6. Natural Zones.

Geographical position	Natural Zone
	Wet equatorial forests	Savannahs and rare forests	Steppes	Deserts and semi deserts
	In the Amazon Lowland	In the Orinoco Lowland, south to the Brazilian Highlands, north of the La Plata Lowland	Southern part of the La Plata Lowland	Southern part of the continent
Climatic belt	equatorial	Subequatorial, tropical	subtropical	temperate
Temperature	+24o all year round	+24o+32o in summer, +16o +24o in winter	+16o+32o in summer, +8o+16o in winter	+8o+16o C in summer, 0o+8oC in winter
Rainfalls	2000-3000 mm a year	2000-1000 mm a year	500-1000 mm a year	100-250mm a year
Soils	Red-yellow Ferro-aluminum	Reddish-brown and red ferro-aluminum	Reddish-black	Grey, brown
Vegetation	Ficus, palm, cocoa, rubber-bearing plant, orchid, liana	Grass, mimosa, cactus, bottle-tree	Grass, feather bush	Cactus, mimosa, Prickly shrubs
Animals	Jaguar, ant-eater, turtle, crocodile, snake, anaconda, parrot, butterfly, spider, beetle	Deer, puma, jaguar, armadillo.	Rodents, nutria, nandu, guanaco, puma	Puma, nandu, guanaco

7.Population.

The greater part of the present day population of South America are descendants of settlers from different countries of Europe. More than 330 million people live in South America. The average density of population on the Atlantic coast is 50 -100 persons to the sq km. There are many countries in South America.

Country	Area (th sq km)	Population(mln)	Capital
Brazil	8 512	163.1	Brasilia
Argentina	2 777	35.5	Buenos Aires
Chile	757	14.3	Santiago
Uruguay	187	3.2	Montevideo
Paraguay	407	5.1	Asuncion
Surinam	163	0.45	Paramaribo
Bolivia	1 099	7.8	La Paz
Peru	1 258	24	Lima
Ecuador	284	12.1	Quito
Colombia	1 142	37.7	Bogota
Venezuela	916	23.6	Caracas
Guyana	215	0.98	Georgetown
Guiana	91	0.16	Cayenne

Home task: choose any country and make a report according to the plan (see page 18).

Ecuador.

The republic of Ecuador is a country on the northeastern coasts of South America. The name of it comes from Spanish phrase meaning “on both sides of the equator”. The total area of it is nearly 300 000 sq km (272 045 sq km). It borders on Columbia in the north and on Peru in the east and south. It is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the west. The capital of the country is Quito.

The country is ruled by the parliament. The head of the state is the president. It is divided into 22 provinces. The state language is Spanish. Different peoples live on the territory of Ecuador. The population of the country is 13 million 184 thousand people.

The climate of the country is equatorial, and in some southern parts, it is subequatorial. The temperature here is +23 ^o C +27 ^o C. It is mostly hot and wet.

Vast territories of the country are covered with forests. In the forests there are bears, jaguars, skunks and other animals. You can also find different kinds of snakes, lizards and crocodiles here. Along the territory of the country many tributaries of the Amazon River flow. The Guas, the Napo, the Tigre and the Putumayo are among them.

There are some places of interest in Ecuador. They are mostly in Quito. The Archeological Museum, St Francisco Church, St Augustine Church and the Parliament Palace are among them.

North America.

1.Geographical Position.

North America lies in the western hemisphere. It is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the west, by the Atlantic Ocean in the east and by the Arctic Ocean in the north. It is washed by the Caribbean Sea in the south, by the Sargasso Sea in the south – east, by the Baffin Sea in the north and by the Bering Sea in the north – west. The total area of the continent is 24.2 million sq km. It is not crossed by the equator, but comes close to it.

The Bering Strait separates North America from Eurasia and the Panama Canal - from South America. The extreme points of the continent are:

North – cape Murchison;

South – cape Mariato;

West – cape Prince of Wales;

East – cape Saint Charles.

The coastlines are broken in the north and in the east. The length without islands is 60 thousand km. There are some large peninsulas in North America: Alaska, Florida, California, Labrador and Yucatan. There are also three big gulfs: the Gulf of Mexico and the Californian Bay in the south, the Hudson Bay in the north.

Numerous islands surround the continent. The Aleutian Islands, The Baffin Island, the Island of Victoria, Newfoundland, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, Greenland, Cuba, Jamaica, the Haiti Island, the Hawaii. North America also has the greatest island archipelago in the world – the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

2.The Discovery of North America.

The European sailors reached the coasts of Greenland and the northeastern coasts of North America as far back as the 10-th century. They were the Normans. After that a lot of people came to the continent to explore it.

At the end of the 15-th century the English sailor John Cabot (1443 – 1498) came with his expeditions to the coasts of North America. He discovered Newfoundland, Labrador and eastern coast of the continent. The Spaniards explored Mexico and Central America in the 16-th century.

A lot of great discoveries were made during the period of 400 years. A lot of sailors and explorers came to study an unknown continent. Among them was Henry Hudson (1550 – 1611) an English sailor, who was looking for a pass from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific one. While travelling along the continent he discovered a river, a strait and a bay. They all were called after him (the Hudson Bay, the Strait of Hudson, the Hudson River).

Another English sailor and explorer was William Baffin (1584 – 1622). He explored the northern polar circle, the Hudson Bay and some seas to the west from Greenland. He discovered many islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the sea called after him the Baffin Sea.

A Scottish merchant Alexander Mackenzie (1764 - 1820) explored the Great Slave Lake. While travelling there, he discovered a river, a lowland and a bay, that later were called after him (the Mackenzie River, the Mackenzie Lowland and the Mackenzie Bay). He travelled across North America twice.

A famous English scientist James Ross (1800 - 1862) was very much interested in the North Pole. In 1831 he discovered the northern magnetic belt and pole. He also explored the islands and the northern coasts of North America. Among his discoveries there is a sea called after him – the Ross Sea.

Arctic has always interested Russian people. A famous Russian sailor Vitas Bering (1681 – 1741) found the pass between the Chukot Peninsula and the Alaska Peninsular and went into the Pacific Ocean. The strait and the sea in the Pacific Ocean got their names after him. He also discovered some of the Aleutian Islands. Another Russian sailor was Alexei Chirikov (1703 – 1748). He discovered some parts of the coasts of North America and some of the Aleutian Islands.

Task: Complete the table.

Name of the explorer	Life years	Country	Contribution to the exploration of the continent