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“A welcome addition to the regional geography genre, with traditional thematic coverage nicely interwoven with analyses of linkages to both the local and the global environments....Flow maps, graphs, tables, and photographs augment the discussion and provide excellent visual support for the various explications of people and place....A sensitive treatment of a profoundly complex yet incredibly fascinating region. Kent's love of its place and people shines through....This book offers scholars and students looking for a regionally informed approach to Latin America terrific insights into the internal and external complexities of peoples and places. It provides a very traditional, descriptive framework for analysis and discourse that is enhanced nicely by broader and deeper examinations of both the whole and the parts that are Latin America....Provides, especially for students in an introductory course, an informative and very readable overview of both place and its context.”

—Journal of Regional Science (on the first edition)


“Kent’s updated second edition improves on a classic text. The comprehensive historical and environmental discussion of the region remains, while up-to-date vignettes capture the flavor of modern-day Latin America. Students like this book and appreciate Kent's ability to tell the story of one of the world’s most dynamic regions.”

—Jeff Lash, PhD, Geography Program, University of Houston–Clear Lake


“Kent accessibly lays out how physical processes affect human/social ones, and vice versa. The second edition offers helpful coverage of changes and watershed moments taking place in Latin America, particularly with respect to United States–Cuba relations. The text is eminently readable, packed with information, and deeply geographic. Kent clears away the unnecessary in his writing, retaining a direct, descriptive tone throughout.”

—Stephen Aldrich, PhD, Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University


“A comprehensive, readable treatment of Latin America’s many geographies, ideal for a midlevel undergraduate course in geography, Latin American studies, or allied fields. The vignettes are well chosen and vivid.”

—John Kelly, PhD, Department of Geography and Earth Science, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse


“This is an excellent course text by a scholar familiar with the rich traditions and research frontiers of cultural and historical Latin American geography. I highly recommend it.”

—Gregory W. Knapp, PhD, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin


“The vignettes are outstanding and add real-world examples to the more abstract sections of the text.”

—Eric Keys, PhD, Science and Technology Fellow, National Science Foundation and American Association for the Advancement of Science

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Latin America as a Culture Region

3. The Environment

4. The Hispanic Caribbean

5. Peopling Latin America to 1820

6. The Mesa Central of Mexico

7. Early Cities and Urban Development

8. The Andes

9. Migration, Population Change, and Race

10. The Central Valley of Chile

11. The Central American Highlands

12. Land and People since the Conquest

13. Brazil’s Atlantic Coastal Plain

14. Contemporary Cities and Urban Patterns

15. The Southern Brazilian Highlands

16. Latin American Development in Perspective

17. The Pampa

18. Latin America in the World Economy

19. The Amazon Basin

20. The Latin American Diaspora

21. Conclusion

Chapter References

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About the Author

Robert B. Kent, PhD, is Department Chair and the James H. Ring Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at the California State University, Northridge, and Professor Emeritus of Geography and Planning at the University of Akron. Much of his research and publications have focused on the human geography of Latin America, especially the Andes and Central America, and on the evolving geography of Latin Americans in the United States. His areas of expertise include urban planning, regional development, cultural geography, and cartography. Dr. Kent has traveled, lived, and worked throughout Latin America, including nearly 3 years spent as an urban and regional planner in Peru for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He served as a consultant for USAID in Bolivia on numerous occasions. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Nacional de San Juan in San Juan, Argentina, and at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and also spent a year as a visiting scholar at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón de la Plana, Spain. Dr. Kent is a recipient of the Eminent Latin Americanist Career Award from the Conference of Latin American Geographers (CLAG). He is a past chair of CLAG and is currently its treasurer and a member of its board of directors. He also has been a councilor and treasurer of the Association of American Geographers.

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Audience

Students in geography, Latin American studies, sociology, international relations, and international business.

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Course Use

Serves as a text in undergraduate courses such as Geography of Latin America and Latin American Environments.

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Previous editions published by Guilford:

First Edition, © 2006
ISBN: 9781572309098

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New to this edition:

• Discussions of climate change and its impacts, the demise of the Monroe doctrine, neoliberal agriculture, the growing influence of Chinese investment, and other new topics.
• 13 new vignettes highlighting current issues such as the thaw in United States–Cuba relations, drug violence in Mexico, aerial gondolas in the Andes, and the first Latin pope.
• Annotated website and film recommendations for most chapters.
• The latest development trends, population and economic data, and current events of local and global significance.
• 26 new photographs, maps, and figures.