Columbia which continent

Samba schools are large social groups, often with thousands of members, which create elaborate floats and costumes for the Carnival parade. Blocos are smaller groups that often gather in neighborhood s to dance during Carnival festivities. Political Geography Political geography is the internal and external relationships between government s and citizens. The Treaty of Tordesillas of granted Spain and Portugal the exclusive right to colonize all lands outside of Europe.

The treaty also established a line of demarcation, which gave all land west of the line to Spain and all land east of the line to Portugal. Spain colonized the majority of South America and Portugal colonized present-day Brazil.

They also developed writing systems for native oral tradition s such as Quechua, Nahuatl, and Guarani. Marriages between European colonizers and native populations established the mestizo class. Mestizos are people of mixed indigenous and European ancestry. Today, mestizos make up large parts of the populations of many South American countries, such as Paraguay 95 percent , Ecuador 65 percent , and Colombia 58 percent. Inspired by the American and French Revolutions, mestizos fought in several wars of independence from to South America has also suffered violent political transitions, especially during the s and s.

These decades were defined by the Cold War , a global struggle between democratic Western nations and repress ive nations with communist economies. The successful Cuban revolution of brought communism to Cuba. The United States and other western nations feared that communism would spread throughout Latin America, which includes Central and South America and parts of the Caribbean.

Communist leaders did, in fact, gain some power in South America during the s. Hoping to destroy the communist presence, U. These dictatorships detained tens of thousands of political prisoner s. Many of them were tortured and killed. The nationalization and privatization of industry, as well as the influence of indigenous groups, are the primary political issues affecting South America.

Nationalization is a type of ownership where the state controls an industry , as opposed to private companies. Some South American nations have nationalize d industries, such as electricity or oil production, in order to encourage economic development. Chile nationalized its copper mines in , for instance. Before nationalization, Chilean copper mines were controlled by large foreign companies.

Bolivian President Evo Morales has nationalized the oil and natural gas industry of Bolivia. Morales also bought water distribution rights in the capital of La Paz from a private French company. Other leaders, such as Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, have threatened to nationalize industries if foreign companies do not respect the right s of the countries they are doing business in.

Many believe that nationalization has improved the lives of local populations, and the poor strongly support nationalization efforts. Others argue that nationalization has worsened the quality of services and given too much control to the government.

Some South American countries have done the opposite of nationalization—they have privatized industries. In these countries, such as Brazil and Argentina, the government has sold industries to mostly foreign investors and companies. Much like nationalization, privatization has had mixed results. Many industries are now more efficient producers of resources such as steel.

Services such as water and sewage are also more reliable under private ownership. However, privatization has contributed to higher unemployment rates and increased the costs of goods and services. Indigenous populations of South America have aimed to increase their local and global influence. In , for instance, Bolivia passed an important new constitution. It guaranteed political representation of indigenous groups, recognizes their communal forms of property, and grants them the right to use indigenous justice systems.

The Bolivian Education Ministry is expanding its native-language programs. Their work to support the rights of indigenous people has led to the creation of many Quechua-language materials and media, including Quechua versions of the Google search page and the Microsoft Windows software system.

Future Issues Urbanization will define the human geography of South America in years to come. It is the only developing region with more poor people in cities than in rural areas. Individuals and families face increasing job insecurity, lower wage s, and a reduction in social services such as electricity and water.

Urbanization and industrialization are also destroying the unique biome s of South America. The Amazon rain forest is being burned at a rate of one acre every second.

Trees are harvested for the timber industry, while the plains of the rain forest are turned into ranch es, farms, and towns. This development is increasing the amount of air and water pollution in the Amazon basin and elsewhere. In rural areas, poor people face the consequences of geographic isolation and limited public investment in education, health care , and housing.

The regulation or reduction of carbon emission s is perhaps the most important part of reducing global warming , the most recent period of climate change. As part of the international agreement known simply as the Paris Climate Agreement or Paris Agreement, some South American countries agreed to reduce emissions. The oil-rich countries of Venezuela and Ecuador, however, have decided not to engage with the Paris Agreement.

They argue that the agreement was drafted by a small group of powerful countries. They say developed countries such as the United States and those in the European Union already developed their industries and infrastructure in the 20th century, without concern for carbon emissions.

Agreements taht put limits on emissions from developing countries, they say, are unfair. These underdeveloped countries would face the challenges of development with greater responsibilities. South America's human landscape is deeply influenced by indigenous and immigrant populations and their connection to the physical environment. The two sides never confronted each other directly. Also called a managed economy.

Also known as petroleum or crude oil. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

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If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. A political boundary is an imaginary line separating one political unit, such as a country or state, from another.

Sometimes these align with a natural geographic feature like a river to form a border or barrier between nations. Occasionally, two countries may contest where a particular border is drawn. Mapping, Remote Sensing, and Geospatial Data. Apply Filter. Can I add new entries to the Geographic Names Information System for manmade and administrative features, such as churches, cemeteries, schools, shopping centers, etc.?

Upon validation, they will be committed to the database. Does the Geographic Names Information System Database contain entries for obsolete names and historical geographic features that no longer exist? The term "historical" as used in the GNIS specifically means that the feature no longer exists on the landscape.

An abandoned ghost town, for example, still exists so it is not historical. Historical features have no reference to age, size, There are no official definitions of city, town, village, hamlet, neighborhood, etc. All named entities with human habitation are classified as Populated Place, including incorporated places 20 percent of the Nation's communities , unincorporated places the majority , housing developments not yet incorporated, and neighborhoods within What are the official definitions of regions in the United States.

No level of government has official designations for regions. The U. Board on Geographic Names , which is responsible by law for standardizing geographic name usage throughout the Federal government, is often asked for official names and boundaries of regions, but does not and cannot provide them.

Regions are application-driven and highly How are U. Board on Geographic Names BGN , which maintains cooperative working relationships with state names authorities to standardize geographic names. GNIS contains information about the official names for places, features, and Filter Total Items: 1. Yost, Lou; Carswell, William J. View Citation. Filter Total Items: 4. Date published: May 20, Date published: July 31, Date published: July 26, Date published: February 28,