Central America and the Panama Canal Directions: Copy all notes in gold.

CENTRAL AMERICA LAND Central America consists of the countries: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama Central America is a land bridge (or isthmus) between North America and South America

CENTRAL AMERICA Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea LAND Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea The mountains of Central America make it hard for transportation and communication Climate is Tropical, ~Why? Central America has lots of Rain Forests

CENTRAL AMERICA ECONOMY Farming is an important economic activity of Central America (Plantations) What is subsistence farming?

CENTRAL AMERICA ECONOMY Lumber industry is also an important economic activity in Central America Deforestation is a major problem. What is deforestation?

CENTRAL AMERICA ECONOMY Tourism is another important economic activity in Central America Tourist go Central America to see the natural wonders (ecotourism) and the Mayan ruins. Not to mention, it’s beautiful there. Costa Rica has actually set aside ¼ of its rain forest as national parks

CENTRAL AMERICA HISTORY Central America was home to the Olmec and Maya Indians In the 1500’s, guess which European country shows up? Native Americans were wiped out, Africans were brought over as slaves, and cultures blending together!

CENTRAL AMERICA HISTORY Most Central Americans are free from Spain by 1821, except… Panama gains independence from Columbia in 1903 with help from U.S.A. Why did U.S.A. help out? Panama Canal!

CENTRAL AMERICA GOVERNMNENT All Central American countries are democratic, meaning the have government by the people! (People can vote! 6 of the 7 are Republics, with Belize being the only Parliamentary Democracy.

CENTRAL AMERICA PEOPLE/CULTURE About 50 million people live in Central America Spanish is the official language, except for Belize. About ½ the population lives in rural areas Most are Roman Catholic Why would they be Catholic?

PANAMA (the country and it’s a canal) First attempts to build the Panama Canal were in 1881 by the French 1903 Panama signed a treaty with the US allowing for the construction of a canal and US control over a strip of land on either side of the structure (the Panama Canal Zone)

PANAMA (the country and it’s a canal) 1904 the US continues construction on the canal (and we finish it, in 10 short years!) What was the hold up? Disease & dangerous conditions

                    PANAMA The canal provided a 7,000 mile shorter trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the US to Panama by the end of the century. Final control was given back to Panama on Dec. 31st, 1999.

PANAMA (and it’s canal) Over ½ of Panama’s 3 million live and work in the area of the canal Panama began a Canal expansion project in 2007 and is scheduled to be completed by 2014 at a cost of $5.3 billion (about 25% of current GDP)

Closing Activity PANAMA ACROSTIC DIRECTIONS: Create an acrostic poem on the Panama Canal using facts from this PowerPoint. Each fact must be at least 5 words and in a complete sentence. P A N M C L