mexico chapter 10. mexico what do else you know about mexico? –women stepped in as chief of police...
TRANSCRIPT
Mexico
Chapter 10
Mexico
• What do else you know about Mexico?– Women stepped in as chief of police
• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39760545/ns/world_news-americas/
– Man killed by Mexican drug cartel • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKLvu0mnOUY
&feature=channel
– U.S. / Mexico Border • http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/mexico70
4/
Quiz Next Thursday • Mexico• Guatemala • Belize• Honduras• El Salvador • Nicaragua • Panama• Costa Rica• Cuba
• Dominican Republic• Haiti • Jamaica• Puerto Rico• The Bahamas • Tobago and Trinidad• Barbados• St. Lucia• Dominica
Mexico
Sierra Madre O
ccidental
Sierra Madre O
ccidentalSierra M
adre Oriental
Sierra Madre O
riental
Plateau of Mexico
Plateau of Mexico
Baja C
alifornia
Baja C
alifornia
Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
Gulf of C
alifornia
Gulf of C
alifornia
Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Mexico
Bay of Bay of CampecheCampeche
Yucatan Yucatan Peninsula Peninsula
Peninsula• A strip of land that
juts out into an ocean
Irrigation• That artificial watering
of farmland, often by means of canals that draw water from reservoirs or rivers
Sinkhole• A hole formed when
limestone is dissolved causing the land above to collapse
Hacienda• A large Spanish-owned
estate in the Americas, often run as a farm or a cattle ranch
Ejido• A Spanish word
describing farmland owned collectively by members of a rural community Land redistribution
• A policy by which land is expropriated from those who own large amounts and redistributed to those who have a little or none
Latifundio• A Spanish word describing a large commercial
farm owned by a private individual or a farming company
Cash crop• A farm crop grown for sale
and profit.
Migrant worker
• A worker who travels from place to place, working where extra help is needed to cultivate or harvest crops
Mexico – Geological Dangers
• Mexico’s central plateau is geologically unstable – Because it is the intersection of the North
American, Caribbean, Pacific, and Cocos Tectonic Plates
• Some active volcanoes
Mexico – Climate Factors
• Mexico’s climate is a factor making it an attractive place to live
• The Sierra Madres block rainfall in Northern Mexico
• Mexico City’s climate attracts many people.– Many in search of a job – Families in the surrounding area survive on
about $4 a day
Mexico – Northern Pacific Coast
• The Northern Pacific Coast of Mexico is dry and hot
• This area, although arid in climate, has the best farmland in the country – Because of irrigation
• Tijuana is one of Mexico’s fastest-growing cities
Mexico – Southern Pacific Coast
• Little farmland in this area
• The region has a tropical climate that attracts a lot of tourism
• Many resort cities like: Acapulco, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta
Mexico – Gulf Coastal Plain
• An important region to Mexico’s economy
• Large deposits of petroleum and natural gas
• This is a major oil-producing region
Mexico – Yucatan Peninsula
• A flat region• When rain falls in this area, it seeps through the
surface and works into the rock• The limestone is gradually dissolved, and
creates underground caverns • Occasionally, the roof of a cavern collapses and
forms a sinkhole• The area is dotted with sinkholes • Area does attract tourism along the Caribbean
coastline– Mayan ruins attract tourists and archaeologists
Mexico - Aztecs
• One of the earliest civilizations in Mexico were the Aztecs
• They were the most powerful empire
• By the 1400’s the capital city was Tenochtilan (where modern Mexico City is today)
• Around 60,000 Aztecs gathered in the city every day
Mexico – Spanish Conquest
• 1519 – Hernan Cortes march to Tenochtitlan• Within two years, the Spanish had destroyed the
Aztec empire • The area became New Spain • Four social classes emerged when the Spanish
settled – Peninsulares – born in Spain and help high official
positions– Criollos – people of Spanish ancestry born in the
Americas– Mestizos – people of mixed ancestry – Indians were the lowest rank
Mexico – Mexican Revolution
• The Spanish ruled until into the 1800s – Criollos were angry with the peninsulares – In 1810 a criollo priest (Miguel Hidalgo called
for a rebellion against Spain• A war for independence started and by 1821
Mexico was an independent nation
• The country struggled for another hundred years over the political rule of the country
Mexico – Mexican Revolution
• In 1910 – peasants and middle-class rebelled
• By the time the fighting ended in 1920, Mexico had a new president and a new constitution
Mexico – Rural Life
• Most of the people living in the countryside work in agriculture
• After the revolution the government began a program of buying out landowners and breaking up the large haciendas – The land was divided among peasants – Most farmers practice subsistence farming – About 1/3 of farms are huge, commercial farms
• Many rural families have no land or opportunities for work – some travel from place to place looking for work
Mexico – Urban Life
• More than 2/3 of Mexico’s population lives in cities
• Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world
• Cities offer education and more economic opportunities
• Most urban dwellers in Mexico are very poor and struggle to survive
Mexico – Major Industries
• NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement
• Petroleum extraction and tourism are two of Mexico’s largest industries
• Border Industries – along the U.S. and Mexico border are cluster cities – These cities have formed around factories that
assemble products almost exclusively for consumers in the United States
– These factories (maquiladoras) employ more than 450,000 people.
– What about border cities today???