Popular among students for its engaging, accessible style, this text provides an authoritative overview of Latin America's human geography as well as its regional complexity. Extensively revised to reflect the region's ongoing evolution in the first decades of the 21st century, the second edition's alternating thematic and regional chapters trace Latin America's historical development while revealing the diversity of its people and places. Coverage encompasses cultural history, environment and physical geography, urban development, agriculture and land use, social and economic processes, and the contemporary patterns of the Latin American diaspora. Pedagogical features include vivid topical vignettes, end-of-chapter recommended readings and other resources, and 217 photographs, maps, and figures.

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.