<P> Latin America as a region has multiple nation - states, with varying levels of economic complexity . The Latin American economy is an export - based economy consisting of individual countries in the geographical regions of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean . The socioeconomic patterns of what is now called Latin America were set in the colonial era when the region was controlled by the Spanish and Portuguese empires . Up until independence in the early nineteenth century, colonial Latin American regional economies boomed . Many parts of the region had favorable factor endowments of deposits of precious metals, mainly silver, or tropical climatic conditions and locations near coasts that allowed for the development of cane sugar plantations . In the nineteenth century following independence, many economies of Latin America declined . In the late nineteenth century, much of Latin America was integrated into the world economy as an exporter of commodities . Foreign capital investment, construction of infrastructure, such as railroads, growth in the labor sector with immigration from abroad, strengthening of institutions, and expansion of education aided industrial growth and economic expansion . A number of regions have thriving economies, but "poverty and inequality have been deeply rooted in Latin American societies since the early colonial era ." </P> <P> As of 2016, the population of Latin America is 633 million people and the total gross domestic product of Latin America in 2015 was 5.3 trillion USD . The main exports from Latin America are agricultural products and natural resources such as copper, iron, and petroleum . In 2016, the Latin American economy contracted 0.8% after a stagnant 2015 . Morgan Stanley suggests that this drop in economic activity is a combination of low commodity prices, capital flight, and volatility in local currency markets . The International Monetary Fund suggests that external conditions influencing Latin America have worsened in the period from 2010 - 2016, but will show growth in 2017 . </P>

What type of economy does latin america have