Textbook Notes:

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BRIEF OUTLINE / 4 CLASS THEMES Chapter 4 MIDDLE AMERICA DEFINING THE REALM 198 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: Physiography 198 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Legacy of Mesoamerica 199 The Lowland Maya 199 The Highland Aztecs 200 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY Collision of Cultures 200 Effects of the Conquest 201 HISTORICAL/CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: Mainland and Rimland 202 The Hacienda 203 The Plantation 203   CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: Political Differentiation 205 REGIONS OF THE REALM 205 Mexico 205 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: Physiography 206 Population Patterns 206 Revolution and Its Aftermath 207 Regions of Mexico 210 ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY: The Changing Geography of Economic Activity 210 Agriculture Energy Resources Industrialization Uneven Regional Development ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY: NAFTA and Continuing Challenges 213   The Central American Republics 214 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: Altitudinal Zonation of Environments 214 Population Patterns 215 Emergence from a Turbulent Era 216 The Seven Republics 216 Guatemala Belize Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Costa Rica Panama   The Caribbean Basin 221 Economic and Social Patterns 222 Ethnicity and Advantage Tourism: Promising Alternative? The Greater Antilles 223 Cuba Jamaica Haiti Dominican republic Puerto Rico Regional Issue 224 The Lesser Antilles 228

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES OF THE REALM

• Middle America is a fragmented realm that consists of all the mainland countries from Mexico to Panama and all the islands of the Caribbean Basin to the east.
• Middle America's mainland constitutes a crucial barrier between Atlantic and Pacific waters. In physiographic terms, this is a land bridge that connects the continental landmasses of North and South America.
• Middle America is a realm of intense cultural and political fragmentation. The political geography defies unification efforts, but countries and regions are beginning to work together to solve mutual problems.
• Middle America's cultural geography is complex. African influences dominate the Caribbean, whereas Spanish and Amerindian traditions survive on the mainland.
• The realm contains the America's least-developed territories. New economic opportunities may help alleviate Middle America's endemic poverty.
• In terms of area, population, and economic potential, Mexico dominates the realm.
• Mexico is reforming its economy and has experienced major industrial growth. Its hopes for continuing this development are tied to overcoming its remaining economic problems and to expanding trade with the United States and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Central american countries and the Dominican Republic pin their economic hopes on CAFTA (read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4739803.stm)

DEFINING THE REALM

Question: Is Middle America a discrete geographic realm? What is Latin America? Why do the authors divide Latin America into two different realms (Middle America and South America)?

Question: Differentiate between the following: Latin America Middle America Central America

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Question: The textbook says (p. 198) "Middle America is a realm of high relief [mountains], fragmented territory, and crustal instability studded with active volcanoes." WHY?

• The role of plate tectonics
• Land Bridge = isthmus

  Question: Does the Middle American land bridge encourage or inhibit movement between the two continents of North and South America Why? Where are/were other land bridges around the world?

• Archipelago
  • Greater And Lesser Antilles
• Natural Hazards
  • Earthquakes
  • Volcanoes
  • Hurricanes

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

• Culture Hearth
  • Definition: "source areas from which radiated ideas,innovations, and ideologies that changed the world beyond"

  Question: List the world's major ancient culture hearths. [see figure 7-3]

  • Mesoamerica Culture Hearth
    • The Lowland Maya
      • only loland tropical ancient culture hearth
      • 200-900 AD
      • population around 2-3 million
      • Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Yucatan Peninsula
      • Theocratic Structure, city-states
    • The Highland Aztecs
      • Founded in the early 14th century (1300 AD)
      • Valley Of Mexico ["intermontane highland zone"]

   

• The Legacy Of Colonialism
  • Land Was Appropriated (land alienation) - Colonial Commercial Interests
  • Lands Devoted To Food Crops For Local Consumption Were Converted To Cash Cropping For Export
  • Land Alienation Induces:
    • Famine
    • Poverty
    • Migration
    • Little Agricultural Diversity

     

  • Colonial Spheres: Who colonized where?

   

• HISTORICAL/CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY  
  • Mainland/Rimland Framework (Map)
    • Mainland
      • Where: continental Middle America from Mexico to Panama with the exception of the Caribbean coast
      • Euro-Amerindian Influence
      • Colonial Sphere: Spanish
      • Greater Isolation
      • Climate: Altitudinal Zonation
      • Physiography: Mountains
      • Culture: European and Amerindian
      • Race: Mestizo
      • Land tenure patterns: Hacienda Prevailed
        • Spanish Institution
        • Self-sufficient
        • Not Efficient But Social Prestige
        • Amerindian workers lived on the land with plots for subsistence crops
    • Rimland
      • Where: Caribbean coast from the Yucatan to Panama and the islands of the Caribbean
      • Euro-African Influence
      • Colonial Sphere: British, French, Dutch (northern Europe), and Spanish
      • Amerindians died of diseases introduced by Europeans, African slaves brought in to work on the plantations
      • High Accessibility, contact with the rest of the world
      • Climate: Tropical, hot, humid
      • Physiography: Islands
      • Culture: African and European
      • Race: Mulatto
      • Land tenure patterns: Plantation Economy
        • northern European origins
        • produced for export
        • single crops: sugar and banana plantations
        • imported capital and skills
        • seasonal labor
        • efficiency is key; "factory in the field"

    Question: Mainland / Rimland Compare and contrast Middle America's "Mainland" and Rimland". In your comparison discuss haciendas and plantations Locate the mainland and rimland on a map

   

REGIONS OF THE REALM

• Mexico
• Central America
• Greater Antilles
• Lesser Antilles

  Mexico

  • Dominates Middle America in size, population, economic activity

    PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: Physiography

    • Baja California
    • Yucatan Peninsula
    • Isthmus of Tehuantepec
    • mountains from Guatemala to Mexico City, divide into Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental
    • Plateau of Mexico between the Sierra Madres
    • climates: dry[B climates] in north, more tropical [A climates] in south

     

    • Population Patterns
      • 110.5 million
      • population growth has slowed significantly
      • most densely populated in the "waist" of Mexico in the highlands of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
      • the dry north is the least populated area
      • rapid urbanization (rural-to-urban migration)
      • 75% of the population live in cities and towns (US = 79% urbanized)
      • Mexico City: 28 million; 1/4 of total population; largest urban concentration on Earth

    CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

    • Mexico
      • 64% mestizo
      • 26% Amerindian, more in south
      • 10% European
      • transculturation

     

    • Chiapas
      • poorest of Mexico's 31 states
      • borders Guatemala
      • heavily Amerindian
      • most good land still controlled by haciendas
      • little land distribution occurred here; very poor
      • January 1, 1994
        • guerrilla war began
        • Zapatistas
        • date of implementation of the NAFTA treaty
        • Zapatistas demanded greater political autonomy and land redistribution

    HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

    • revolution 1910-1917
    • as late as 1900
      • more than 8000 Spanish haciendas control virtually all of the good farmland
      • 95% of all rural families owned no land
      • worked as peones on haciendas
    • land redistribution since the revolution
      • 1/2 of cultivated land redistributed
      • mostly as ejidos

       

    ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY OF MEXICO

    • a country in transition from a LDC to an MDC
    • Agriculture
      • still poor areas of subsistence agriculture and inefficient ejidos
      • irrigation in the north has brought more modern larger-scale agriculture
      • government subsidized cheap corn form the US makes small farms less profitable
      • US restricts some agricultural imports from Mexico
    • Energy resources
      • major reserves of oil and natural gas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
    • Industrialization: Maquiladoras
      • factories that assemble imported, duty-free components and raw materials into finished products, most of which are then re-exported back to the United States
      • creates jobs along the US/Mexican border
      • Today
        • > 4,000 Maquiladoras
        • >1.2 Million Employees (1/3 of all industrial jobs in Mexico)
        • Modern Industrial Plants
        • Assemble Imported, duty-free Components/Raw Materials
        • Export The Finished Products
        • Mostly Foreign-Owned (US, Japan)
        • 80% Of Goods Re-exported To US
        • Tariffs Limited To Value Added During Assembly
      • Maquiladora Products
        • Electronic Equipment
        • Electric Appliances
        • Auto Parts
        • Clothing
        • Furniture
      • Advantages
        • Mexico Gains Jobs.
        • Foreign Owners Benefit From Cheaper Labor Costs.
      • Problems
        • workers get few fringe benefits
        • long hours and low pay
        • some factories leaving Mexico for even cheaper labor in Asia
        • uneven regional development
          • poorer rural south
          • more modern, industrial north
    • NAFTA
      • Effective 1 January 1994
      • Established a trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and The Us, which:
        • reduced and regulated Trade Tariffs, Barriers, And Quotas Between Members
        • standardized finance and service exchanges
      • Mexico and NAFTA
        • Foremost, it promises a higher standard of living.
        • NAFTA Creates More Jobs For Mexicans As US Companies Begin To Invest More Heavily In The Mexican Market.
        • Mexican exporters increase their sales to the US and Canada.
        • US Trade With Canada & Mexico
          • Canada Remains As The United States' Largest Export Market.
          • Since 1977, Mexico Has Moved Into Second Place (Displacing Japan).
          • 85% Of All Mexican Exports Now Go To The United States.
          • 75% Of Mexico's Imports Originate In The United States.
          • exports from Mexico have grown significantly

        Question What is NAFTA and its goals and effects.

  Central America

  • PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
    • Climate: Altitudinal Zonation (Model)
      • Tierra Caliente
      • Tierra Templada
      • Tierra Fria
      • Tierra Helada
      • Tierra Nevada
    • Population Patterns
      • population concentrated in the tierra templada uplands
      • except El Salvador where people are concentrated in the tierra caliente
      • more dense on the Pacific side
      • rapid population growth

     

  • CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

    • Question: On page 216 the authors write: "Central America, we noted earlier, actually begins within Mexico, in Chiapas and in Yucatan. . . " Why?

    • Emergence from a Turbulent Era /1960s-1990s: a region of armed conflict:
      • mountainous providing many isolated, inaccessible areas
      • conflicts between Amerindian and mestizo groups
      • unequal distribution of income
      • dictatorial rule
    • currently signs of progress, stability

   

  • The Seven Republics

    Question: Know something about each of the Central American countries

    • Guatemala
    • Belize
    • Honduras
    • El Salvador
    • Nicaragua
    • Costa Rica
    • Panama

   

  • Tropical Deforestation
    • 3 Million Acres Of Woodland In Central America Disappear Each Year!
    • 90% of the forests have been cut since 1950
    • Causes of tropical deforestation
      • clearing of rural lands for cattle pasture for export
      • rapid logging of tropical woodlands
      • population explosion: forests are cut to provide crop-raising space and firewood for subsistence farmers
    • Effects
      • quick loss of nutrients of already nutrient poor soils
      • soil erosion, landslides; loss of bio-diversity

     

• ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
  • Central American countries and the Dominican Republic pin their economic hopes on CAFTA
    (read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4739803.stm)

    Question What is CAFTA? Who is a part of it?

    •  

  The Caribbean Basin

  • 9% of Middle America's land area
  • 22% of Middle America's population
  • 33 states (countries)
  • still several areas controlled by colonial powers and the United states
  • strong African influence (Afro-Caribbean)

   

  • Economic and Social Patterns
    • one of the poorest regions of the world
    • 2/3 urbanized
    • Ethnicity and Advantage: a "Pyramid of Power"
      • Hispanics (those of European descent) at the top of the social pyramid
      • mulatto rank next
      • Afro-Caribbeans are the majority, but are the least advantaged
      • large Asian population on some islands
    • Tourism: Promising Alternative?
      • Advantages
        • jobs, a growth industry
        • source of government tax revenue for roads, schools, hospitals, etc.
        • a "clean" industry
        • educational
      • Disadvantages
        • tourist revenues spent on tourist-serving amenities
        • higher prices for local people
        • tourism money isolated from local society; few benefits spillover to small local businesses
        • rich, expensive tourist enclaves along side extreme poverty
        • degrades fragile environmental resources
        • clean?
        • inauthentic representations of native cultures; few true educational benefits

     

  • The Greater Antilles

    Question: Know something about each of the countries of the Greater Antilles

    • Cuba
      • former Spanish colony
      • once had close ties to the United States
      • revolution in 1959 put Castro in power setting up a communist dictatorship
      • economy is struggling after the collapse of the Soviet Union
      • sugar declining
      • US imposed trade embargo and ban on travel to Cuba
    • Jamaica
      • former British dependency
      • almost entirely Afro-Caribbean
      • democratic
      • English is the official language
      • declining income
    • Hispaniola
      • Haiti
        • Western Hemisphere's poorest country
        • former French colony of "Saint Dominique"
        • African slaves brought in during colonial period
        • slave rebellion in 1804 set up the second independent country in the Western Hemisphere (after the US in 1776)
        • ruled by dictators, now politically unstable, recent democratic elections
        • deforestation
      • Dominican Republic
        • former Spanish colony
        • mountainous
        • independence in 1821
        • tourism is the leading industry
        • dictatorships followed by democratic elections in 1978
        • rapid economic growth in the 1990s, economy struggling now
    • Puerto Rico
      • 4 million people
      • US citizens, US Commonwealth
      • many emigrate to the US
      • 60% live below the poverty line
      • statehood or independence?

     

  • The Lesser Antilles
    • archipelago
    • earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes
    • economic problems
    • tourism
    • unequal distribution of wealth
    • Trinidad and Tobago: oil and natural gas