nence. See also individual artists by name, such as Frida Kahlo; Oscar Niemeyer; and Diego Rivera; and authors by name, such as Jorge Luis Borges; Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and Pablo Neruda.
Latin American Integration Association (LAI A) formerly (until 1980) Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA) Inter¬ national association of Latin American countries originally dedicated to improving its members’ economic well-being through free trade. At its founding in 1960 LAFTA included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Para¬ guay, Peru, and Uruguay; by 1970 Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Bolivia had joined. The organization aimed to remove all trade barriers over 12 years, but its members’ geographic and economic diversity made that goal impossible. LAFTA was superseded in 1980 by the LAIA, which established bilateral trading agreements between members, which were divided into three groups according to their level of economic develop¬ ment. Cuba was admitted with observer status in 1986, and it became a full member in 1999. See also Inter-American Development Bank.
Latin language Indo-European language of the Italic group; ancestor of the modern Romance languages. Originally spoken by small groups of people living along the lower Tiber River, Latin spread with the growth of Roman political power, first throughout Italy and then through most of western and southern Europe and the central and western Mediterranean coastal regions of Africa. The earliest known Latin inscriptions date from the 7th century bc; Latin literature dates from the 3rd century bc. A gap soon appeared between literary (classical) Latin and the popular spoken language, Vulgar Latin. The Romance languages developed from dialects of the latter. During the Middle Ages and much of the Renaissance, Latin was the language most widely employed in the West for scholarly and literary purposes. Until the latter part of the 20th century, its use was required in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church.
latite \Ta-,tIt\ or trachyandesite \tra-ke-'an-d3-,zlt\ Type of igneous rock that is abundant in western North America. Usually white, yellowish, pinkish, or gray, it is the volcanic equivalent of monzonite. Latites contain plagioclase feldspar (andesine or oligoclase) as large, single crystals (phe- nocrysts) in a fine-grained matrix of orthoclase feldspar and augite.
latitude and longitude Coordinate system by which the position or location of any place on the Earth’s surface can be determined and described. Latitude is a measurement of location north or south of the Equator. Lines of latitude are known as parallels, or parallels of latitude. Longitude is a measurement of location east or west of the prime merid¬ ian, which passes through Greenwich, Eng. The combination of merid¬ ians of longitude and parallels of latitude establishes a grid by which exact positions can be determined: for example, a point described as 40° N, 30° W is located 40° of arc north of the Equator and 30° of arc west of the Greenwich meridian.
Latium \'la-she-om\ Ancient area, west-central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Latins (or Latini) came from Indo-European tribes that settled in the Italian peninsula during the 2nd millennium bc. By 500 bc the cit¬ ies of Latium had formed the Latin League. War erupted between Rome and the Latins in 340 bc and ended in 338 bc with the defeat of the Lat¬ ins and the dissolution of the league.
Lafreille \la-'tray\, Pierre-Andre (b. Nov. 29, 1762, Brive-la- Gaillarde, Fr.—d. Feb. 6, 1833, Paris) French zoologist, regarded as the father of entomology. An ordained priest, in 1796 he published his Sum¬ mary of the Generic Characteristics of Insects, Arranged in a Natural Order, which led to his becoming head of entomology at the National Museum of Natural History. His principal later work was his Compre¬ hensive Natural History of Crustaceans and Insects (14 vol., 1802—05). The two works, representing the first detailed classification of insects and crustaceans, mark the beginnings of modern entomology. In 1829 he took the professorial chair vacated by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.
Latrobe \b-'trob\, Benjamin Henry (b. May 1, 1764, Fulneck, York¬ shire, Eng.—d. Sept. 3, 1820, New Orleans, La., U.S.) British-U.S. archi¬ tect and civil engineer. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1795. His first important building was the State Penitentiary in Richmond, Va. In 1798, in Philadelphia, he designed the Bank of Pennsylvania, considered the first U.S. monument of the Greek Revival style. Pres. Thomas Jefferson appointed him surveyor of public buildings. Latrobe inherited the task of completing the U.S. Capitol, and later rebuilt it after its destruction by the British. In Baltimore he designed the country’s first cathedral (1818). He
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Latter-day Saints ► Laughton I 1081
was active as an engineer, especially in the design of waterworks. He is widely regarded as having established architecture as a profession in the U.S.
Latter-day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of See Mormon lattice, crystal See crystal lattice
Lattre de Tassigny Vla-tr’-do-ta-sen-'yeN, Jean (-Marie-Gabriel)
de (b. Feb. 2, 1889, Mouilleron-en-Pareds, France—d. Jan. 11, 1952, Paris) French military leader. After service in World War I and later in Morocco, he was promoted to general in 1939. An infantry division com¬ mander in World War II, he was imprisoned by the Germans (1940^13), but he escaped to North Africa. In 1944 he led the French army in the Allied landing operations in southern France and in the drive across France into southern Germany and Austria. He represented France at the signing of the German capitulation (1945). In 1950—51 he commanded French troops in the First Indochina War against the Viet Minh. He was made a marshal of France posthumously.
Latvia officially Republic of Latvia Country, northeastern Europe, along the shores of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga. Area: 24,938 sq mi (64,589 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 2,299,000. Capitaclass="underline" Riga. Less than