ABSTRACT
Two major periods during the past five centuries altered the appearance of some parts of Latin America:
In the sixteenth century the continent was invaded and many areas were transformed by European people, predominantly from Spain and Portugal. They conquered the native inhabitants, many of whom were killed by their diseases. They used land and mineral resources to create wealth for themselves and for the European powers to whom they were either economically or politically subject. They enslaved millions of Africans to work for them and they and their descendants dominate the human population of parts of the continent and the Caribbean.
At the end of the nineteenth century some parts of the continent were again invaded by Europeans. This time they were settlers seeking a better life than in their homeland. They transformed the economies of the southern countries of South America: they peopled the growing cities: they also helped to establish financial and other service institutions which laid the foundation for the growth of modern economies.
