Yearbook 2008 Ecuador. At the end of September, a majority of the voting Ecuadorians voted yes to the country’s new constitution. The draft proposal had been drafted by a Constituent Assembly dominated by the ruling party Alianza País (AP) and considered tailor-made for President Rafael Correa to be re-elected at the next presidential election. The…
Category: South America
High cultures emerged in Mexico (Aztecs), on the Central American Yucatan Peninsula (Maya) and on the west coast of South America in the Andes (Inca Empire). The Chibcha, who settled in what would later become Colombia, had a highly developed agricultural culture. It was similar with the Tupi, who spread their advanced farming techniques by migrating from the Amazon to La Plata, forcing collectors and hunters like the Ges into the forests and savannahs. The inland tribes generally remained at lower cultural levels. The Aruak and Caribs of the north and the Araucans and Guarani of the southern continent were hunters, fishermen and gatherers who only farmed the fields in a rudimentary form. The Guaikuru and Patagonians lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers.
THE MAYA
If the Aztec empire was a rapidly expanding but also unstable empire, that of the Maya was old and comparatively stable. The first evidence of Mayan culture – artistic ceramics and early forms of pyramid architecture – date back to the “pre-classical period” from around 1500 BC. BC to AD 200. The “classical period” of the Maya, also known as the “old empire”, lasted from 200 to 900 AD, with a clear climax in the 8th century. When the European conquistadors reached the continent, the Mayan culture was already in its “post-classical period”, which was possibly initiated by changed climatic conditions, but probably also by hostile invasions from the north. The old cities had been abandoned and new ones founded.
The Maya, also apostrophized as the “Greeks of America”, dominated all other Indian cultures in astronomy and mathematics. Their cities were laid out from an astronomical and religious point of view and, in addition to temples, cult buildings and palaces, also contained places for ball games. There were a number of ceremonial centers in different places. The Maya wrote a complicated hieroglyphic script and also had a school system. From the Aztecs, whose rise accompanied their own cultural decline, they adopted certain religious ideas in their later days and thus also the, albeit less excessively practiced, practice of human sacrifice. For more information about the continent of South America, please check physicscat.com.
Colombia 2008
Yearbook 2008 Colombia. The guerrilla movement FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), which fought the government for over 40 years, was subjected to great political and military pressure during the year. The most spectacular defeat was the release of 15 people held hostage by the FARC, the most well-known being the French-Colombian politician and presidential…
Chile 2008
Yearbook 2008 Chile. Both the Government coalition Concertación and the opposition alliance Alianza por Chile claimed with some right that they won the municipal elections on October 26. The Concertación won 146 mayoral positions, which was 57 fewer than in the last municipal elections in 2004, while the opposition increased its share by 38 to…
Brazil 2008
Yearbook 2008 Brazil. In July, banker Daniel Dantas, notorious for his involvement in corruption, was arrested in a federal police action. Later, it turned out that Brazil’s intelligence service (Abin) participated in the operation without the necessary court permission. In addition, it was revealed that Abin had illegally eavesdropped telephone, including the chairman of the…
Bolivia 2008
Yearbook 2008 Bolivia. The constitutional issues also dominated this year in Bolivia. In August, a vote of confidence was held on President Evo Morales and the nine provincial governors of eastern Bolivia (the so-called Crescent Moon) who oppose the centralization of power to La Paz. Morales received unequivocal support; nearly 68 percent of voters supported…
Argentina 2008
Yearbook 2008 Argentina. The year was largely dominated by large peasant protests. Argentina’s four farmers’ unions objected to increased export taxes for soy exporters, which is one of Argentina’s most important export crops, at the same time as the country suffered the worst drought in 100 years and increased production costs. The new export taxes…
South America Overview
With an extension of about 17.8 million km², South America comprises 6% of the world population divided into 12 countries and 7 territories. As found on Countryaah, they are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela, and the territories of French Guiana, Easter Island, Galapagos Islands, Georgia and Sandwich…