Chapter 11 Questions and Vocabulary

• Isthmus: a narrow strip of land having water on each side and joining two larger bodies of
land.
• Guerrilla: a member of an armed force that is not part of a regular army; relating to a form
of warfare carried on by such an independent armed force.
• Archipelago: a group of islands.
• Windward: facing the wind.
• Leeward: facing away from the wind.

1. Physical characteristics of the regions in Central America?

• Curves between the giant land masses of N. America and S. America
• Central America is an isthmus - Panama Canal
• Diverse physical and human landscape
• 3 major regions; mountainous core, Caribbean lowlands, and the Pacific coastal plain
o Mountainous core:
 run the length of Central America
 some more than 13,000 ft above sea level
 difficult to cross, causing transportation problems
 many are active volcanoes
 2 climate zones
 3,000-6,000 ft = year-round, spring like climate, free of frosts
 6,000+ = cold, frequent frosts, few crops can grow
o Caribbean lowlands:
 Tropical wet climate—hot and humid with year-round high temperatures and
heavy rainfall.
 NE trade winds may bring more than 80 inches of rain/year.
 Dense rain forest vegetation covers much of the land, but the soil is not very
fertile, limiting the crops that can be grown.
o Pacific Coastal Plain:
 Tropical wet and dry climate with savanna (grassland) vegetation
 Difference in climate due to the moist winds that sweep from the NE across
the Caribbean toward Central America
 Volcanoes high in the mountains affect the land when lava flows and deposits
volcanic ash that makes soils extremely fertile
 Nicaragua’s Pacific coast has several freshwater lakes
o Climatic Hazards:
 Summer + early fall = tropical storms and hurricanes can strike
2. Impact of physical geography on the location of the various ethnic groups?
• Mountains have made it difficult for people to travel between areas and mingle with other
groups.
3. How has movement impacted the ethnic diversity of Central America?
• Indians
o Indians: lived longest in C. America
o Make up more than ½ the population in Guatemala
 • Europeans and Mestizos
o Europeans arrived in C. America when the Spaniards conquered and colonized the
region. Because of this, Spanish is the official language.
o Costa Rica = 90% Europeans
• African Descent
o Some descendants of African slaves
o Some descendants of workers who came to work on banana plantations or to help
build the Panama Canal
4. Describe the distribution of wealth and social structures in Central America, as well as its link to
power structures.
• Wealthy
o wealthy only a tiny percent of total population
o Most wealthy are European or mestizo plantation owners
o Rich dominate government and politics
• Poor
o At least 2/3 of C. Americans are poor w/ little political power, farmers who have little
or no land, and laborers who earn low wages on plantations or in factories; most are
of Indian and African descent
• Middle
o Middle class is small and growing but very important; includes farmers who own
small, noncommercial farmland and some employees of urban industries and
services
5. What economic conditions exist in C. America?
• Majority earn their living by farming
• Guatemala + Honduras = 50+% of people farm
• Most of rural population lives by subsistence farming
• Commercial plantations owned by wealthy families and corporations; hire workers at very
low wages and bring in newest innovations to produce cash crops to ship to the US or
Europe
6. What conflicts have affected the countries of Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala?
• Armed conflicts
• Shortage of available farmland doesn’t meet the needs of a growing population, made
worse by unequal distribution of usable land and limited access to productive technology
and methods
• Government has mainly served the interests of the wealthy; opponents of this have
organized guerrilla movements
o Nicaragua
 Somoza family controlled Nicaragua through corrupt means, changing
election results and manipulating the economy.
 A group called the Sandinistas led a movement that overthrew the Somoza
government. They governed under a socialist system, taking property from
landowners and giving it to their supporters.
 Other Nicaraguans tried to overthrow the Sandinista government, claming it
was turning the country toward communism
 These guerrilla fighters, AKA the contras, fought against the Sandinistas
throughout the 1980s, causing thousands of deaths.
  Hurricane Mitch stuck in 1998, devastating crops and destroying many roads
and buildings.
o El Salvador
 Political instability and violence
 Landlessness among ordinary people increased = wealthy landowners fared
a popular revolution
 Wealthy landowners hired “death squads” to eliminate political opponents
who wanted reform
 1979-1992 = bloody civil war that involved the army, the death squads, and
antigovernment guerrillas
 More than 70,000 people died
 1992 = peace agreement mediated by the United Nations ended the war
 Also hit by Hurricane Mitch
o Guatemala
 After gaining independence it was ruled by a series of caudillos (military
dictators)
 After a liberal government was elected, the military gained power and civil war
erupted in the 1960s as leftist guerrilla movements challenged the harsh
military regime.
 During the civil war, the government ruled through the heavy hand of “death
squads”; more than 150,000 people were killed and another 40,000
“disappeared”
 Guatemala returned to civilian rule in the mid-1980s, although military
remained a powerful force behind the scenes.
7. How have social + economic conditions sometimes led to the political conflicts in the nations of
Central America?
• Shortage of available farmland doesn’t meet the needs of a growing population, made
worse by unequal distribution of usable land and limited access to productive technology
and methods
8. Which country in Central America has the highest level of newspaper circulation, and what would
its literacy rate be like?
• Costa Rica (91); about half of United States (212) literacy level
9. What is the predominate ethnic population of Central America and Mexico? The Caribbean?
• Central America and Mexico: Mixed European and American Indian
• The Caribbean: Mixed populations with a large proportion of Blacks
10. Major physical characteristics of Caribbean islands?
• Forest covered mountains
• Warm temperatures
• Clear, blue waters
• 3 island groups: Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, Bahamas
• Island Formations:
o Some mountainous and some level due to the tops of volcanic mountains pushed up
from the ocean floor
o Violent eruptions have taken place on Martinique and St. Vincent Islands in the last
120 years
o Islands with flatter terrain are coral islands, created by the remains of colonies of
coral polyps (such as Bahamas)
 • Marine Climate
o Effected by sea and wind; light breezes blow over the Caribbean Sea and take on
the temperature of the cooler water beneath them. When they blow onshore, they
moderate the higher temperature of the land.
o Prevailing winds affect the amount of rainfall—windward N + E sides can reach as
much as 200 inches/year. Leeward sides may get only 30 inches a year.
11. How did the arrival of Europeans impact the native populations of the Caribbean islands?
• European colonists arrived with Columbus in 1942, and within a century, most of the
Indians had vanished. Many died from diseases and cruel treatment.
12. What are the ethnic roots of Caribbean culture?
• African Descent
o European colonists brought millions of Africans to work as slaves on their plantations
o Calypso music = form of folk music that spread from Trinidad throughout the
Caribbean, featuring witty lyrics and clever satire, set to a rhythmic beat and steel
drums
• Asian Immigrants
o Came voluntarily to work in the Caribbean islands in the 19th century
13. Political + economic status of the Caribbean islands today?
• Political
o 90% of the Caribbean’s population live in independent countries
o Many islands still politically linked to European countries or the United States
 Ex: British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat still remain
colonies of the United Kingdom
 Ex: Residents of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are American
citizens.
• Economic
o Depend on agriculture
o Produce sugar, bananas, coconuts, cocoa, rice, and cotton
o Work industries related to agriculture—refining sugar, packaging coconut and rice
products, and making textiles; others work on the docks, loading + shipping exports
to N. America, Europe, or N. Eurasia
o Natural beauty = attracts tourism
o Most of the hotels, airlines, and cruise ships are owned by foreign corporations, and
most of the profits end up overseas
14. How do political + economic statuses impact migration in the Caribbean islands?
• Migrations in search of jobs
• Tiempo muerto—the dead season in agriculture
• Start of 20th century—most found work on the Panama Canal
o Political Unrest
 1800s: political oppression in Cuba led many people to flee the country for the
US
 1959: Fidel Castro led a revolution that toppled Cuba’s dictatorial government
into a Communist dictatorship supported by the Soviet Union
 1957-1986 = Haiti ruled by a military dictatorship, causing thousands to flee to
the US to escape cruelty
o Economic Benefits
 Many emigrants have sent home millions of dollars that have helped reduce
the burden of poverty throughout the Caribbean because people with that
money bought consumer goods such as radios and televisions