Geography of CA and CI Caribbean Islands Central America
-Central America (CA) is an isthmus connecting North America to South America. It consists of 7 countries.
-The Pacific side of CA is covered by volcanic mountains.
-The largest lake in CA is Lake Nicaragua.
-The Caribbean Islands (CI) is an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea made up of hundreds of islands. Three groups: Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and Lesser Antilles
-The four largest islands (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico) are called the Greater Antilles.
-Most of the rest of hundreds of islands make up the Lesser Antilles.
-The Bahamas include 700 islands.
-Many of the islands are the tops of underwater mountains and volcanoes.
Underwater volcano creates new island off Tonga
-Other islands are made up of coral reefs.
Bahamas
-CA and the CI are located within the Tropics and therefore have warm, sunny weather year round.
-Winters months are dry, and summers bring daily rain. Hurricanes are very common in this area in the summer months.
-The region s best resource is its land and climate, attracting many tourists and their money.
-Coffee, bananas, sugarcane, and cotton grow well here.
-There are NOT many mineral resources here.
History of Central America -Culture still influenced by the ancient Maya civilizations. -Spain claimed most of the land in the 1500 s.
-The Spanish made large plantations to grow tobacco and sugarcane with slave labor from the native people and enslaved Africans.
-The Spanish colonies of CA declared independence from Spain in 1821.
-Over the last hundred years there have been many deadly struggles by CA countries to free themselves from foreign control of their land and businesses (the USA being one of those foreign countries).
-Language (Spanish), religion (Roman Catholic), and festivals still influenced by its colonial history.
-Most people are Mestizo (mixed European and native American ancestry).
Panama
-The Panama Canal was started by the French and finished by the USA.
-The canal saves almost 8,000 miles when going from the pacific to the Atlantic.
Saves time, saves money, saves oil, and saves lives (less treacherous than going around the tip of SA).
-The canal is 50 miles long through Panama and can cost about $34,000 for a freighter to go through.
-Tankers are raised and lowered through a series of LOCKS (a section of waterway where boats are raised and lowered by adjusting the water levels).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etgk3bkrm6a&feature=related Good history 1:21 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jj3hdtdjxs&feature=related How it works 4:55 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gznnivtwc8i&feature=related Animation 1:07 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vi19z4lei0 Time lapse thru canal 1:56
Lowest toll paid: 36 cents Richard Halliburton swam through the canal in 1928
Highest toll paid: $249,165 The Maersk Dellys 2006
-The French struggled to build the canal because of mud slides and mosquitoes that caused malaria and yellow fever. 25,000 workers died.
-The US took over in 1902. The US helped Panama gain independence from Colombia and then built the canal.
-The US killed the mosquitoes, used modern equipment, and built the canal in 8 years.
-The US owned the canal and the canal zone around it until 1999 when the canal was handed back over to Panama.
-The canal brings in lots of money and is important militarily in times of war.
History of the Caribbean Islands
-Christopher Columbus never made it to what is now the USA. He actually discovered the Caribbean Islands.
-Chris named this the West Indies and the people Indians because he was lost. He thought he had found India.
-The English, French, and Dutch took many of the smaller islands and brought African slaves to work the land as colonies because most of the natives had died of diseases.
-Spain took Cuba, Puerto Rico, and half of Hispaniola.
-Toussaint-L Ouverture was an African slave born in Haiti. He led a slave revolt to gain independence from France for Haiti in 1804.
-The USA took Cuba from Spain but eventually won its independence from us.
-Many islands in the Caribbean are still not independent today.
-The languages spoken today are dialects (a regional variety of a language) of English, French, and Spanish.
-Religion is a blend of Catholic and African religions.
Puerto Rico
-Was a Spanish colony, now is a Commonwealth of the USA (self-governing territory associated with another country).
-Puerto Ricans are US citizens, but cannot vote in our elections. They have a non-voting representative in the US congress. They can vote only if they move to the USA.
-Puerto Rico has debated and voted down becoming a state of the USA.
-Puerto Rico is the richest of the Caribbean Islands, but would be the poorest state in the USA if it joined. USA about 12%
Cuba
-Largest and most populous of the Caribbean Islands.
-Located just 92 miles from the USA (Florida).
-Fidel Castro brought communism to Cuba in 1959 and has ruled as a dictator ever since.
Recently his brother, Raul Castro, took over because Fidel is sick.
-Communist governments take over and run everything in a country. They also take over the newspapers, radios, and TV stations. Very few freedoms allowed.
-The USA owned a lot of businesses in Cuba when the Communists took over.
-The US government has banned trade and travel in Cuba by Americans.
-Many people have fled Cuba as refugees (someone who flees a country for political or economic reasons) to the USA.
Many times we have to send them back. Miami, Florida is very Cuban because of all the refugees.