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Latin America, also known as South America, is the world's fourth largest continent (1). It spans over an area of 6,880,700 square miles with the equator passing through the north of the region (1). The southern tip of the region extends to the Antarctic (1). The two most well known features that are in Latin America are the Amazon River Basin and the Andes mountain range (1).The Amazon River is about 4,080 miles long and its basin engulfs the northern half of Brazil (1). The Amazon's basin has more than one thousand bird species and has a large variety of animal and plant life (1). The Andes mountains are the second largest mountain range in the world and cover the western part of Latin America (1). The climate of Latin America differs from tropical to temperate. The elevation is typically what determines the average temperature instead of location (1). While the tropics are extremely humid and have heavy rainfall, areas outside the tropics are dry and temperate (1). Because of the differences in climate natural resources are very plentiful. "Agricultural products grown in tropical regions include sugar, nuts, cacao, tropical fruits, rubber, tobacco, and coffee" (1). In the drier parts of Latin America are large amounts of livestock which are sold for beef, leather, and meat (1). More than 80% of all Latin Americans are Roman Catholic but Protestant and non-Christian religions are growing (1). Spanish is the national language of most of the Latin America countries however, Portuguese is the most spoken language because of Brazil (1). Other languages spoken are French, Dutch, and English The indigenous languages are mainly spoken in the Andes mountains region (1). The population of Latin America is very diverse with a composite of ancestries and different races (2). The race of Latin America differs from place to place (2). Typically, people of Amerindian origin are a majority along with Europeans and sometimes African descent (2). European and part-Europe ancestry make up almost 80% of the population (2). Most of the Latin American countries have Asian minorities (2). Throughout Latin America, the indigenous and other rural people are moving inward to the city (1). Because of this, 7 of the 50 most populated cities in the world are in Latin America (1). The people of Latin America have a very positive outlook on life and express themselves through dance and music (1). Because of this creative outlook, several Noble Prizes for literature have been awarded to Latin Americans (1). Although they have a positive outlook, nearly 25% of the population is living on less than two US Dollars a day (2). The countries with the highest inequality are Bolivia, Chile, Nicaragua, and Uruguay (2). Because of this poverty, access to water and sanitation in Latin America is low. Unfortunately because of the poverty crisis, crime and violence are heightened (2).
 * Latin America**

References: 1) Grover, Mark L. "South America." CultureGrams. 2008. Harold B. Lee Library. 4 May 2008 . 2) Vidal, Julio Miranda. "Latin America." 2007 04 May 2008 .

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