Learning Readiness

It is inevitable that Latin America, created as a result of historical forces, should overlap a number of major structural regions and distinct physical environments. Outstanding in this respect is the contrast between the north-south trending mountain system of the Andes and the east-west relief lines of the major islands of the West Indies and their continuations into Middle America. Farther north the predominant pattern of North America, continued south across the United States-Mexican boundary, dominates the physique of most of Mexico. It is within this three-fold composition that the physical basis of the continent can be outlines.