Term | Definition |
isthmus | A narrow strip of land having water on each side and joining two larger bodies of land. |
guerrilla | A member of an armed force that is not part of a regular army; relating to a form of warfare carried on by such an independent armed force. |
archipelago | A group of islands. |
coral island | An island formed by the skeletal remains of tiny sea animals and the sand and sediment piling on top of them. |
windward | Facing the wind. |
leeward | Facing away from the wind. |
escarpment | A steep cliff that separates two level areas of differing elevations. |
sertao | An interior plateau in Brazil with poor soil and uncertain rain. |
favela | A slum community in a brazilian city. |
plantation | A large estate farmed by many workers. |
gasohol | A fuel mixture of gasoline and ethanol. |
deforestation | The process of stripping the land of its trees. |
ecotourism | Tourism that encourages environmental awareness and has little effect on the ecosystem. |
mulatto | A person of mixed african and european ancestry. |
bauxite | A mineral used in making aluminum. |
llano | A grassy plain. |
cordillera | A related set of separate mountain ranges. |
campesino | In Latin America, a tenant farmer or farm worker. |
altiplano | A plateau region located in the Andes of Bolivia and Peru. |
paramo | A plateau in the andes of ecuador. |
timber line | The boundary in high elevations above which continuous forest vegetation cannot groew. |
selva | A forested region in Ecuador,Peru, and Bolivia |
estuary | The wide mouth of a river, where freshwater river currents meet saltwater. |
piedmont | A region of rolling foothills. |
pampas | A grasslands region in Argentina and Uruguay. |
gaucho | A cowboy who herded cattle in the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay. |