Transcript Central America

Central
America
Countries of Central America
• Belize
Guatemala
El Salvador
Honduras
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Panama
Basic Facts
• 36 million people in Central America
• Guatemala is the most heavily populated.
– About 1/3 of the Central American population
live in Guatemala
• Belize has the lowest population.
– 250,000 live in Belize.
City and Rural population
• About 50% of Central Americans live on farms.
• At least one major city in each country is densely
population.
– Usually the capital.
• People who live in the city usually hold
manufacturing jobs or farms just outside the city.
• Those who live on the coast harvest seafood.
Daily Life
• They celebrate Carnival
– Holiday comes just before Lent, a Catholic
holiday preceding Easter
– Live bands play salsa, a mixture of rock and
jazz
• Baseball and Soccer are popular in
Nicaragua and Panama.
Landscape
• Where plates in the earth’s crust meet
– Volcanoes
– Earthquakes
• Lake Nicaragua is region’s largest lake
– 3,100 square miles
Climate
• Pacific:
– Tropical climate
– Plenty of rain from May to November
– December through April much dryer
• Caribbean:
- Humid Climate
• Hurricanes:
- fierce storms with winds of more
than 74 miles an hour
Economy
• Plantations: Commercial farms that sell
crops
• Coffee
• Bananas
• Sugarcane
• Subsistence farms
PANAMA CANAL
• Stretches across Isthmus of Panama
• Connects the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans
• In 1999, Panama was given control of
the Canal
– Panama hopes to use this waterway to
build its economy
– Nearly half of Panama’s people live and
work in the canal area
History of Central America
• Native Americans lived in this region
thousands of years ago
– Maya in the north
– 250 -900 A.D.
– Lived in Tikal, Guatemala
Spanish Settlement
• Settled in 1500’s
• For 300 years, forced native Americans to
work plantations
• Cultures gradually blended
– Native Americans started speaking Spanish
– Converted to Roman Catholicism
Belize
• Belize was a British colony from the
1600’s-1900’s
• Settlers brought enslaved Africans to
cut trees for lumber
• Belize’s official language is English.
• It’s the only country in Central America
with English as its official language.
• Today, African and British influences
are strong
Independence
• Most countries gained independence in
1821
• Mexico also gained their independence in
this year.
• Two exceptions
– Belize
– Panama
Panama’s Independence
• Panama originally part of Columbia
• In 1903, the U.S. helped Panama gain its
independence.
• Panama had to allow U.S. to build the
Panama Canal.
Interesting Facts…..
Guatemala
El Salvador
• Blue denim
•
• Most populated
•
• Spicy chili
peppers
•
• 33 volcanoes
•
Smallest
country
Pupusas
U.S. dollar
Most densely
populated
Honduras
Nicaragua
• Largest country
• Bananas
in Central
• More than 50%
America
live in poverty
• Lake Nicaragua
• Most
is the largest
dangerous
naturally formed
lake in the entire
Central America
Costa Rica
Panama
• Panama Canal
• Coffee
• Panama is the only
• Beauty
place in the world
• Costa Rica is the
where you can see
longest-standing
the sun rise on the
democracy in
Pacific and set on
Central America
the Atlantic
• U.S. dollar is the
• Have a Female
official currency
President
West Indies
The Facts
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42 million in West Indies
13.2 million from Cuba
60% of West Indians live in large cities
40% live in countryside.
Many people have hotel jobs
Landscape
• West Indies is an archipelago.
• Archipelago: group of Islands
• 700 islands which includes:
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Bahamas
Cuba
Greater Antilles
Jamaica
Hispaniola
Puerto Rico
Lesser Antilles
Landscape
• Islands are part of an underwater
mountain chain formed by volcanoes.
• Other islands are formed by pressure
underneath the earth’s crust pushing
up
– These islands don’t have great farming.
– Soil is too sandy
Economy
• Tourism
– Beautiful beaches
– Warm climate
– Both attract tourists throughout the year.
– Airlines and cruise ships make regular stops
at these islands.
• Seafood
Economy part II
• Farming
– Sugarcane
– Bananas
– Coffee
– Tobacco
• Plantations and subsistence farms
Economy Part III
• Not many mines, but some islands have
resources.
• Bauxite: a mineral used to make aluminum
– Found in Jamaica
• Oil products in Trinidad and Tobago
• Chemicals and machinery in Puerto Rico
• Textile factories in Dominican Republic and Haiti
– Where cloth is produced.
– Also produced in Jamaica.
History
• Christopher Columbus reached Hispaniola
in 1492.
• Hispaniola used to be known as San
Salvador.
• Greeted by a Native American group
known as the Tanio.
History part II
• Spanish established first European
settlement in 1496.
• Over the next 200 years the Spanish,
English, Dutch, and the French
established colonies.
• Colony: overseas settlements.
History part III
• By the 1600’s most of the Native Americans
died.
– European diseases
– Harsh treatment
• Europeans brought enslaved Africans to work on
sugar plantations.
• Slave trade ended in 1800’s
• Europeans provided free travel for Asians in
exchange for work for set number of years.
Independence
• During 1800’s, most countries gained
independence from Europe
• First to gain independence were the larger
islands.
– Haiti
– Dominican Republic
– Cuba
Ethnicity
• Many different cultures blended
– Native American
– African
– European
– Large Asian populations in Jamaica
Music
• Comes from rich musical heritage of the
enslaved Africans
• Reggae music in Jamaica
• Therefore, Reggae music comes from
North America
– Steel drums with bell-like tones
• Salsa music in Cuba