1. Mexico
Chapter 10

2. Mexico What do else you know about Mexico?
Women stepped in as chief of police
Man killed by Mexican drug cartel
U.S. / Mexico Border

3. Quiz Next Thursday Mexico Dominican Republic Guatemala Haiti Belize
Honduras
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Panama
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Haiti
Jamaica
Puerto Rico
The Bahamas
Tobago and Trinidad
Barbados
St. Lucia
Dominica

4. Mexico Sierra Madre Oriental Plateau of Mexico Sierra Madre Occidental
Gulf of Mexico
Baja California
Sierra Madre Oriental
Plateau of Mexico
Sierra Madre Occidental
Gulf of California
Bay of Campeche
Yucatan Peninsula
Pacific Ocean

5. Peninsula Irrigation A strip of land that juts out into an ocean
That artificial watering of farmland, often by means of canals that draw water from reservoirs or rivers

6. 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

7. Ejido Land redistribution
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

8. 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.

9. Migrant worker
A worker who travels from place to place, working where extra help is needed to cultivate or harvest crops

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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???