4.2 Introduction to Latin America

Instructor's Video: Mexico Links to an external site.

Instructor's Video: Brazil Links to an external site.

Instructor's Video: Argentina Links to an external site.

 

Latin America, like North America, has  huge physical and cultural diversity. In Latin America, the cultural diversity is more extensive and the wealth gap is wider than anywhere else in the World.  Latin America is comprised of 20 countries, from Mexico in the north to Argentina and Chile in the South. Latin America consists of Mexico, which is physically part of North America; Central America and the continent of South America. 

In 2020, Latin America had a population of about 652 million people and the region is growing faster than North America. Brazil alone has over 200 million people and is the 5th largest economy in the World. Mexico follows Brazil with a  population of nearly 130 million people. Overall, Latin America falls into the "middle income" category and has a significant middle class. 80% of Latin Americans live in cities.  Nevertheless, 1 in 10 Latin Americans live on less than $2 per day.

The region is defined in large part by the legacies of colonization by Spain and Portugal, which left behind the Spanish and Portuguese languages and Catholicism as major unifying features of the region.  Culturally, this region has large indigenous populations whose cultures have blended with and changed the European, African and Asian cultures introduced by  the colonists.