>+Regions

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Formal Regions
The most basic division of the Latin American region would be the political division. This defines the countries and cities of the region. There are about 24 countries that are recognized as shown below with their capital cities. . The whole region covers a total of 17,819,000 square kilometers and has about four hundred million people living in 12% of Earth's land.

Vernacular Regions
This region itself is divided into six parts:

1. The Caribbean
The Caribbean consists of islands that are in the Caribbean Sea. Most of the islands here are territories of U.S. or U.K. but some islands are independent countries such as Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad&Tobago. The Caribbean also includes three countries in South America: French Guinana, Guyana and Suriname.

2. Central America
Central America consists of the 7 countries that connects the North and South America as one. The countries include Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Panama is used and famous for the Panama Canal that allows ships to pass through instead of moving around the whole continent.

The Southern South American region is made up of four countries: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. This region is divided since they have a different climate and are mostly isolated from the Amazon's greatest influences. They contain the lower part of the Andes mountain range.

4.Northern Andes
The Northern Andes region is comprised of five countries: Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. These countries share in common the fact that they are closer or on the Equator and that they all contain parts of the Andes mountain range. This causes a great variety of climate and landforms in the region by itself.

5. Brazil
The last vernacular region of South America is the country Brazil. Brazil itself is unique and has very few common aspects with other countries such as language and landforms so the country is left in a vernacular region by itself.

6. Mexico
Mexico is the last sub-region in Latin America. Some people called this sub-region North America but it only contains Mexico so it is safe to say Mexico is the last sub-region. This country borders United States in the north and Guatemala with Belize to the South.

Colonial Map
This map represents the different regions that were colonized by the different powers in colonial times. This defined a lot of the traits that represent the countries nowadays. Brazil was taken over by the Portuguese and have used their language for a long time eventually binding them into a country. The French colony became to be known as French Guiana and is the official name for the country. This map explains why the regions have similarities and divide them into appropriate categories.

Climate Map
This map shows the climate for all the regions in Latin America. Since there are rainforests in the region there are many dark green patches representing it. In the lower parts of South America the climate is generally colder since they are closer to the Ocean as well as the South Pole. The blue patches, representing colder temperatures, follow inland as the rivers and lakes do.

Physical Map
As the map shows, the west side of the region is mountainous compared to the middle. This is due to the Andes mountain range that passes through the countries. In the middle, it is flatter since the forests are located there but as we go more east the land becomes higher. The Brazilian Highlands are situated on the east side of Brazil and completes the Amazon Basin covering the outside.

Vegetation Map
The vegetation follows the climate and physical map greatly. The tropical rainforests and woodlands show where the Amazon Basin and there is a drier climate is. With the Andes mountains, there is little vegetation with some short grass surrounding it. The vegetation map simply adds up the two factors that vegetation needs, climate and surroundings.

Works Cited
 * "Map of South America, South American Countries, Landforms, Rivers, and Geography Facts." __World Atlas of Maps Flags and Geography Facts and Figures - Maps__. 1 Nov. 2009 .
 * "O Ambassadors | Latin America." __O Ambassadors | Global Home__. 1 Nov. 2009 .
 * //Center for International Policy//. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. .
 * "Central america." //MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS//. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. .
 * "Climate of the Water Basins of Latin America and the Caribbean - WaterWiki.net." //Welcome - WaterWiki.net//. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. .
 * "L.A. Data and Maps." //L.A. Data and Maps//. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. .
 * "Map of Mexico, Geography." //Travel to Cairo City, Egypt//. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. .
 * "South America Political Map - Size: 1106x1436 - Vmapas." //Mapa Mundi, Mapas del Mundo, Mapas Satelitales - Vmapas//. Web. 01 Nov. 2009. .