1. CENTRAL AMERICA

2. LANDFORMS Central America is located on an isthmus that connects North and South America. The Panama Canal greatly changed things as now ships could pass from the Caribbean to the Pacific and back again.

3. 3 Major Land Forms Mountainous Core Caribbean Lowlands Pacific Coastal Plain

4. PEOPLE AND CULTURES INDIANS EUROPEANS AND MESTIZOS AFRICAN DESCENT

5. WEALTH AND POVERTY MOST OF THE WEALTH IN THE CENTRAL AMERICAN COUNTRIES IS HELD BY A FEW PEOPLE. 67% OF Central Americans are poor. The middle class is very small.

6. Economics Farming is the main source of earning money. Most survive by subsistence farming. Cash crops are coffee, bananas and cotton

7. Political Conflict There is a great deal of political unrest in Central America. Shortage of farmland is a major issue Governments seem to serve the interests of the wealthy Corrupt political systems Unstable governments Civil wars usually spurred on by harsh government