Mexico Mrs. Bailey Advanced World Geography

Geography  Wide range of geographical features: deserts, mountains, plains, and beaches  Deserts: Chihuahuan & Senoran Desert  Moutnain Ranges: Sierra Madres Occidental, Sierra Madre, Oriental, Neovolcanica (contains active volcanoes)

Climate  Northwestern Mexico and inland northern areas are drier than the rest of the country. It is hot in the summer and north winds can make inland northern Mexico chilly in winter, with temperatures sometimes approaching freezing.  Inland at higher elevations, the climate is also dry and temperate, and the mountain peaks are often capped with snow.  South of the tropic of Cancer, it’s hot and humid all year long along the coastal plains on either side of the country. (Hot/wet season= May-Oct.)  Low-lying coastal areas are wetter and hotter than elevated inland ones. Though the hottest summer extremes are generally found on the coastal plains, temperatures in the Altiplano and the Plataforma Yucateca

The Sonoran Desert Monterrey City

History  Olmecs- Gulf Coast region 1200 BC-600 BC  Zapotec- Southern half of Mexico by 300 BC  Izapan- Pacific Coast region 200 BC-200 AD  Mayan- in modern states Chiapas,Campeche, & Yucatan 250 AD-900 AD  Toltecs- Central Mexico 900’s AD (10 th century)  Aztecs- spanned from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf Coast 1400’s-1500’s  Spanish arrival-1519 A.D.

Zapotec remains Olmec head sculpture Indigenous Peoples of Mexico The first people of Mexico Mayan ruins Aztec Calendar

Arrival of the Spanish  1519-Hernando Cortez  Aztecs saw him a one of their gods, treated him very well.  Cortes made friends with Aztec enemies over 2 yrs (enough to outnumber the Azetcs)  Conquered the Aztec capital, took Moctezuma prisoner, and his people virtually enslaved (treated very poorly)  Killed millions of natives by disease: population of 25 million in 1521 to 1 million by  Over time, the natives grew in strength and power, and discontent  Additionally, financial pressure of the Spanish & the arrival & now control of the French (Napoleon), a rebellion began to boil!

Independence  Rebellion led by a priest in 1810  After many years of different leaders, Porifio Diaz became president in 1876  He made Mexico industrial, & kept civil wars at bay, however, the people were still suppressed under this “dictatorship”  A civil war broke out in 1910 & lasted for 10 yrs.  Finally in 1934 a new president (Lazaro Cardenas) came in & turned things around

Economy  Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector  Agriculture, ranching, timber, mining, oil, natural gas, fishing, tourism and manufacturing are Mexico’s primary revenue earners.