Central America and the Caribbean
Geography
Central America is a narrow bridge of land south of Mexico that includes 7 countries: __________ Costa Rica El Salvador __________ Honduras Nicaragua __________
Geography The Caribbean consists of a chain, or ____________, of many islands in the Caribbean Sea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. An archipelago is a _______ of many ____________. Although Central America is made up of __ countries, it is smaller in size than the state of __________. The ________ _______ lies to the west, and the _______________ Sea lies to the east.
The Ring of Fire The chain of ____________ that runs through much of Central America is part of a global geographic zone called the _______ of ______. Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire is a circle of ____________ around the _________ __________. The movement of Earth’s tectonic plates in this zone causes frequent ___________ ________, as well as earthquakes. As a result, eruptions & ___________ are a constant danger in Central America.
The Ring of Fire In ____________ alone there is a line of about ____ active volcanoes along the western coast. Volcanic eruptions in Central America often damage _____ and ____________. The _____ from the eruptions help keep the soil fertile. This is why most people live along the sides of the ___________. There they earn a living on tiny _______. The mountain areas of Central America are also where many ___________, or large farms, are located. Central America’s highland plantations produce much of the world’s __________ crop.
Panama At the southernmost end of Central America is the _____________ of __________. The isthmus at its narrowest point measures only about ___ miles wide. Near this point the Panama _______, a human- made waterway, cuts through the isthmus and links the __________ and __________ Oceans. The Panama Canal is important because it enables ______to greatly shorten their ________ from one ocean to the other.
The Panama Canal Before the Panama Canal was completed in _____, a ship going from New York City to San Francisco had to travel around the _________ tip of South America. The whole trip was more than ________ miles. By way of the Panama Canal, the trip is only about ________ miles.
The Panama Canal The _______ ________built the Panama Canal at a cost of $380 million. It took ___ years to complete. Today, the country of _________ owns and operates the canal as an important ____________ in world trade.
The Panama Canal
The Greater Antilles 3 groups of islands make up the ________. The Bahamas The _________ Antilles Greater and lesser in these names refer to the sizes of the islands.
The Greater Antilles 4 large islands ______ Hispaniola __________ Puerto Rico
The Greater Antilles (cont) ______ is the largest of the 4 islands About the size of ___________ Only 90 miles south of _________ Includes _____ other smaller islands _________ landscape Mountains, hills, rolling plains, wide, fertile valleys, rain forests
The Greater Antilles (Cont) Hispaniola is covered by _______ and the ____________ Republic. _______ _______is the smallest island in the Greater Antilles and is about the size of _________.
The Lesser Antilles SE of Puerto Rico Divided into 2 groups Leeward Islands Windward Islands The NE ________ ______are the reason for dividing them. The trade winds are winds that consistently blow from the NE toward the equator. These winds give the Lesser Antilles a ______ climate all year long, but also put them in danger of _____________.
The Bahamas The ____________ are the northernmost group of islands in the Caribbean. They are only 50 miles off the eastern coast of _________. Made up of about 700 hundred islands and 2,400 _______. Cays are small low-lying islands made of sand, limestone, or coral. ________ is a hard, stony substance made up of _________ of many tiny sea animals.
The Bahamas Cay Coral
The Bahamas Of the 700 islands in the Bahamas, people live on only about 20. Grand BahamaNew Providence