Central America

1
Central America And The Caribbean
2
Central America
Isthmus A narrow strip of land, with water on
both sides, that connects two larger bodies of
land
3
Central Americas Geography

• Three major landforms in Central America
• Mountainous Core
• Mountains run down the center of the area
• Two climate zones in the core
• Spring like year round temperatures (3,000 to
  6,000 feet of elevation)
  
• Cold climates above that
• Caribbean lowlands
• Eastern side of Central America
• Tropical Wet climate
• Pacific Coastal Plains
• West side of Central America
• Savanna Climate with grassland vegetation

4
Caribbean Islands

• Three groups of Islands in the Caribbean
• Lesser Antilles
• Volcanic Islands
• Smaller islands in the southeastern part of the
  Caribbean (Map)
  
• Greater Antilles
• Also Volcanic Islands
• Larger Islands such as Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and
  Dominican Republic (Map)
  
• Bahamas
• Coral Islands
• Made from the remains of dead sea animals
  (Map)

5
People of Central America

• Indians
• Mayan empire spread throughout this area
• Largest number live in Guatemala
• Europeans and Mestizos
• Largest European settlement today is in Costa
  Rica
  
• Mestizos mostly live in El Salvador and
  Nicaragua
  
• African Descent
• Came over to work on the banana plantations and
  build the Panama Canal

6
People of the Caribbean

• Colonialism
• Europeans came to profit from the sugar trade
• They brought Africans to be slaves
• Mixture of races
• Natives
• Africans
• Europeans (French, British, Danish and Dutch)
• Mestizos

7
Culture of Central America and the Caribbean

• Central American Culture
• Mostly Spanish speaking
• Roman Catholic
• Most cultural traits are a result of Spanish
  Colonialism
  
• Caribbean Culture
• Culture is based on the Colonizing country
• Large African influence as a result of the slave
  trade

8
Where do they live?

• Caribbean
• Caribbean islands are crowded
• Most live in cities
• Central America
• Most are Farmers
• Live in rural areas

9
Economy

• Tourism
• Agriculture
• Sugar
• Fruit
• Informal economy
• Street vendors, shoe shiners and many more
• Drug trafficking
• Levels of Society
• Small group of wealthy (mostly descendents of
  Europeans)
  
• Small middle class
• Large lower class

10
Political Unrest In Central America

• Causes
• Shortage of available farmland
• Unequal distribution of wealth
• Government mainly serves the interest of the
  wealthy
  
• Nicaragua
• Contras Fighting against the Sandinista
  government that favored the wealthy
  
• In 1990 a new president was elected for the first
  time.
  

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Political Unrest In Central America

• El Salvador
• Wealthy land owners hired death squads to
  eliminate their political opponents
  
• 1992 a peace agreement lead by the UN ended the
  war
  
• Guatemala
• In 1960 a civil war erupted against the
  militarily backed dictator
  
• After the war the military was still a powerful
  force in the government
  
• In 1993 Ramiro de Leon Carpio was elected by
  their congress and is a respected leader

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Political Unrest In The Caribbean

• Cuba
• 1959 Fidel Castro lead a successful military
  revolution
  
• He has Ruled ever since (I think he is a
  hundred)
  
• Haiti
• 1994 the people overthrew the military dictator
  with the help of the U.S.
  
• Haiti now has a democracy

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The End
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Lesser Antilles
15
Greater Antilles
Lesser Antilles
16
Bahamas
Greater Antilles
Lesser Antilles