1 / 11

Central America

Central America. Central America is am isthmus . a narrow strip of land connecting two larger area 1914 Panama Canal opened Seven small countries make up Central America Three major landforms: m ountains, the Caribbean lowlands, and the Pacific coastal plain e ach has it’s own climate

joanne
Download Presentation

Central America

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Central America • Central America is am isthmus. • a narrow strip of land connecting two larger area • 1914 Panama Canal opened • Seven small countries make up Central America • Three major landforms: • mountains, the Caribbean lowlands, and the Pacific coastal plain • each has it’s own climate • Population includes: • Indians, Europeans (Spanish), mestizos, & mulattos people of African and European decent • most central Americans are poor farmers • the wealthiest are Europeans and mestizo, and are mainly plantation owners

  2. Central America • armed conflicts • shortage of farmland is cause of unrest • government serves the interest of the wealthy • guerilla movements • Armed forces outside of the regular army • Fight in small bands against the government controlled army

  3. Caribbean Islands • Caribbean Islands divided into three groups and lie in the tropics: • the Greater Antilles • the Lesser Antilles • the Bahamas • the Bahamas form an archipelago and the Lesser Antilles form another archipelago • group of islands • The Greater Antilles include the four larger Islands • Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico

  4. Caribbean Islands • mountainous islands • tops of volcanoes • coral islands • Flatter islands created by the remains of tiny sea animals( coral polyps) • sea and wind effect climate • windward islands face the wind & get a lot of rain • leeward islands face away from wind & get little rain

  5. Caribbean Islands • Caribbean people are descendants of Africans that were enslaved by European colonists and brought to work on plantations • many Caribbean people depend on farming(sugar, bananas, coconuts, cocoa, rice, cotton) and industries related to farming such as packaging rice products • Caribbean attracts tourism, but few islanders benefit • most islanders to find work or escape political unrest

  6. Brazil • nearly half of South America’s people and land • two main land forms • plains • plateaus • Coast of Northeast Brazil • 1500’s Portuguese started sugar plantations (slavery) • poverty still today due to poor soil and uncertain rain

  7. Brazil • Southeast Brazil • smallest region • Economic heartland • Coffee • Fertile soil • 40% of Brazilians live here • Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo • Cities attract the poor who end up living in favelas • slum communities w/ houses made of mud, tin,&wood boards

  8. Brazil • Brazilian Highlands • Brasilia, capitol built here to attract people to the area • central plateau • Amazon River Basin • Home to 1000’s of plants and animals • 10% of Brazilians live here including 200,000 indians

  9. Brazil • country of extremes • Rich in resources • Much poverty • attack poverty • increased industry • encourage settlement in the interior • Gave away land and mining permits • built roads

  10. Brazil • manufacturing now make sup 1/3 of Brazil’s GNP • Grows own fuel, gasohol • A new fuel that mixes gasoline with ehtonol (comes from sugar cane) • ½ the population works in the service industry (hotels restaurants, stores, government)

  11. Brazil • economic change has been good except for… • favelas have grown larger (more moving to large cities) • settlers in Amazon River Basin cut down rain forest to plant crops • deforestation • permanent removal of woodland • threatens thousands of species of plants and animals

More Related