Transcript WG-4 - A Virtual Field Trip of Physical Geography in Ventura County

MIDDLE AMERICA
DEFINING THE REALM
Topics:
• Building a wall between
two realms
• Ciudad Juarez: Murder
capital of the Americas
• The natural vulnerability
of Haitian Hispaniola and
other Caribbean islands
• Is small beautiful? The
predicament of tiny islandnations
• Supranational efforts to
overcome economic
fragmentation
MIDDLE AMERICA
MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES
• Small realm—Mainland
from Mexico to Panama
and islands of Caribbean
Basin
• Land bridge connecting
North and South America
• Cultural and political
fragmentation
• Complex cultural
geography—African and
European influences in the
Caribbean and Spanish and
Amerindian influences on
the Mainland
• The America’s least developed territories
• Mexico leads the realm in population,
territory, and economic potential
• Mexico and Panama connected beyond the
realm with the United States
MIDDLE AMERICA
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
A Troubled Border Zone
• Illegal immigrants
‒ About 1 million migrants per year
• Smuggling
‒ Drugs, people, etc.
• Ciudad Juarez/El Paso
The Realm’s Northern Land
Boundary
• Longest border in the
world—3,169 km (1,969
mi) between North and
Middle America
• NAFTA (North American
Free Trade Agreement)
‒ Canada, United States, and
Mexico (1994)
• Maquiladoras—foreignowned assembly factories
‒ Assemble imported, duty-
free raw materials into
finished products
‒ Near U.S.A./Mexico border
‒ 4,000 factories with 1.2
million workers
‒ Mexico provides about 13%
of all U.S. imports after
Canada (24%)
MIDDLE AMERICA
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
A Land Bridge
• Land bridge—mainland
Middle America
• Isthmus—narrow strip of
land
Island Chains
‒ Archipelago—island chain
Dangerous Landscapes
‒ Earthquakes
• January 12, 2010, Haiti hit by
7.0 earthquake
‒ Hurricanes
• Hurricane Alley—along all
of the Greater Antilles,
southern Florida, Mexico’s
Yucatán Peninsula and the
Gulf of Mexico
The Regions
• Mexico
• Central America
• Greater Antilles
• Lesser Antilles
MIDDLE AMERICA
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Altitudinal zones—distinct local
climates, soils, vegetation, crops,
domestic animals and modes of life.
• Tierra caliente—sea level
to 750 m (2,500 ft)
‒ “Hot land”
‒ Coastal plains and low-lying
basins
‒ Tropical agriculture
• Tierra templada—up to
about 1,800 m (6,000 ft)
‒ Temperate land—cooler
‒ Commercial crops—coffee,
corn, wheat
• Tierra fría—1,800 to 3,600
m (6,000 to 12,000 ft)
‒ Cold country of Andes
‒ Potatoes and barley
• Tierra helada—3,600 to 4,500 m
(12,000 to 15,000 ft)
‒ Above tree line
‒ Cold and barren
‒ Sheep grazing and hardy livestock
• Tierra nevada—highest zone
‒ Permanent snow and ice
MIDDLE AMERICA
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Tropical Deforestation
• Only 10% of tropical
rainforest remains
• Leading causes
‒ Clearing rural lands for cattle
pasture
‒ Rapid logging of tropical
woodlands
‒ Population explosion
• Peasants must extract
subsistence from inferior lands
• Cutting trees for firewood and
crop-raising space
• Major effects
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Erosion of top soil
Loss of ecological resources
Increased mining/extraction
Biodiversity threatened
• Coral reefs and fish
• Tropical rainforest mammals
• Foods, Medicines, Tools
MIDDLE AMERICA
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
Mesoamerican Legacy
Culture hearth
• Source area from which
new ideas radiated and
whose population could
expand and make
significant material and
intellectual progress.
• Agricultural specialization,
urbanization, transportation
networks, writing, science,
art.
Mesoamerica—southeast of
Mexico City to central
Nicaragua
• Low-lying tropical plains of
northern Guatemala, Belize,
and Yucatán Peninsula
• Guatemala highlands
• Plateau of central Mexico
MIDDLE AMERICA
The Highland Aztecs
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
• Intermontane highland zone of Mexico
Mesoamerican Legacy
The Lowland Maya
• Only major culture hearth that
arose in the lowland tropics
• Great cities with stone pyramids
and massive temples
• Zenith from 3rd to 10th
centuries AD
• Powerful religious hierarchy
*Population = 200 million people
• Mexico is largest in size and
population (114 million).
‒ Teotihuacan
• North of Mexico City
• First true urban center in the Western
Hemisphere
• Valley of Mexico
‒ Tenochtitlan
• Functioning city and ceremonial center
• Developed irrigation systems
• Constructed walls to terrace slopes
• Domesticated corn (maize), sweet
potato, cacao bean, tobacco
MIDDLE AMERICA
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
Spanish Conquest Introduced
• Cattle and sheep
• Wheat
• Spanish town
‒ Plaza or market square
‒ Gridiron street pattern
Collision of Cultures
• Amerindian
• Spanish
• Other European
‒ British, Dutch, French
• African
• United States—later
MIDDLE AMERICA
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FRAGMENTATION
Independence
• Mexico—1821
• Central America
republics—end of 1820s
• Spanish-American War—
1898
‒ Cuba—independent
‒ Puerto Rico—under U.S.
flag
• Trinidad and Tobago—1962
• Jamaica—1962
Mainland
• Euro-Amerindian—Mestizo
• Mexico to Panama
• Haciendas
Rimland
• Caribbean coast of mainland
• Islands
• European-African
• Sugar and banana plantations
• Imported Labor
MIDDLE AMERICA
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FRAGMENTATION
Connectivity: direct links
between locations.
•Connections and correlation
to economic development.
‒ Higher GDP
• Mexico’s connection with the
United States.
• Panama’s connection to world
economy.
•Economies best with
countries bordering Middle
America.
The Push for Regional Integration
•
Economic Benefits
‒ CAFTA—Central American Free Trade
Agreement (2005) with USA.
‒ CARICOM—Caribbean Community (1989)
• 15 members, common passport (2009).
MIDDLE AMERICA
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FRAGMENTATION
Small-island developing
economies:
• Limited natural resources
and heavy reliance on
imports.
• Cost of government is
relatively high on per capita
basis.
• Specialized services
brought in from elsewhere.
• Local production cannot
really benefit from
economies of scale
‒ Local producers cannot
compete with cheaper
imports
‒ Unemployment, poverty
• Caribbean tourism
‒ Money-maker for islands.
‒ Rising local resentment.
‒ Debases local culture.
‒ Can remove opportunities
from local entrepreneurs in
favor of large operators and
major resorts.
*Solutions: Fair-trade
prices, environmental
preservation/ecological
restoration, cultural
heritage education, and
local ecotourism.
MIDDLE AMERICA
REGIONS OF THE REALM
Topics:
• Mexico’s drug wars
• Indigenous peoples
demand recognition
and rights
• Panama Canal
expansion fuels boom
in Panama City
• Aftermath of Haiti’s
2010 killer earthquake
• The debate over
Puerto Rico’s status
MIDDLE AMERICA
Mexico
Physiography
• Peninsula of Baja
• Yucatán Peninsula
• Isthmus of Tehuantepec
• Sierra Madre Occidental
• Sierra Madre Oriental
• Plateau of Mexico
‒ Valley of Mexico
Regional Diversity
•Core Area—Mexico City to
Guadalajara
•Hispanic-mestizo north
•Amerindian south
•Gulf Coast—Mexico’s
petroleum center
•NAFTA-driven north
‒ Economic development
Mexico
Population Patterns
• Growth slowing, drop in
fertility
• Distribution
‒ Concentrated in core area
‒ Veracruz State to Jalisco State
• Federal District of Mexico City
‒ Least-populated in North
•High rate of urbanization
‒ 77% live in towns and cities
•Low rate of urbanization
‒ Amerindian highlands
Mexico City
• Almost 30 million
• 26% of national population
• Largest urban concentration
on Earth
Mexico
Mix of cultures
Fusion of heritages
•Acculturation—one-way
incorporation of European
culture.
•Transculturation—two-way
exchange of cultural traits.
•Strong Amerindian influence
‒ Linguistic
‒ Dress, foods, artistic, and
architectural styles and
folkways
Agriculture: Fragmented Modernization
•Ejidos—government-held farmlands parceled to
village communities and individuals (1917)
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Amerindian legacy
Half of lands “social landholdings”
Reforms did not increase production
Low yields and rural poverty
•Northern agriculture
‒ Major irrigation projects, mechanized cotton production
Mexico
Shifting Economic Geographies
Maquiladoras—foreign-owned
assembly factories that export
products back to USA.
• One-fifth of Mexico’s industrial
jobs
• Long hours, low wages, few
benefits
• No job security
‒ Great Recession in the U.S.
‒ Plants relocated to Southeast
Regional Disparities
•North vs. South
•Political consequences
‒ North: higher income, lower
‒ Guerrilla war in Chiapas—
rural poverty.
‒ South: less economic growth
and infrastructure investment.
Zapatista National Liberation
Army (ZNLA).
‒ 2006 presidential campaign—
conservative versus populist.
Mexico
The Drug Wars
• Colombian drug cartels
established new bases in
northern Mexico
• Cartel competition
‒ Territorial control over
entry points, processing,
and transport routes
• Failed state—loss of
government control over
parts of its own territory.
Mexico’s Future
• Government Challenges
‒ End violence, regional inequalities, wage gap.
‒ Increase NAFTA southward
(infrastructure/education/antipoverty).
• Possibility of a dry canal
across the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec to compete with
the Panama Canal
MIDDLE AMERICA
The Central American Republics
A Land Bridge
• Between Mexico and South
America
• Seven countries
• Highland belt flanked by
coastal lowlands on both the
Caribbean and Pacific sides
• Biodiversity hot spot
‒ Contains 7% of all the world’s
natural species.
‒ Costa Rica and Panama
‒ Ecology threatened by humans.
• Tierra templada—cooler uplands
• Tierra caliente—tropical coastal lowlands
Belize
• British Honduras—
Dependency of the United
Kingdom until 1981
• Similar to Caribbean islands
• Population of African descent
• Becoming increasingly
Hispanicized
• Economic sphere
‒ Sugar, bananas, seafood-
processing, clothing industries,
tourism.
‒ Offshore banking—financial
haven for foreign companies.
Guatemala
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•
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Heart of Maya Empire
Mestizo—59%
Amerindian—41%
Ladinos—better-off mestizos
Mineral wealth
‒ Nickel and oil
• Agriculture
‒ Coffee
Honduras
• Still recovering from Hurricane
Mitch in 1998 (Cat-5).
• Third poorest economy in the
realm.
• Potential for ecotourism.
• Hindered by poor infrastructure
and lack of funds.
• Economic sphere
‒ Agriculture
• Bananas and coffee
‒ Livestock
‒ Forestry
‒ Limited mining
‒ Apparel
• Smallest country territorially
• Most densely populated
• Most homogeneous
population—85% mestizo
• Coffee republic
• 1980-1992 Civil War
El Salvador
‒ Arms supplied by outside states
(US and Nicaragua)
• Remittances sent by affluent
émigrés—largest single source
of foreign revenues.
Nicaragua
• Triangle of land
‒ Pacific side—country’s core
‒ Caribbean side—Amerindian
peoples (Miskito)
• Agriculture dominates
economy.
• Reliance on remittances from
Nicaraguans who have
emigrated and foreign aid.
Costa Rica
• Political stability
‒ Democratic tradition—no
standing army since 1949
‒ Remote from regional strife
‒ Concentrated on economic
development
• Region’s highest standard of
living, literacy rate, and life
expectancy.
• Tierra templada—the Valle
Central (Central Valley)
‒ Main coffee-growing area
‒ Leading population cluster—
San José
• Agriculture
‒ Bananas, coffee, tropical fruits,
and seafood
• Tourism - excellent.
Panama
• 70% Mestizo
• Spanish—official
language
• Cólon (Cólon Free
Zone)—entrepôt
(designed to transfer
and distribute goods
bound for South
America).
‒ Manzanillo
International
Terminal—
ultramodern port
facility
• Panama City—
financial center for
canal revenues and
drug industry.
Which countries benefit
most from Panama canal?
• The Panama Canal (1914)
• 1977-1999—staged
withdrawal of the United
States from the Canal Zone
• Expansion of Panama Canal
‒ boost interoceanic traffic and
increase business opportunities
MIDDLE AMERICA
THE CARIBBEAN BASIN
Fragmentation and Insularity
• Island arc in Atlantic Ocean
from Cuba to Trinidad.
‒ Greater Antilles
• Four larger islands in the
west (Cuba, Hispaniola,
Jamaica, Puerto Rico)
‒ Lesser Antilles
• Eastern segment of smaller
islands reaching to the
South American coast
Ethnicity and Class
•Social stratification
‒ Closely linked with ethnicity,
as result of colonial times.
‒ Rankings
• Europeans
• Hispanics
• Mixed European-African
(mulatto)
• Afro-Caribbean
•Minorities hold power and exert
influence (historic advantage).
•South and East Asian presence
‒ After end of slavery, groups
arrived as indentured laborers.
CUBA
• Largest island-state—
territorially and in population.
• Independence in 1898—
Spanish-American War.
• 1959-overthrew Americanbacked dictator.
‒ Fidel Castro—communist
dictatorship
‒ 2006—Turned over to Raúl
Castro
• Economic opportunities
‒ Raw materials—nickel and
• Former British dependency
‒ Member of British Commonwealth
timber
‒ Agriculture—sugar,
tobacco, rice, tropical fruits
• Venezuelan oil
JAMAICA
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English - official language
Entirely Afro-Caribbean population
Raw materials--Bauxite
Agricultural—Sugar, bananas,
tobacco
• Must import all of its oil and much
of its food
• Tourism—largest source of income
HAITI
• Poorest state in the Western
Hemisphere.
• Environmental disasters
‒ Center of “Hurricane Alley”
• 2008—four tropical cyclones in
one season
‒ Atop dangerous fault zone
• 2010—killer earthquake
• Few natural resources,
major deforestation.
• History of political instability,
repression, and deprivation.
• Heavy reliance on aid and
remittances.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
• Wider range of natural environments.
• Stronger resource base—nickel, gold,
silver.
• Agriculture—sugar, tobacco, coffee,
cocoa.
• Tourism
PUERTO RICO
• 1898 Spanish-American War
‒ U.S. Commonwealth
‒ 1948 permitted to elect governor.
‒ Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
• Receives annual subsidies from
the USA.
• Long dependent on single-crop
economy (sugar).
• Massive emigration.
• Trinidad & Tobago (Port of Spain) –
exports shipped to wealthy nations.
• Ex. Natural Gas, Ammonia, Methanol
THE LESSER
ANTILLES
• The Bahamas—former British
colony.
• Trinidad and Tobago
‒ Oil/Natural gas producer.
‒ Influx of energy, chemical, and
steel companies.
‒ Largest supplier of liquefied
natural gas for United States.
• Small-island developing
economies
‒ Some islands chose to maintain a
political relationship with former
colonial ruler.
‒ Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten
• “Countries” within the Kingdom of
the Netherlands
• Leeward Islands and
Windward Islands
• Environmental risks
‒ Earthquakes, volcanoes,
and hurricanes.
• Socioeconomic problems
‒ Limited resources,
overpopulation, difficult
agricultural industry, and
market limitations.
Homework
1. Read Textbook Chapter 4a/b
2. Homework:
• Choose one “@from the Field Notes”
subsection topic in Ch.4 textbook; research
and summarize (1 page).
OR
• Choose a realm/region within or adjacent
to Middle America to review in detail (1
page). Use Chapter 4b for ideas and
information, research and summarize.