MEXICO REGIONS DEFINED BY MOUNTAINS

Why Live in the Central Plateau?  Climate Arid to tropical wet and dry  Farmlands Best area for farming

The Coastal Regions  3 Coastal regions Northern Pacific Southern Pacific Gulf Coastal Plain

Northern Pacific Coast  Climate Hot, dry  Population Sparse  However – good farmland

Farming in the Pacific Northwest  Irrigation Artificial watering of farmland  Dammed the Colorado, Sonora, & Yaqui rivers

BAJA CALIFORNIA  Climate Arid  Vegetation Sparse  Mountainous desert

Southern Pacific Coast  Sierra Madre del Sur Limits farming  Economy Tourism  Acapulco  Mazatlan  Puerto Vallarta

Gulf Coastal Plain  Economy Major Petroleum Producing regions  Oil  Natural Gas

YUCATAN PENINSULA  Flat  Bedrock Limestone  Caverns

MEXICO A PLACE OF THREE CULTURES

AZTECS AND SPANIARDS  Aztecs – indigenous people of Mexico  Tenochtitlan – capital city and one of the largest in the world

SPANISH CONQEST  1519 – Hernan Cortes came to Tenochtitlan  1521 – The Spanish conquered the Aztecs and destroyed the city

NEW SPAIN  4 social classes emerged Peninsulares – Spanish born, elite Criollos – Spanish, born in the Americas

 Mestizos – mixed ancestry  Indians – lowest class, usually laborers on haciendas – Spanish owned estates