The Economy of Latin America

The Economy of Latin America — page 3
INTRODUCTION T he region of Latin America covers all the Americas south of the US border Mexico Central America South America and the West Indies about 15 percent of the earth Its diverse land includes rain forest desert and savanna The largest countries in Latin America by area are Brazil Argentina Mexico Peru Colombia Bolivia Venezuela and Chile Historically their economies have traditionally been driven by the production of commodities such as oil silver and corn In more recent years growth in services and manu facturing have played a larger part in their markets overall From the late fifteenth through the eighteenth cen turies Portugal and Spain controlled most of mainland Latin America Spain the Netherlands Britain and France controlled various Caribbean islands In the early nine teenth century independence movements swept through most of Latin America Today most Latin American countries are indepen dent nations although some West Indian islands remain part of European nations A Spanish map from the sixteenth century shows the region that is modern-day Mexico Most of Latin America was ruled by Spain or Portugal 4