1. Which colonial power coined the term “Latin America” in the mid-nineteenth century
as a means to assert its influence?
a) Spain
b) Netherlands
2. What are the two dominant languages spoken in South America?
a) Spanish and French
b) Spanish and English
3. How many distinct geographical territories comprise Latin America?
a) four: the Southern Cone, the Andean Nations, Brazil, and the small states in the
northwest corner.
d) three: the Southern Cone, Central America, and the Antilles.
4. South America is home to
a) the world’s highest mountain peak.
b) the world’s wettest marshlands.
5. Which of the following countries has English as its national language, was under the
colonial supervision of the United Kingdom, and was called the “British Honduras” prior
to independence?
d) Grenada
6. Which of these groups is NOT an indigenous people who inhabited Latin America at
the time of the European Conquest?
a) Aztec
d) Inca
7. Iberian power in Europe began to wane in the
a) 1400s.
b) 1500s.
8. In the late-eighteenth to early-nineteenth century, the term “criollos” was used to
describe
c) slaves born in the colonies after being brought to the New World as labor.
d) South American dictators.
9. By the early 1800s, the Iberian royals faced which of the following obstacles to their
continued rule in the Americas?
a) Other powers, especially the United Kingdom, invading their colonial land holdings
b) Revolts by colonists
10. What is the meaning of the Spanish term “caudillismo”?
c) A system of equal land distribution
d) A neo-colonial trading structure
11. According to your textbook, what became of the nineteenth-century plantation?
a) They were abolished after the revolts against colonial tyranny.
d) They fell apart with the end of slavery.
12. In Latin American studies, what is meant by “dependency” theory?
a) Political rule in Latin America in the nineteenth century was dependent on being a
caudillo, or a “leader,” who acquires power based on possession of large amounts of land.
the latifundia, which was based on land ownership.
d) The more dependents that a family has, the better its economic well being.
13. Which of the following represents the ISI strategy?
c) The permission for immigrants from other countries to enter Latin American countries
in greater numbers, to provide a larger workforce
d) Lowering tariffs to encourage exports and imports
14. Which of the following is an example of an international financial institution?
a) The World Bank
b) The Inter-American Development Bank
15. Which of the following was an effect of the SAPs, or structural adjustment programs,
instituted by the international financial institutions in the 1980s?
a) Widespread unemployment
b) Triple-digit inflation
16. Which two recent neo-liberal treaties affecting a number of Latin Americas nations
have struggled and failed to win public support for implementation?
a) NAFTA and the TPP
d) Only the TPP failed to win public support.
17. Increasing trade with ___(1)___ has made Latin America less dependent on the
region’s previously prominent trading partner(s) ___(2)___.
a) 1 the United States; 2 China and the EU
b) 1 the EU; 2 the United States
18. Until recently, many Latin American governments have been typically
a) Social democratic
b) Marxist
19. Which countries have moved from military dictatorship to democracy?
a) Argentina
b) Brazil
20. What role has the United States played in promoting democracy in Latin America?
a) The United States has consistently supported democratically-elected regimes in the
region, despite disagreements with certain leaders.
b) The United States supported some military coups in the 1960s and 1970s, but was
much more supportive of leftist regimes in the 1980s and 1990s.
