DK People & Places: Northern South America

South America is sometimes called Latin America because most South Americans speak the Latin-based languages Spanish and Portuguese. They learned these from Spanish and Portuguese invaders, who conquered and settled most of South America in the 16th century. Many strong ties of language, culture, and religion still link Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.

Most people in the Andes are farmers. Because fertile land is scarce, they cut terraces into the steep hillsides. Crops are chosen to suit either the hot, humid climate of the lower slopes or the cooler climate higher up. Animals such as the llama and alpaca are also kept for food and wool, which is used for clothing.

This region has immense oil and mineral wealth: the oil reserves in Venezuela are the biggest outside the Middle East, and Colombia produces over half the world’s emeralds. But despite this wealth, public services have been neglected, and many people remain poor because the dangerous mining work is low-paid.

The mangrove swamps of Ecuador’s Pacific coast teem with shrimp, and are a vital source of food, firewood, and timber for local people. Shrimp are Ecuador’s second-biggest export after oil, but while large shrimp farms have created much-needed jobs, they are slowly destroying the environment on which they depend.

About 30 percent of all the world’s plant and animal species live in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, as do many native Indian tribes. Since 1970, vast swaths of forest have been cut down for timber, or to clear land for cattle pasture or new roads. Similar problems are also facing the forests of Colombia and Ecuador.

The Spanish destroyed the Inca Empire in the 1530s, but many buildings and some towns survived, such as the hilltop city of Machu Picchu. The Quechua Indians were the most powerful Incas, and groups of them still live on the high plains in the Andes.

More than 100 flat-topped sandstone hills called tepuis tower up to 3,300 ft (1,000 m) above Venezuela’s rainforests. They are called “lost worlds” because their remoteness has meant that some unique animals and plants have evolved there.

Ecuador’s Otavalo Indians have adapted to modern life and are one of wealthiest groups of Indians in South America. They weave colorful ponchos, blankets, and rugs, which are in great demand in the US and Europe. The income this generates enables the Otavalo to continue their traditional way of life.