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Physical Geography
The Big Idea
Mexico is a large country with different natural environments
in its northern, central, and southern regions.
Main Ideas
• Mexico’s physical features include plateaus, mountains,
and coastal lowlands.
• Mexico’s climate and vegetation include deserts, tropical
forests, and cool highlands.
• Key natural resources in Mexico include oil, silver, gold,
and scenic landscapes.
Holt McDougal,
Main Idea 1:
Mexico’s physical features include plateaus,
mountains, and coastal lowlands.
• Mexico shares a long border with the southern United
States.
• The Río Bravo, called the Rio Grande in the U.S., runs
along part of this border.
• The Río Bravo is one of Mexico’s few major rivers.
Holt McDougal,
Mexico’s Physical Features
Bodies
Of Water
Plateaus
And
Mountains
•
Bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the West and the Gulf
of Mexico in the east
•
Stretching south from northern Mexico is a peninsula,
or piece of land surrounded by water on three sides,
called Baja California.
•
The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Gulf of Mexico
from the Caribbean Sea.
•
Much of interior is a region called the Mexican Plateau.
•
Two mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Oriental in the
east and the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west, are
part of the Sierra Madre, or “mother range.”
•
The Valley of Mexico, where Mexico City is located, lies
between these two ranges in the south.
•
The mountains south of Mexico City include volcanoes.
Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are a threat to that
region.
Holt McDougal,
Coastal Lowlands
• The land slopes down to the coast from highlands in
central Mexico.
• The Gulf coastal plain is wide and flat.
– This region has good soils and climate for farming.
• The Yucatán Peninsula is mostly flat.
– Erosion of limestone created caves and sinkholes that are
often filled with water.
Holt McDougal,
Main Idea 2:
Mexico’s climate and vegetation include
deserts, tropical forests, and cool highlands.
• The great variety of climates produces different vegetation.
• Changes in elevation cause climates to vary within short
distances.
• The Mexican Plateau can have cool temperatures.
• The southern coastal areas have warm temperatures and
summer rainy seasons that support tropical forests that
cover 25 percent of Mexico.
• The climate in the Yucatán Peninsula is hot and dry,
supporting scrub forest.
• Most of northern Mexico is dry and made up of deserts and
grasslands.
Holt McDougal,
Main Idea 3:
Key natural resources in Mexico include oil,
silver, gold, and scenic landscapes.
• Mexico has rich natural resources.
• The southern and coastal plains and the Gulf of Mexico
have oil.
• Mexico’s mines yield gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc.
• Mexico produces more silver than any other country in the
world.
Holt McDougal,
History and Culture
The Big Idea
Native American cultures and Spanish colonization shaped
Mexican history and culture.
Main Ideas
• Early cultures of Mexico included the Olmec, the Maya,
and the Aztec.
• Mexico’s period as a Spanish colony and its struggles since
independence have shaped its culture.
• Spanish and native cultures have influenced Mexico’s
customs and traditions today.
Holt McDougal,
Main Idea 1:
Early cultures of Mexico included the Olmec,
the Maya, and the Aztec.
• People came to Mexico many thousands of years ago.
• As early as 5,000 years ago, they were growing beans,
peppers, squash, and domesticated corn.
• Farming allowed people to build the first settlements in
America.
Holt McDougal,
Three Civilizations
Olmec
Maya
• Lived in small
villages by
about 1500 BC
• Settled in the
southern coast
of the Gulf of
Mexico
• Built temples
and giant
statues
• Built big cities
in Mexico and
Central America
between AD
250 and 900
• Built stone
temples
• Developed a
calendar
• Kept written
records that do
not reveal the
reason for their
collapse
Holt McDougal,
Aztec
• Moved in from
the north
• Built a great
capital on an
island in 1325
• Established an
empire, a land
with different
territories and
peoples under
one ruler
• Obtained new
lands, taxes,
and captives to
sacrifice
through war
Main Idea 2:
Mexico’s period as a Spanish colony and its
struggles since independence have shaped its
culture.
• Despite great size and power, the Aztec empire did not
last long after Hernán Cortés arrived with 600 Spanish
soldiers.
• The Spanish had better weapons and horses.
• The Spanish brought new diseases, such as smallpox,
which killed many Aztecs.
• Cortés conquered the empire by 1521.
Holt McDougal,
Colonial Times
Culture
Religion
• After the conquest, the
separate peoples and
cultures mixed.
• The Roman Catholic
Church had great
influence.
• Mestizos are people of
mixed European and
American Indian
ancestry.
• The church ruled over
large areas of northern
Mexico.
• Mulattoes are people of
mixed European and
African descent.
• Africans and American
Indians also
intermarried.
Holt McDougal,
• The church established
missions, or church
outposts.
• Priests learned native
languages and
converted the American
Indians to Catholicism.
Colonial Times Economy
• The Spaniards searched for gold and silver.
• The American Indians and the enslaved Africans labored in
the mines.
• As a result, many died from overwork and disease.
• The Spanish monarch granted haciendas, or huge
expanses of farm or ranch land, to some Spanish people
who became wealthy.
• Peasants, usually Indians, lived and worked on haciendas.
Holt McDougal,
Independence and Later Struggles
Independence
• Spain ruled Mexico for 300
years.
• Miguel Hidalgo, a Catholic
priest, led the revolt against
Spain.
• Hidalgo was killed in 1811, but
Mexico won independence in
1821.
Later Struggles
• Texas broke away from
Mexico fifteen years after
independence.
• During the resulting MexicanAmerican War, Mexico lost
nearly half of its territory.
• In the mid-1800s, Benito
Juárez helped Mexico survive
a French invasion and reduced
the privileges of the church
and army.
• In the early 1900s, hacienda
owners and foreign companies
had much influence.
• The Mexican Revolution,
1910-1920, resulted in land
reform.
Holt McDougal,
Main Idea 3:
Spanish and native cultures have influenced
Mexico’s customs and traditions today.
Spanish
• Most Mexicans speak Spanish.
• About 90 percent of Mexicans are Roman Catholic.
• Many people speak an American Indian language
American
that ties them to their ethnic group.
Indian
• These languages identify a person as Indian.
Spanish
and
American
Indian
• Mexicans have unique practices that result from
the mixing of cultures.
• For example, Mexicans celebrate the Day of the
Dead to remember dead ancestors.
• This holiday is held on All Souls’ Day, but reflects
native customs and beliefs.
Holt McDougal,
Mexico Today
The Big Idea
Mexico has four culture regions that all play a part in the
country’s government and economy.
Main Ideas
• Government has traditionally played a large role in
Mexico’s economy.
• Mexico has four distinct culture regions.
Holt McDougal,
Main Idea 1:
Government has traditionally played a large
role in Mexico’s economy.
• Mexico is a democracy, but the same party ruled for 71 years.
• A different political party came to power in 2000 when Vicente
Fox was elected president.
• Mexico’s government controlled most economic activity for many
years, but today that has changed.
• As a developing country, Mexico has challenges.
– Debt to foreign banks
– Unemployment
– Inflation, a rise in prices that occurs when currency loses buying
power
• Mexico’s economy has been growing since 1994 when the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) made trade with the
U.S. and Canada easier.
Holt McDougal,
Mexico’s Economy
Agriculture
• Farms have long
been a part of
Mexican economy.
• Only 12 percent
of the land can be
farmed.
• Farmers practice
slash-and-burn
agriculture,
burning forests to
clear land for
planting.
• Farmers grow
cash crops,
crops that
farmers can sell
for a profit.
Industry
Tourism
• Major industries
include oil,
mining, and
manufacturing.
• Tourists visit old
colonial cities and
Maya and Aztec
monuments.
• Many foreign
companies have
built factories
along the U.S.
border because
labor is cheaper.
• Coastal cities are
popular with
tourists.
• Some Mexican
workers come to
the U.S. to look
for jobs.
Holt McDougal,
Main Idea 2:
Mexico has four distinct culture regions.
• All Mexicans share cultural characteristics.
• Yet, four regions differ in culture, population, resources,
and climate:
– Greater Mexico City
– Central Mexico
– Northern Mexico
– Southern Mexico
Holt McDougal,
Mexico’s Culture Regions
Greater Mexico City
• Includes the capital and 50
smaller cities
• Has a population of more
than 19 million
• Second largest city in
world
• Huge, dense population
causes problems.
– Smog, a mixture of
smoke, chemicals, and
fog, created by factories
and cars
– Poverty
Holt McDougal,
Central Mexico
• North of Mexico City
• Many cities established for
ranching or mining during
the colonial period
• Colonial heritage: church
near main central square,
or plaza
• Small family farms that
grow vegetables, corn and
wheat
• Mining centers
• New industries leading to
rapid growth of cities
Mexico’s Culture Regions, continued
Northern Mexico
• One of the country’s
wealthiest and most
modern regions
• Trade with U.S. helping
growth of economy
• Has many maquiladoras,
U.S. and foreign-owned
factories
• Influenced by American
television, music, and
culture
• Residents crossing into the
U.S. to shop, work, or live
• United States tries to
prevent illegal crossing
Holt McDougal,
Southern Mexico
• Least populated and
industrialized region
• Many Indian language
speakers
• Subsistence farming and
slash-and-burn agriculture
• Two major export crops:
sugarcane and coffee
• Increased oil production along
the Gulf coast
• Yucatán Peninsula: tourism to
Maya ruins and beaches
• Tiny fishing towns
transformed to booming
tourist centers