Central America

And The
Caribbean
Central America
Isthmus A narrow
strip of land, with water
on both sides, that
connects two larger
bodies of land
Central Americas Geography
Three major landforms in Central America
1. Mountainous Core
Mountains run down the center of the area
Two climate zones in the core
1. Spring like year round temperatures (3,000 to 6,000 feet of
elevation)
2. Cold climates above that
2. Caribbean lowlands
Eastern side of Central America
Tropical Wet climate
3. Pacific Coastal Plains
West side of Central America
Savanna Climate with grassland vegetation

Caribbean Islands
Three groups of Islands in the Caribbean
1. Lesser Antilles
Volcanic Islands
Smaller islands in the southeastern part of the
Caribbean (Map)
2. Greater Antilles
Also Volcanic Islands
Larger Islands such as Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and
Dominican Republic (Map)
3. Bahamas
Coral Islands
Made from the remains of dead sea animals (Map)
People of Central America
Indians
Mayan empire spread throughout this area
Largest number live in Guatemala
Europeans and Mestizos
Largest European settlement today is in Costa
Rica
Mestizos mostly live in El Salvador and
Nicaragua
African Descent
Came over to work on the banana plantations
and build the Panama Canal
People of the Caribbean
Colonialism
Europeans came to profit from the sugar trade
They brought Africans to be slaves
Mixture of races
Natives
Africans
Europeans (French, British, Danish and Dutch)
Mestizos
Culture of Central America and
the Caribbean
Central American Culture
Mostly Spanish speaking
Roman Catholic
Most cultural traits are a result of Spanish
Colonialism
Caribbean Culture
Culture is based on the Colonizing country
Large African influence as a result of the slave
trade
Where do they live?
Caribbean
Caribbean islands are crowded
Most live in cities
Central America
Most are Farmers
Live in rural areas
Economy
Tourism
Agriculture
Sugar
Fruit
Informal economy
Street vendors, shoe shiners and many more
Drug trafficking
Levels of Society
Small group of wealthy (mostly descendents of
Europeans)
Small middle class
Large lower class
Political Unrest In Central
America
Causes
Shortage of available farmland
Unequal distribution of wealth
Government mainly serves the interest of the
wealthy
Nicaragua
Contras Fighting against the Sandinista
government that favored the wealthy
In 1990 a new president was elected for the first
time.

Political Unrest In Central
America
El Salvador
Wealthy land owners hired death squads to
eliminate their political opponents
1992 a peace agreement lead by the UN ended
the war
Guatemala
In 1960 a civil war erupted against the
militarily backed dictator
After the war the military was still a powerful
force in the government
In 1993 Ramiro de Leon Carpio was elected by
their congress and is a respected leader
Political Unrest In The Caribbean
Cuba
1959 Fidel Castro lead a successful military
revolution
He has Ruled ever since (I think he is a
hundred)
Haiti
1994 the people overthrew the military dictator
with the help of the U.S.
Haiti now has a democracy

The End