world regional geography...cartel politics: mergers, splits, and power struggles •mexico as a...

WORLD REGIONAL

GEOGRAPHY

By Brett Lucas

Regions

MIDDLE AMERICA – Part 2

Mexico: Physiography

Mexican landmass:

Two peninsulas and an isthmus

Mountain backbone

Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental

Center is the Plateau of Mexico, includes the Valley of Mexico

Tropical climates

Dominated by aridity

Some more humid areas in the south

Mexico: Regions of Mexico

Regionally diverse

Core Area anchored by

Mexico City

Transition zone diving

Hispanic-mestizo north

from Amerindian south

Gulf Coast is Mexico’s

petroleum center

NAFTA North is

economically dynamic

• Diversity with regions

– Southern Highlands: luxurious Acapulco and

interior Amerindian farms

Mexico: Population Patterns

Growth slowing due to drop in fertility

Distribution

Densely populated in central States and southern highlands

Least-populated in dry and rugged northern deserts

High rate of urbanization

Except in Amerindian highlands

Mexico: A Mix of Cultures

Culture in Mexico:

Fusion of heritages

Not a one-way incorporation of

European culture, as acculturation

But a two-way exchange of cultural

traits, or transculturation

Strong Amerindian presence:

Linguistic persistence

Dress, cuisine, artistic, and

architectural styles and folkways

Mexico:

Agriculture: Fragmented Modernization

Breaking up the haciendas after independence:

Ejidos are government-held farmlands redistributed to

peasant communities.

System of land management is an Amerindian legacy.

Half of Mexican lands are these “social landholdings.”

Reforms did not increase production.

Fragmented lands cause low yields and rural poverty.

Irrigated northwest agriculture:

Large-scale commercial agriculture

Improving, but still tough to compete with U.S. crops

Among the Realm’s Great Cities: Mexico City

World’s largest urban agglomeration:

Primate city, hub of the nation

Social contrasts:

Affluence surrounded by middle class surrounded by poverty

Environmental crises:

Inefficient fresh water supply

Air pollution and geologic hazards

And still, Mexico City grows by 100,000 to 300,000 per year

Mexico: States of Contrast

North vs. south:

Income is higher and rural poverty lower in North.

Economic growth and infrastructure investment is lower in southern States.

By various social indices, the south lags.

Political consequences:

Guerilla war in Chiapas

Polarized 2006 presidential campaign

Mexico: States of Contrast

Map Analysis Activity:

States of Mexico

1. Identify regions of states that are poor and small, small and rich, rich and large, large and poor.

2. Speculate the reasons for their characteristics and location.

Mexico: The Drug Wars

Colombian drug cartels are in northern Mexico.

Various routes connect all the Americas.

Cartel competition:

Territorial control over entry points, processing, transport routes, and “export valves”

Cartel politics: mergers, splits, and power struggles

• Mexico as a failed state:

– Rampant corruption – Government’s lack of

control over its territory

Mexico: Mexico’s Future

Government’s agenda:

End destabilizing violence.

Reduce regional inequalities.

Close the gap between rich and poor.

Spread the positive effects of NAFTA southward:

Invest in infrastructure, education, and antipoverty.

Improve on the foundations of economic interaction with

the United States.

Possibility of a dry canal, as an overland rail and/or road

across its isthmus, to compete with the Panama Canal.

The Central American Republics:

A Land Bridge

Volcanic highland belt flanked by lowlands on both coasts:

Provides fertile volcanic soils

Biodiversity hot spot in Costa Rica and Panama:

Has a higher-than-usual concentration of natural plant and animal species

Threat of deforestation

The Central American Republics:

A Land Bridge

Population concentrated in

cooler uplands are known as

tierra templada.

Borders confine El

Salvadorians to coastal

tropical lowlands are known

as tierra caliente.

Population pressures on the

environment:

Demographic explosion

of the mid-20th century

The Central American Republics: Guatemala

Historical geography:

Heart of Maya Empire and significant Amerindian cultural influence.

Once part of Mexico; mestizos (ladinos) secured independence.

Guatemalan politics:

Military regimes have dominated.

Many died in 1960–1996 civil war between poor Amerindians and better-off ladinos.

Economic potential: minerals and soil

Concept Caching:

Bombil Pek cave and sinkhole

Northern Guatemala

© Matt Ebiner

http://conceptcaching.com/view_a_cache.php?cid=603

The Central American Republics: Belize

History more like a Caribbean island:

British dependency

Changing demographics

Emigration of African Belizeans

Replaced by other Central American refugees

Hispanicized cultural geography

Spanish as lingua franca

• Economic transformation:

– New crops and industries – Tourism and ecotourism – Offshore banking offering

financial haven for foreign

money

The Central American Republics

El Salvador

Densely populated and homogeneously mestizo

Coffee Republic

Large landholdings and subjugated peasant labor

Civil War effects:

Arms supplied by other states

Remittances sent by affluent émigrés

Honduras

Still recovering from Category-5 Hurricane Mitch in 1998

Pre-1998, economy was third poorest in the realm

Potential for ecotourism

Hindered by poor infrastructure and lack of funds

The Central American Republics: Nicaragua

Triangle of land:

Core of the country on the Pacific side

Caribbean side home to remote Amerindian peoples

Difficulties:

Political instability

Devastation of Hurricane Mitch

Accelerated population growth

Reliance on remittances and aid

Concept Caching: Sandinista Revolution Mural Managua, Nicaragua

© Barbara Weightman


The Central American Republics: Costa Rica

Internal political stability:

Democratic tradition

Remote from regional strife

Concentrated on economic development:

Region’s highest standard of living,

literacy rate, and life expectancy

Agriculture and tourism

The Valle Central:

Main coffee-growing area in the

tierra templada

Concept Caching:

View of San José, Costa Rica

© Barbara Weightman


The Central American Republics: Panama

The Panama Canal:

Expansion to boost interoceanic traffic

Increases business in Panama

Panama’s geographies:

Usual Central American culture, language, and topography

Territorially small, but global

Trading entrepôt and ultramodern port facilities

Panama City: financial center for canal revenues and drug industry

© H.J. de Blij, P.O. Muller, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Concept Caching: Panama Canal – Miraflores Locks

© Colonel Eugene J. Palka


The Caribbean Basin:

Fragmentation and Insularity

Island arc

Greater Antilles

Four larger islands as the western segment

Lesser Antilles

Eastern segment of smaller islands reaching to the South American coast

Fragmented geography: territorially small and often separated by considerable distances

• Challenging circumstances:

– Few economic opportunities – Expensive imports – Limited interaction with

outside world

The Caribbean Basin: Ethnicity and Class

Rigid social stratification:

Closely linked with ethnicity, as a colonial legacy

Rankings: Europeans at top, Hispanics, mixed European-

African or mulatto, then Afro-Caribbean

Caribbean societies:

Minorities hold power and exert influence

Perpetuation of historic advantage

South and East Asian presence:

After end of slavery, groups arrived as indentured laborers

Many languages, cultures

The Greater Antilles: Cuba

Global geopolitics:

Cuban revolution

Overthrew American-

backed dictator

Castro—Communist

dictatorship

Cold War

Soviet nuclear missiles

Guantanamo Bay

Economic opportunities:

Raw materials and agriculture

Venezuelan oil

• Challenging circumstances:

– Poverty, crowded slums, aging infrastructure, and

unemployment

– Some liberalization by Raúl Castro a necessity

The Greater Antilles: Jamaica

Colonial legacy:

Member of British Commonwealth still recognizing the British

monarch and English as official language

Entirely Afro-Caribbean population

Declining economic prospects:

Slow population, economic growth and incomes

Raw materials and agricultural exports disadvantaged

Must import its necessities: oil and food

Tourism is a world away from ordinary Jamaica

The Greater Antilles: Haiti

Environmental disasters:

Center of “Hurricane Alley”

In 2008, four tropical cyclones in one season

Atop dangerous fault zone

In 2010, ruinous earthquake

Few natural resources

History of instability, repression, and deprivation

Heavy reliance on aid and remittances

• Shares the island of

Hispaniola with the

Dominican Republic

The Greater Antilles: Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic’s advantages:

Wider range of natural environments

Stronger resource base

Tourism industry

Economic implosion:

Bank fraud and government corruption brought down a strong economy

• Occupies a larger share of

the island of Hispaniola than

its neighbor, Haiti

The Greater Antilles: Puerto Rico

U.S. Commonwealth and a complicated arrangement:

Has its own constitution, considerable autonomy, and an annual subsidy

Weak economy:

Industrialization and low wages kept locals impoverished

Massive emigration

Underdeveloped private sector

• Recent referendums resulted in

continuation of Commonwealth

status, rather than U.S.

statehood or independence

The Lesser Antilles

Environmental risks include earthquakes, volcanoes, and

hurricanes.

Socioeconomic problems: limited resources, overpopulation,

difficult agricultural industry, and market limitations.

Benefit to insularity and environment: Tourism.

Predicament of the small-island developing economies: some

islands chose to maintain a political relationship with former

colonial ruler.

world regional geography...cartel politics: mergers, splits, and power struggles •mexico as a...

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