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Unit 3: North America
Mexico Notes
NAME _______________
BLOCK ______________
Geography of Mexico Key Terms
• Plateau – an area of ________ ________ land
• Peninsula – a __________ of land that juts out into the ocean
• Irrigation – artificial ____________ of farmland by storing and distributing water
drawn from reservoirs or rivers
• Sinkhole – when the roof of a ____________ cavern falls in it creates a sinkhole
Physical Characteristics, Be able to locate:
Baja California, Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Oriental, Isthmus of
Tehuantepec, Yucatan Peninsula
What is the Weather Like?
Precipitation: __________ Mexico gets more rainfall
Climate:
Northern =
Southern =
The Heartland Region
Natural Hazards
• Mexico’s ___________, or area of high, flat land, is geologically unstable.
• Mexico is located at intersection of ______ tectonic plates.
• Some mountains are active _______________
• Frequent ______________ shake the land.
Climate Factors
• The mountains block rainfall in much of the central plateau.
• The southern end of the plateau receives more rain than the arid north.
• High elevation keeps temperatures mild year-round.
The Coastal Regions
Northern Pacific Coast
It has a ____________ and ___________ climate.
Irrigation, or artificial watering, gives this region some of the best _________ in Mexico.
Gulf Coastal Plain
Vast deposits of ___________________ and _______________ are under the plain and
Gulf of Mexico.
It is one of the major _______________________ regions of the world.
Southern Pacific Coast
The _________________________ mountain range edges a narrow coast.
There is little ____________, but a spectacular setting and tropical climate favor
_____________.
Yucatán Peninsula
Rainfall dissolves the _____________________, producing underground caverns that
sometimes collapse, forming _________________.
______________ ruins attract tourists and archaeologists.
Geography of Mexico Essential Questions:
• What are the main physical characteristics that affect daily life in Mexico’s
heartland region?
• How do Mexico’s four coastal plains regions differ?
A Place of Three Cultures Key Terms
• Latifundio – a large _______________ _____________ owned by a private
individual or a farming company
• Cash crop – a farm crop grown for ____________ and ____________
• Migrant worker – a worker who _____________ from place to place, working
where extra help is needed to cultivate or harvest crop
• Maquiladora – a ______________ in Mexico along the United States
_____________, that assembles goods for export
Aztecs and Spaniards
• The Aztecs had built a powerful ___________ in central Mexico.
• Tenochtitlán occupied the site of modern _______________.
• Tenochtitlan was built on an ___________ in the middle of a lake.
• Hernán Cortés, a Spanish adventurer, marched his soldiers into Tenochtitlán in
1519, making ____________ with the Aztec’s enemies.
• Within __________ years, the Aztec empire was destroyed.
• The territory won by Cortés became the colony of ____________.
• Four ____________ __________ emerged in New Spain: the peninsulares, the
criollos, the mestizos, and the Indians.
• Indians provided ____________ on Spanish-owned haciendas, large estates run as
farms or cattle ranches.
• The Spanish king _______________ the conquistadors by granting them both
haciendas and the Indians who worked them in a system known as encomienda.
• Under encomienda, Indians lived a _________________ existence.
Road to Democracy
• Criollo resentment of the privileges of peninsulares erupted into conflict in the
early _________.
• Mexico achieved independence by _____, but was not _________
• The _________________________ began in 1910 when Peasants and middleclass Mexicans rebelled.
• The _______ between the rich and the poor was a central reason for the rebellion.
• The new Mexican government was a federal republic with an ______________
president and congress.
• The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) controlled Mexican politics until the
election in __________.
Social Conditions
• After the Mexican Revolution, the government ________________ haciendas
among landless peasants in policy of land redistribution.
• The government _______ most of the redistributed land in ejidos, land held
collectively by members of a rural community.
• In an ejidos, farmers generally practice _______________ farming, only growing
enough to meet their own needs.
• One third of Mexico’s farms are huge _____________ farms called latifundios,
which, along with some ejidos, raise cash crops-crops raised for sale and profit.
• Many landless, jobless peasants travel from place to place as _________ workers.
• ___________ offer better job ______________ and chances for education than
the countryside, but most urban dwellers in Mexico are very poor and struggle to
survive.
Economic Activities
Since NAFTA was passed, manufacturing has _____________ and _______________
has declined in Mexico.
Major Industries
• _______________ extraction and ________ are important to Mexico’s economy.
• The _____________________ oil company provides revenue that rises or falls
along with oil prices.
• Climate, scenery, and cultural history make ______________ an important source
of income for Mexico.
• Tourism is a cleaner alternative to industry; Mexicans call tourism the
“______________ industry.”
Border Industries
• Maquiladoras, factories that ________________ products for export to the United
States, are clustered along the United States-Mexico ____________
• People have raised __________ about work and pay in maquiladoras, but
employment has ___________ and workers’ skills have _____________.
• Concerns have been raised about _________________ from factories and the
damage to health and the environment.
A Place of Three Cultures Essential Questions
• How did Mexico become a Spanish colony?
• What were key political events in the development of democracy in Mexico?
• What social problems face Mexico today?
• What are the main characteristics of the Mexican economy?