Download Central America & the Caribbean Ch. #11

Central America & the Caribbean
Ch. #11
I. Natural Environments
A. Landforms
 West Indies:
13 Independent countries & 12 territories
Greater Antilles (BIG islands)
 Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico
The Bahamas (700 islands)
Lesser Antilles (small islands)
 20 island countries & territories
 Volcanic (eastern part of Caribbean Plate)
Netherlands Antilles (part of Lesser Antilles)
 Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire
 Central America?
7 countries south of Mexico
Isthmus of Panama
 Rugged terrain due to…
 Tectonic activity
Volcanic activity = FERTILE
SOILS for ag.
Cocos Plate is diving
below Caribbean Plate =
volcanoes
*rugged terrain had an isolating effect
& prevented unification following
independence from Spain
B. Natural Resources & Hazards
 Natural Resources?
Warm climate, fertile soils, fish
 Environmental Hazards (3)
Earthquakes, volcanoes,
hurricanes
II. Central America
A. Colonization & Independence
 Colonized by what Euro. country?
 Impact on Indigenous pops.?
 Spanish settlement?
 Culture traits?
 Belize (British Honduras) (1981)
 Independence (1820s)
 Foreign investment
 US & UK = built RRs to extract coffee & bananas = $$$$$$$$
 United Fruit Company (Chiquita) – American firm = controlled banana business in Central Amer.
 Banana republics—unstable, non-democratic country dependent on limited agriculture & ruled
by a corrupt, wealthy organization
 Supported by U.S. to maintain peace (prevent spread of Communism) & American business
interests
 Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua = POLITICAL INSTABILITY!
 Wealthy landowners controlled most wealth & made most political decisions in their favor
 Aristocracy = govt. ruled by an elite class
 Civil Wars broke out betw. aristocrats & poor--ended in 1990s w/democracies
Costa Rica
 Less ethnic diversity (85% = white)
 Few natives when Spanish arrived--Euros did not develop large
estates due to lack of labor, ALSO, no valuable minerals!
 Many small farms (coffee) & middle class developed = DEMOCRACY!
 No wealthy, corrupt aristocracy
 Became democratic & economically productive
 Tradition of democracy & education = foreign investment by foreign
computer firms (highest literacy rate in Cent. Amer. = 95%)
• “Silicon Valley of Latin America”
• Microsoft, GE, Abbot Labs, Continental Airways & Intel have
invested here (produce microprocessors)
 Ecotourism: guided travel thru natural areas
• Nature Preserves = 25% of land
 Cent. Amer’s. highest standard of living
Panama
 A territory of Colombia until 1903
 Panama Canal
1881-1888: French attempted to construct canal
FAILED b/c of Panama’s poor geology & mosquito diseases
1899: U.S. bought remaining lease from French ($40 mill)
 BUT, Colombia wanted a new lease----Pres. Roosevelt disagreed
• 1903: U.S. helped Panama gain their independence
WHY WAS U.S. SO INTERESTED IN PANAMA?!
1904-1914: U.S. completed the canal
 US had control of canal until 1999 (Panama makes billions in toll fees
 How canals work
 Expansion of the canal
 Time Lapse Video
 Trip through the canal video
Expansion of the Panama Canal
Construction = 2006-2015
Cost = $5.25 bill.
Annual tolls = >$2 bill. (14% of Panama’s GDP)
B. People, Languages, & Religion
The legacy of Euro. colonialism is present
Wealth = still in the hands of a few
Religion = ?
Spanish is the official language except in Belize
Most Central Amers. = Mestizos
Some Central Amers. = Mulattoes
People w/mixed Euro & African ancestry
Guatemalan population?
Largest Amerindian pop. (Mayan)
C. Economic Development
Cash crops = coffee, bananas, sugar, CACAO
Cacao = type of tree from which we get cocoa beans
which are used to make chocolate
III. The Caribbean
Climate?
Merengue
calypso
A. Colonization & Independence
 Christopher Columbus (1492) los indios?
The West Indies
 Gold?
 Plantation agriculture
Bananas, citrus, sugarcane, coffee
 Cuba, Dominican Republic, & Puerto Rico = SPAIN
 Haiti = FRENCH
 Jamaica = BRITISH
 Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire = DUTCH
 Caribbean populations descend from Euros & Africans
 Language/culture depends on who
the island
Cuba
 1898: Spanish-American War
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines = U.S. territories
 1902: Cuban independence
 Havana = “the Las Vegas of the Caribbean”
Money was NOT shared w/Cuban people
1959: Fidel Castro (dictator) overthrew corrupt leadership
 Castro = allied w/USSR (received $4-$6 bill/yr in aid)
1961: Bay of Pigs Invasion
1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
U.S. Trade Embargo?
1991: USSR collapse = Cuban economic downturn
 Sugar plantations have led to food shortages?
The Island of Hispaniola
Haiti
French colony (1804)
Poorest country in
Western Hemisphere
Poor infrastructure &
political instability = no
foreign investment
Large wealth gap
80% live in poverty
36% = urban
Literacy rate = 52%
Most work in ag.
Dominican Republic
Spanish (1844)
Tourism, cash crops,
manufacturing
Large wealth gap
10% of pop = 40% GDP
64% = urban
Many great baseball
players
Pedro Martinez, Manny
Ramirez, David Ortiz
Puerto Rico
 Spanish colony
 1898 = became U.S. territory
 1952: became a commonwealth of the U.S.
a self-governing territory associated w/another country
Puerto Ricans = U.S. citizens
Do not pay U.S. taxes
Cannot vote in presidential elections
• Can vote in presidential primaries
 Has attracted Amer. industrial investment
Free access to U.S. market & low corporate taxes
Manufacturing has overtaken ag.
Most industrialized economy of the Caribbean!
Jamaica
British colony until 1962
Tourism, remittances, agriculture & bauxite
Mineral used in aluminum
Bob Marley (reggae music)
Sang about poverty of Jamaica
Language/culture depends on who
___________ the country.
Nearly all of the Caribbean islands today
still show effects of ____________ &
_____________.