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| Regional Website and Strategy |
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Latin America and the Caribbean
The Latin America and Caribbean Region is characterized by:
- considerable heterogeneity in social and economic conditions, both within and across countries
- increasing integration of economies into the world economy
- the formation of regional trading blocks such as Mercosur
- a high degree of urbanization, with 75 percent of the region's 500 million inhabitants living in cities and making a living in the industrial and service sectors
- a general deepening of democracy, coupled with a trend toward increasing decentralization and improved governance
The key environmental issues in the Latin America and Caribbean Region include: (i) urban-industrial pollution; (ii) mismanagement of natural resources in areas of existing and new settlement, and the consequent loss of terrestrial and marine biodiversity; and (iii) the high vulnerability of urban and rural populations to natural disasters.
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