1. Name: __________________
Population Density in Latin America
Directions: Use an atlas to answer Questions 1-5 below.
1. Use pages 55 & 61 to create a Population map for Mexico, Cuba, & Brazil. Don’t forget to color in
your map key!
Mexico Cuba Brazil
2. Use the Population map on page 61 and the Land Use map on page 60. Why do you think most of
Brazil’s population lives on the coast?
3. Look at the Land Use map on page 54 of the atlas. What is the land use in and around Mexico
City? Why do you think Mexico City’s population density is so high?
4. Use the Land Use map on page 60 and the Physical map of South America on page 56. What
major waterway allows the Amazon rainforest to be used for forest products? Why can’t roads easily
be built into the area?
5. Use the People Per Car graph on page 60 of the atlas. What conclusion can be made about the
standard of living in the United States compared to the standard of living in Peru?
Population
0 to 5
5 to 50
50 to 100
100 to 250
Over 250

2. = 25,000,000
Directions: Use The World And Its People (green textbook) to answer Questions 6-8 below.
6. Use the Urban Population Growth map on page 182 of the textbook. What is Bogotá’s projected
population for 2015?
7. Use the Urban Population Growth map on page 182 of the textbook. What happens to peoples’
living conditions when a city’s population gets too big? What happens to working conditions with too
many workers?
8. Compare the populations of Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, and Venezuela by creating a graph like the one
titled “Comparing Population” on page 183 of the textbook.
Mexico
104,900,000
Brazil
176,500,000
Cuba
11,300,000
Venezuela
25,700,000
Questions 9-11: Use the chart below to compare the development of Latin American countries with
that of the US.
Population Working in Agriculture
Country Percentage of Population
Brazil 20%
Cuba 20%
Mexico 18%
US (1900) 23%
US (2008) 0.6%
9. Does having a higher percentage of people working in agriculture mean a country has a higher or
lower standard of living? Why?
10. Would it be a fair assessment to say that Latin America is 100 years behind the United States in
terms of economic development? Why?
11. Does this information help explain the large-scale emigration from Latin America to the United
States in the past few decades? Why?