Map of Latin America: the Amazon rainforest, informal urbanisation and economy
GeographyRegions & CountriesAges 16–17
Use it with your class: students open it from a link or a QR code, with no account needed.
Next in Regions & Countries
A self-drawn map of Latin America built from latitude/longitude coordinates, colouring eight countries and sub-regions by the selected data layer. Click a country on the map or on the side panel to see forest cover, population, urban population share and GDP per capita; drag the year slider to compare 2000, 2010 and 2020. Students see clearly that the Amazon rainforest is concentrated in Brazil, that the region's urban population share is very high (about 81%), and that GDP per capita remains low with large gaps between countries.
Lesson: Location, physical geography, population, society and economy of Latin America
What it shows
Latin America stretches from Mexico to the southern tip of South America, across tropical, arid and temperate climates. The map compares eight countries and sub-regions using three indicators: forest cover, dominated by the Amazon rainforest in Brazil; the urban population share, around 80 per cent and among the highest in the world; and GDP per capita for 2000, 2010 and 2020. Together they describe a region where rapid, often unplanned urbanisation outpaced job creation and produced informal settlements, and where economies built on exporting minerals and farm products rise and fall with world commodity prices.
How to use
Select the Physical layer and click countries to compare forest cover; turn on the Equator and tropics to relate forest to latitude. Switch to the Population layer to compare population and urban share, then to the Economy layer. Press Run or drag the year slider through 2000, 2010 and 2020 and note how GDP per capita changes in each country. Click a country to read its main exports.
Parameters you can change
- Data layer Physical – forest cover, Population – population and urbanisation, Economy – GDP per capita
- Population and economic data year 2000–2020 year
- Selected country or sub-region View whole region, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Argentina
- Show country names on the map
- Show the Equator and tropics
Questions to explore
- How does forest cover change as you move away from the Equator, from Brazil to Argentina?
- Why can a very high urban population share exist alongside low incomes and informal settlements?
- Which countries had lower GDP per capita in 2020 than in 2010, and how could export prices explain this?
