annual growth rate: 1.9% per 1,000 people Major religions: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and other

Aconcagua, Argentina: 22,834 feet / 6960 meters (About, 2011) Laguna del Carbon, Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina: 344 feet / 105 meters below sea level (About, 2011)
 * Highest Point: **
 * Lowest Point: **

Brazil with 190,732,694 people [|(Wikipedia 2011)]
 * Highest Populated Country **

Belize with 382,000 people [|(Latinstories 2011)]
 * Least Populated Country **

Did you know that there are 20 countries in Latin America? As of 2010, Latin America included five nations classified as high-income countries: These nations are:  [|Argentina], [|Chile] , [|Uruguay] , [|Mexico] and [|Panama]



Below is the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for the 20 countries located in Latin America in 2010:

*Brazil had the highest GNP in 2010 [|(Wikipedia 2011)]
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 15px; text-align: right;">Country || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 15px; text-align: right;">GDP (2010 estimates) Billions of USD ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">Argentina || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">632.233 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Bolivia || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">47.796 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Brazil || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">2,181.677 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Chile || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">257.546 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Colombia || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">429.866 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Costa Rica || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">51.130 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Cuba || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">111.1 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Dominican Republic || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">85.391 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Ecuador || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">113.825 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">El Salvador || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">43.640 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Guatemala || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">69.958 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Haiti || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">11.056 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Honduras || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">33.537 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Mexico || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">1,549.671 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Nicaragua || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">17.269 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Panama || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">43.725 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Paraguay || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">31.469 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Peru || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">274.276 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Uruguay || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">48.140 ||
 * <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;">Venezuela || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">346.973 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">**Total** || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: right;">**6,270.231** ||

<span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">Largest Country in Latin America: <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> > <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">[|(Wiki Answers, 2011)]
 * <span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">Brazil is the largest and most populated country in South America.
 * <span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">It is the 5th largest country in the world in both area and population.
 * <span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">It spans a vast area between central South America and the Atlantic Ocean.
 * <span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">It is the easternmost country of America.
 * <span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">It borders every South American nation except for Ecuador and Chile.

<span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">Smallest Country in Latin America
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The smallest country in South America is Suriname.
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> It is located on the northeast coast of the continent.
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> It lies between Guyana and French Guiana; an overseas region of France. [|(Were You Wondering, 2011)]

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">Latin American Rivers <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The **Largest** river in Latin America is the Amazon River. This river is 3,889.3 miles in length and is, in fact, the second largest river in the world. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The **Smallest** river in Latin America is the Guaviare River located in Columbia This river is only 652 miles long. [|Wikispaces 2011]

<span style="color: #008800; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">**Selected Countries**

<span style="color: #008800; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**Chile**: I (Jillian) chose to focus on learning about Chile after meeting some friends from there this past summer. I have become interseted in learning more about the culture, geography, climate, history, and customs of Chile in order to become more knowledgeable about the world around me as well as the background of my friends. I have never traveled to South America before, so being able to research a country in South America has increased my desire to do so. Researching Chile also has allowed me to become more familiar with where my friends live.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Argentina: I (Nick) chose Argentina because I enjoy watching the soccer World Cup and Argentina is always one of the best teams. They also have one of the best players in the world in Lionel Messi and I wanted to learn more about his culture. My brother also visited Patagonia in Argentina and climbed the Andes Mountains a couple years ago so I wanted to learn more about the country he visited. I have learned many new things about the country that I will be able to talk about with my brother when I see him next.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> Ecuador: I(Kathleen) chose Ecuador because I had heard of the country before but had never researched it before. I wanted to do my website on a new country that I could explore and learn new things from. From doing this project, I have expanded my understanding of Ecuador and its geography, culture, climate, history, and interesting facts. I am excited to teach my future students about Latin America on a unit that I will be teaching next semester.

<span style="color: #008800; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**Mexico**: The reason I (Sarah) decided to focus on Mexico is because I was recently in a bilingual classroom where many of the students were either immigrants of, or descendants of immigrants from Mexico. Since I have never been out of the United States, ever, I wanted to learn more about the culture and background that many of my students came from. After creating this webpage, I hope to form a better understanding of the students and their families.

<span style="color: #008800; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%; text-decoration: inherit;">Costa Rica: (Eryn) I chose to learn more about Costa Rica because it is a country that has always interested me. For us being fairly close geographically to Latin America, I don't think many people in the United States know too much about Central/South America. I've had friends who have visited Costa Rica for pleasure but also for service trips and to work for causes such as education and environmental issues. It has always seemed like a natural mystery and it was exciting for me to learn that this is a common thought since Costa Rica translates into "rich coast." I have learned a lot about the country of Costa Rica and I know my future students will find much of what I discovered to be interesting and relatable to what we're used to here in the United States.

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">References <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Century, t. t., & India-rubber, t. p. (2011, December 11). Amazon River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River#List_by_length

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Latin American Country Profiles. (n.d.). //LatinoStories//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://latinostories.com/Latin_America_Resources/Latin_American_Country_Profiles.htm

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">List of South American countries by population - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_American_countries_by

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">What is the largest South America country by area. (2011). //The Q&A wiki//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_largest_South_America

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">What is the Smallest Country in South America?. (2011). //Were You Wondering...//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.wereyouwondering.com/what-is-the-smallest-country-in-south-america/

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">South America. (n.d.). //ThinkQuest : Library//. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://library.thinkquest.org/J002719/samerica.html