Mexico and Central America
Mexico Official Name: United Mexican States Federal Government-31 states plus Mexico City Capital: Mexico City Population: 112 Million Language: Spanish with some Native Language
Mexican People Mestizo (Mixed European/Indian) 60% American Indian 30% Caucasian 9%; Other 1% Largest number of Spanish speakers of any country (about 97% of population speaks Spanish) Independent from Spain since 1821
Government President: Felipe Calderon Elected to 1 six year term; cannot be re- elected Legislature: National Congress (Senate & Chamber of Deputies) Meets only 1 month per year. Deputies cannot serve consecutive terms. Judicial: Supreme Court of Justice
Mexico Geographic
Mountain Ranges Major Ranges: Sierra Madre Occidental (Western); Sierra Madre Oriental (Eastern) Minor Range: Sierra Madre del Sur (Southern) In between mountains: Mexican Plain (high desert) Only about 13% of Mexico’s land is arable (suitable for farming)
Major Cities Mexico City: Capital. Pop. 21 million Guadalajara: 3.8 million Ecatepec: 1.6 million Tijuana: 1.5 million (border crossing-San Diego) Puebla: 1.5 million Monterrey: 1.3 million Juarez: 1.3 million (border crossing-El Paso)
Economy GDP: $1.56 Trillion (12 th largest in the world) Natural Resources: Oil/Gas; Precious Metals Tourism: Mexico City, Cancun, Acapulco, Cabo san Lucas NAFTA: Free trade with US and Canada; low tariffs btw these 3 countries
Central America
7 Countries: Guatemala Belize El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Costa Rica Panama
Capital Cities Guatemala, Guatemala Belmopan, Belize San Salvador, El Salvador Tegucigalpa, Honduras Managua, Nicaragua San Jose, Costa Rica Panama, Panama
Geography Is an isthmus Varies every few miles Central-mountains Caribbean coast-lowlands. Hot and wet year round. Rain forests. “Mosquito Coast” Pacific Coast-plain. Wet and dry seasons. Savannah-grasslands. Volcanically active
Physical Features Mts. Dominate middle of area creating two climate zones Lower zone good for farming Caribbean lowlands have massive rainfall & dense rainforest Pacific coast better climate, weather, and soil good for planting
People Spanish-majority language everywhere but Belize (English) Mix of Indian, European, Mestizo, and Africans. Much of the population is poor. Farm economy-tropical fruits (banana, coffee plantations) Poverty causes political unrest; dictatorships are not uncommon.
People Indians – lived longest in Central America; largest # live in Guatemala Europeans – arrived in 1500s when Spaniards conquered; largest settlement today is in Costa Rica (90% are European – mostly Spaniards) Mestizo – mixed European and Indian background; largest populations in El Salvador and Nicaragua African – along Caribbean coast; came to work banana plantations and Panama C
People 2/3 of Central Americans are poor, with little political power Poor include – millions of farmers with little to no land, and laborers Middle Class – include farmers who own small, non-commercial land and some are employees of urban industries. –Middle class is steadily growing, but remains small
Political Unrest Causes: 1.Shortage of available farmland to meet needs of growing population 2.Unequal distribution of usable land 3.Governments only serving the needs of the wealthy Opponents of those governments are guerrillas – armed forces outside the regular army, who often fight in small bands