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Latin America includes Mexico,Central America, the Caribbean,and South America

Because the languages of most its colonizers-Spanish and Portuguese-are derived from Latin,Europeans,later referred to the region's colonies as Latin America.

Because the region is defined by a cultural connection,in this case language,it's called a culture region.

Mexico is the farthest north of the Latin American countries.

Mexico's major physical features include mountains,plateaus, and plains.

Mexico's two major mountain ranges share the name Sierra Madre.

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Mexico's two highest mountain peaks.

Both of these mountains are volcanoes.

Volcanic activity and earthquakes frequently plague Mexico and many other parts of Latin America too.

They are caused by the movement of five tectonic plates.

Air pollution there's some of the worst in the world and often reach dangerous levels.

The mountains surrounding the city to the east,south,and the west trap automobile exhaust and other pollutants that the city's huge population generates.

Another problem is drained lakebed.

The vibrations that earthquakes send through Earth grow much stronger and more damaging when they pass through the soft,loose soils of a lakebed, thus making Mexico City highly vulnerable to the effects of earthquakes

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About 80% of Central America is hilly or mountainous,and most of it is covered with forests.

Rain forests cover much of the lowlands. In the higher regions,deciduous trees cloak many of the slopes.

A string of more than 40 volcanoes lines 900 miles of Central America's Pacific coast,where two tectonic plates crash against each other.

This is the most active group of volcanoes in North or South America.

Earthquakes also occur frequently.(Very Strong!)

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The Caribbean Islands lie to the east of Central America.

Some of these islands,such as St.Kitts and Grenada,are actually the peaks of volcanic mountains rising from the ocean floor.

Bahamas began as coral reefs.

Coral is made of organisms that shed hard skeletons when they die.

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The equator runs through Ecuador,Columbia,and Brazil.

Isthmus of Panama links South America to North America.

On the map, Andes mountain range,which stretches over 5,000 miles along South America's west coast.

It's the longest continuous mountain range on Earth's surface.

Mount Aconcagua in Argentina is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.

The plains in southern South America are called the Pampas.

South America's largest river begins in Andes,drains the central plains,and then flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

They include the Orinoco,the Parana-Paraguay-Plata,and the Amazon.

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In 2000, 22 people explored the Andes rivers to confirm the source of the Amazon River, which had been discovered in 1971.

The mighty river begins in the Peruvian Andes as a trickle of water.

It then flows for nearly 4,000 miles to the Atlantic ocean.

No other river carries as much water to the sea.Along with more than 1,000 tributaries.

Which are rivers or streams that flow into a larger body of water.

The Amazon drains water from Peru,Ecuador,Colombia,Bolivia,Venezuela,and Brazil

Deforestation, or the process of cutting and clearing away trees from a forest, has greatly affected the Amazon rain-forest.

Most plants release oxygen into the air and absorb carbon dioxide.

By reducing the number of trees and plants,deforestation increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

Other worry that animals who live in rain forest may need to move-or may die out

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Located in Tropical of Cancer and Tropical of Capricorn

The Tropical Zone is between the latitudes 23 degrees 27' north and 23 degrees 27' south.

It may be rainy or dry,but it's typically hot.

Temperature is always lower at higher elevations.

But in a tropical Zone,all elevation are warmer than they are elsewhere.

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Unusually high air pressure in the south Pacific causes certain winds over the ocean,called trade winds.

The ocean's sun-warmed surface water flows eastward,toward North and South America.

The appearance of this warm water off the coast of South America is called El Niño.

The Christ child

because it appears yearly at Christmastime.

Areas in the western Pacific,such as Indonesia,may have less rain than usual.

Scientists are still trying to understand the El Niño cycles and their effects on the world's weather.

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Many ancient civilizations, such as Egyptians,developed in river valleys and thrived there.

The rivers provided water for both irrigation and transportation.

In Latin,some ancient civilizations flourished far from rivers.

In the areas that are today southern and eastern Mexico,western Honduras,Guatemala, El Salvaor,and Belize,the ancient Maya built a widespread civilization.

Small Maya communities existed as early as 1600 BC From AD 250 to AD 900.

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The ancient Maya studied math and astronomy extensively.

The Maya were among the first civilizations in the world known to understand the advance mathematical concept of zero.

Calendar system

260 day calendar of sacred days

365 day calendar based on sun's movement

The Maya established the best developed written language.

The basic units of the writing system were called hieroglyphs or glyph

temple

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the waters of Lake Texcoco once lapped the shores of an island city called Tenochtitlan.(capital city)

The Aztec were composed of a number of tribes of wandering(travel) warriors.

Of these,the Mexica(Mexico) were dominant

The Aztec Empire was a warrior society that centered on warfare.

The military was important for reasons(maintain a powerful empire

The Aztec believed that anyone who died in battle had the great honor of dying for Huitzilopochtli.

The Aztec god of war

The resourcesful Aztec built floating gardens, called chinampas.

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A group of people called the Inca rose up to conquer the people of the surrounding areas.

From their capital,Cuzco,the Inca soon ruled a huge empire that included parts of what are now Columbia,Ecuador,Bolivia,northern Chile,and northwestern Argentina.

The Inca built stone terraces to farm on the steep mountainsides.

Potatoes,maize,and a grain called quinoa.

Stone roads were a major technological feat of the Inca.

Quipu-The Inca kept accounting records by tying knots in a series of strings.

Having no written language or knowledge of the wheel,Inca rulers ordered roads built on which runners carried verbal messages to distant places.

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The Inca are known for their stonework.

They erected many massive buildings,some with stones weighing as much as 200 tons.

Wooden rollers were used to move these heavy stone blocks.

The most famous thing for Inca's stonework is Machu Picchu.

Which still stands almost 8,000 feet above sea level.

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One famous Spanish soldier, Hernan Cotes,captured the Aztec ruler,Montezuma II,in 1519.

He claimed the Aztec empire for Spain in 1521 and renamed it New Spain.

A decade later,another Spanish soldier,Francisco Pizarro,defeated the Inca ruler Atahualpa,and claimed Atahualpa's empire for Spain.

The Spanish enslaved many Native Americans and forced them to do labor,for example mining silver.

Smallpox

And another diseases from Europe killed millions of Native Americans between 1500 and 1900.

Small pox had long been widespread in Europe.

Latin America and Spain exchanged culture.

Ships carrying Latin American goods sailed to Spain.

The Spanish soon began growing corn,peppers,and tomatoes-crops they had never seen before.

Manufactured products from Spain,especially textiles,were shipped to Latin America.

This trade was part of the Columbian Exchange

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<The Roots of Modern Mexico>

The founding of New Spain

The leader of the Spanish army that first landed on the shores of Mexico was Hernan Cortes.

Cortes reached the east coast of Mexico in 1519 with about 500 soldiers.

He claimed the land for the king and queen of Spain.

He learned that the land was ruled by the powerful Aztec emperor Montezuma II.

He ruled an empire of between 5 and 6 million people.

Many of his Native American subjects wanted to be free.

They helped the Spanish conquer the Aztec king.

They did not expect that the Spanish would become their new rulers.

A clash of Cultures

Montezuma II heard that Hernan Cortes arrived.

He welcomed him with gifts.

He was even allowed to stay in a royal palace in the Aztec capital,Tenochititlan.

Within a week,Cortes took Montezuma II prisoner and took control of the Aztec Empire.

Other Aztec leaders drove the Spanish from Tenochititlan.

During the fighting that followed Montezuma II was killed.

The Spanish retook the city,greatly aided by their Native American allies.

The Spanish also had an essential advantage over the Aztec: their weapons.

Aztec only have war clubs,spears,and arrows.

The Spanish soldiers had steel swords,armor,guns,and cannons,as well as horses.

The invading army destroyed Tenochititlan street by street.

New Spain

1521 the final of Aztec.

Begining of the New Spain.

Spanish called New Spain

Just as the English called their territory in North America "New England"

The Spanish established Mexico City as their capital.

Spain ruled Mexico for the next 300 years.

Different way of life to the region.

They brought new animals,such as horses,cattle,sheep,and pigs.

Also brought new trades,such as iron Smithing and shipbuilding.

A new religion as well Christianity.

Because the Roman Catholic church was powerful in New Spain.

Catholic priests set up churches,schools,and hospitals.

Changes in Mexico

The Native Americans had to accept many new ways of life,but the old ways were not lost entirely.

For example, an essential element of Native American cooking was the tortilla,a flat,round bread made daily all over Mexico.

Many other aspects of the two cultures blended in the new Mexican culture.

A new multilayered society developed in Mexico.

The ruling class were Spanish officials who were born in Spain,they were called peninsulares.

A second class were criollos,people who were born in Mexico but whose parents were born in Spain.

Criollos were often wealthy and powerful but they were not in as high a social class as the peninsulares.

A mestizo is a person who is of Spanish and Native American ancestry.

Mestizos formed the third layer of New Spain's society.

African farming techniques,musical traditions,and crafts soon blended into Mexican culture.

The rulers of Spain set up a Mexico system called, encomienda.

The War of Independence

Many Mexican religious and political leaders in the early 1800s were saying that Mexicans should be independent from Spain.

The demand for Mexican independence grew stronger after 1808,when France conquered Spain.

Before dawn on September 16,1810,the farmers in the mountain village of Dolores heard their church bells ringing.

At the church,their priest,Father Miguel Hidalgo,gave a fiery speech urging them to throw off Spanish rule.

No one knows the exact text if the speech,but it is known as the Grito de Dolores.

A small army of Native Americans and mestizos marched with Father Hidalgo toward Mexico city.

Along the way,thousands more joined them.

Father Hidalgo's army had few weapons.

His men carried clubs and farm tools,such as sickles and axes.

When day faced the government soldiers,the farmers were soon defeated.

Father Hidalgo was captured and executed,but the revolution he had sparked did not lie.

A few wealthy Spanish nobles and many criollos joined the fight for independence.

The struggle lasted for 11 years.

In 1821,the rebels finally overthrew the Spanish government,and Mexico became independent.

The Peninsulares and criollos still ruled the country.

Native Americans and mestizos benefited little from independence from Spain.

War with the United States

In 1821,the new nation of Mexico was far larger than it is today.

Spanish explorers claimed this entire region inn the 1500s and 1600s.

Spanish and Mexican priests built missions there in the 1600s.

Much of this land was desert.

Travel was slow and communication difficult.

Mexico was at war with Native Americans inn this region, such as the Apache and the Comanche tribes.

For all these reasons,few Mexicans settled here.

To encourage settlement,the Mexican government invited foreigners to move into these northern lands.

Most of the newcomers were from the United States and still felt some loyalty to that country.

Texas Independence

In 1835,many settlers in Texas decided to break away from Mexico and rose in revolt.

After several fierce battles,the Texans won their independence.

They set up the Republic of Texas in 1836.

Most Texans wanted to become part of the United States.

In 1845,the United States agreed,but Mexico and the United States could not agree where the boundary between Texas and Mexico should be.

Each side claimed land that the other wanted.

In 1846,the dispute grew into a war.

During the next two years,U.S forces won control of northern Mexico; it was made official when Mexico was forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

A few years later,in 1853,the Gadsden Purchase gave the United States more of Mexico's northern land.

The two countries have since made slight adjustments to the border,but they have not fought a war again.

Lesson 2

<Government in Mexico>

A Struggle for Power

The constitution of 1917 was written as a response to the struggles of the previous century.

Mexico spent many years fighting wars.

In 1821,Mexico won its war for independence from Spain.Two decades later,Mexicans entered into and then lost a war with the United States over Texas,California,and other lands.

In the years after independence,army leaders often took over Mexico's government.

In some parts of the country,bandits attacked travelers.

Mexicans fought with Spanish landowners.

A few people enjoyed great wealth,while many suffered in poverty.

Benito Juarez Brings Reform

They found a leader in Benito Juarez,a man who rose from poverty to become president of Mexico and a hero to his people.

He became minister of justice in 1855, and he later became chief justice of the Supreme Court.

In 1858, he gained the presidency,giving control of the Mexican goverenment to the reformers.

The reformers wrote a new constitution for Mexico in 1857.

Mexicans had a bill of rights,promising them freed:om of speech and equality under the law.

It also ended slavery and forced labor.

The new Constitution did not promise freedom of religion.Nor did it make Catholicism Mexico's official religion,as many church leaders had hoped it would.

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Response to Reform

These reforms stirred up a storm of controversy.Church leaders,army leaders, and wealthy landowners were outraged.(From 1858~1860)

The War of Reform left Mexico so weak because of death,debt,and unemployment that the country was an easy target for foreign takeovers.

Spain,Britain,and France sent troops into Mexico.In 1863,after more than a year of fighting,the French marched into Mexico City and established themselves in control of the Country.

They made a European noble man named Maximilian emperor.

Maximilian did not reign long.The Mexicans overthrew Maximilian and executed him in 1867.

Benito Juarez and the reformers returned to power. Juarez remained president until his death in 1872.

His successors cared about reform less than he had.Poverty and lack of education remained problems.

A few families held most of the political and economic power.

Not until the 20th century did a new wave of a reform begin.

The Mexican Revolution

By 1910,the divisions between rich and poor in Mexico were huge.

Just 800 families owned more than 90 percent of the farmland.

Of Mexico's 15 million people, 10 million owned no land at all.

Many Mexicans decided to fight for reforms.

The Struggle turned bloody.From 1910 to 1920,Mexico endured the Mexican Revolution.

The Revolution was a fight among many armies.

Almost every part of Mexico had an army of rebels and reformers with particular goals.

One of the first revolutionary leaders was a wealthy rancher named Francisco Madero,who became president in 1911.

For Madero and his supporters, the key issue was free,honest elections.

The Problem of Land

Poor farmers wanted land of their own.They believed the government should give each farm family a few acres by breaking up the giant haciendas.

A hacienda is a big farm or ranch,often as large as 40,000 or 50,000 acres.

Much of the hacienda land had once belonged to village farmers.But a law passed in 1883 allowed some of the wealthiest ranch owners to easily take way land from the village farmers.

During the 1880s and 1890s,the ranch owners took over millions of acres of land owned by village farmers,and that land became part of their haciendas.

Emiliano Zapata was a legendary fighter for farmers' right.

With his famous motto- "Land and Liberty!"

A Continuing Revolution

Over the course of a decade,dozens of large and small armies fought with one another.

In 1913,Madero was murdered.

The same fate befell Zapata in 1919.

Between 1910 and 1920, more than 1 million Mexicans died in the battles of the Revolution.In 1920,a new governemnt managed to make peace among the many armies.The fighting was over, but the Revolution the effort to reform Mexico's government and economy went on.

In 1917,a new constituion was written, and one of its promises was to distribute land more equally among the people.

Between 1920 and 1940,the government broke up many of the giant haciendas.

Millions of acres were divided among small farmers or given to ejidos.

An ejido is a community farm owned by all the villagers together.

The idea of the Revolution was so important and popular among new Mexicans that the most powerful political party called itself the party of the Revolution.

Its name changed several times,but the word revoution was always part of it.

Today,it is called the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

This party won every presidential election in Mexico form 1929 until 2000,with power passing peacefully from one president to the next.

Mexico's Government Today

December 1,2000, was a historic occasion in Mexico.

On that day,Vincente Fox became Mexico's new president.

Fox was the first president in more than 70 years who did not belong to the PRI.

He belonged to National Action Party.

The election of a president from a party other than the PRI confirmed that Mexico was entering a time of new political possibilities.

Mexico's official name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or the United Mexican States.

Thirty one states make up the nation of Mexico.

Mexico is democracy and a republic.

All Mexicans who are 18 or older have the right to vote.

The Mexican government has three branches.

As in the United States,these branches are executive,legislative,and judicial.

Like the United States,Mexico has a federal system of government.

Power is shared between the national government and state government.

Voters in each state elect a governor.

Each state also has its own legislature that makes laws.

The national government has some control over the state governments.

For example,the president and the national Senate together can remove a state governor from office.

Most towns and villages depend on money from the national government.

Therefore,a local government has less say in its town's affairs than the national government does.

Local governments do provide essential public services,such as maintaining sewer systems and public safety.

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Central America and the Caribean

Central America includes(7 Nations) Belize/Guatemala,Honduras,El Salvador,Nicaragua,Costa Rica,and Panama.

Haiti,other islands of the Caribbean known as the West Indies.

Dependency is a place that is governed by or closely connected with another country.

For example,Puerto Rico is a dependency of the United States.

People of the Caribbean

When Columbus reached the West Indies in 1492,about 750,000 Native Americans lived their.

The Europeans forced to work on plantations and in mines.

The harsh labor,plus European diseases unknown in the Americas,killed many Native American.

Others died in battles with the Europeans.

Soon,nearly all the Native Americans on the islands had died.

Without Native Americans to use for labor,European rulers looked for a new source of workers.

In 1520s,Spanish started to bring shiploads of enslaved Africans to the West Indies.

Other European nations joined in the slave trade.

From 1500s~1800s,about 10 million enslaved Africans arrived in the West Indies.

Many people in the Caribbean today are mulattos,or people who have African and European ancestory.

Central American People

In Central America, the situation for the Native American was different.

When the Spanish arrived in 1501,many Native Americans withdrew to the island mountains and thus survived what proved to be a deadly encounter with the Spanish else where,

Today,one fifth of Central Americans are Native Americans.

The slave ships also arrived in Central America,bringing Africans to the region.

Africans from the Caribbean also migrated to the area.

As the years passed,the Spanish,Native Americans,and Africans intermarried.

Those people with mixed European and Native American ancestry are ladinos.

From Colonies to Independence

From 1500s~ to 1800s,Europeans nations ruled Central America and the West Indies as colonies.

These differed from the dependency is free to break off its connection to the other country,but a colony must either win its independence or be granted it.

Spain was the first European country to colonize this region.

Soon,however,the French,Dutch,English set up their own colonies in the islands.While they found gold Spain found Sugar.

Soon many of the islands were home to sugar plantations.

Most of the workers who grew and cut the sugar cane were enslaved.

By the 1800s,the people of Central America and the Caribbean Islands began to demand their independence.

In 1804,the French colony of St. Domingue became the first nation in the region to win independence.

In 1821,Guatemala,Honduras,Costa Rica and Nicargua declared independence from Spain.

Relations with the United States

The United States of America is the largest neighbor of Central America and the West Indies.

U.S.policies have long played a part in shaping the region's history.

Until the early 1900s,people who wanted to travel from on side of North or South America to the other had two choices.

They could make the long,dangerous trip by land or sail all the way around South America.

The Isthmus of Panama is only about 40miles wide,and by 1900,first France, then the United States were eager to build a canal across it to connect the two oceans.

Panama was part of the South American nation of Colombia.

The United States tried to buy from Colombia a strip of land on the isthmus.

After establishing its own country in 1903,Panama agreed to lease the United States land to build a canal.

The canal opened in 1914 and soon became on of the most important transportation routes in the world.

The Spanish American War

Long after Central America broke free of Spanish rule,Spain continued to control Cuba and Puerto Rico.

During the late 1800s,the islands there rebelled many times without success.

It wanted to help the people of Cuba and Puerto Rico gain freedom from Spain.

It also wanted to protect the U.S. owned sugar cane plantations on the islands.

By the end of the short war,Spain had lost its last colonies in the Americas.

Puerto Rico became a U.S. dependency,a terriotory under the control of another nation.

Cuba became an independent country,but the U.S, military set up bases there and kept control over the country.

Dictatorships and Democracy

Independence didn't necessarily bring freedom to the people of Central American and the West Indies.

Only Costa Rica has been a democracy since the beginning of the 20th century.

A dictator is a person who has complete control over a country's government.

Dictators ruled Guatemala,Honduras,Panama,El Salvador,Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Dictators often used violence to grab and keep power.

Most countries in Central America and the West Indies now have democratically elected governments.

The people of these countries removed most of their dictators,one by one.

However,elected leaders sometimes refuse to give up power,thus becoming dictators.

Sometimes,elections aren't run fairly.

Nevertheless,freedom is more widespread than it was 50 years ago.

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The Economics

In the Caribbean,the economics of most islands have depended on growing one or two crops to sell to other countries.

However,the islanders have also worked hard to create new businesses as well as new industries.

Caribbean Sugar Cane

For most of the colonial period,the Caribbean Islands focused mainly on one industry growing sugar cane.

From the 1600s ~1800s,most islanders worked on sugar cane plantations.

In the early years,the majority of these workers were enslaved.

Even after slavery ended by the late 1800s,most workers owned no land of their own.

During the colonial period,most of the islands traded only with their ruling countries.

Cuba,for example,sold its sugar to Spain and bought goods from Spain in return.

Sugar was so valuable that plantation owners raised few other crops.

Most did not even grow food.

Many of the islands had to buy almost all their food from other countries.

A country that depends on just one product for almost all its jobs and income has a single product economy.

A single product economy can be unstable if something happens to that single product,the country's economy will be ruined.

By the late 1800s,the sugar business in the West Indies was in trouble.

People raising sugar cane in other parts of the world offered the West Indies fierce competition.

Steam powered machines allowed these foreigners to process sugar cane at lower prices.

The people of the West Indies had to find new ways to make a living.

New Crops and Industries

The islanders found they needed to diversity their economies.

To diversify an economy means to invest in a variety of industries.

People began to raise other crops,such as pineapples and bananas.

Industries, such as textiles,medical supplies,and electronic equipment,also developed in the Caribbean.

One of the most important industries in the Caribbean Islands is tourism.

With warm weather and beautiful beaches,the islands attract tourists from around the world.

The landscapes of the Caribbean Islands contain sandy beaches,coral lagoons,grassy plains,mountains,and volcanoes.

The year round warm climate creates lush green landscapes.

More than 8 million tourists flock to the area each year.

Central America

After the Spanish Central American countries became independent in the 1820s,they wanted to increase their trade with other nations.

During 1800s,several Central American countries began to produce coffee.

Soon it became an important export crop for Costa Rica,Guatemala,Honduras,El Salvador,and Nicaragua.

In exchange for their export business got started in Central America.

U.S. based United Fruit Company(UFCO)set up huge banana plantaitions in the hot,wet lowlands of Central America.

Central America Diversifies

UFCO did a huge amount of business,and bananas became another important Central America product.

The Central American economies grew to depend on bananas and coffee.

Whenever the price of these items on the world market fell,Central Americans faced hardship.

Like many Caribbean islanders,Central Americans wanted to diversify their economies.

Central American countries have worked to build more factories and produce more manufactured goods.

Costa Rica,for example,has built factories that make machinery,furniture,cloth,and medicine.

The countries of the region have also developed tourism as an industry.

Visitors arrive by the thousands in Guatemala to see the spectacular ruins of Maya temples.

Caribbean and Central American Cultures

Each country in the Caribbean has its own particular way of life.

Native American,African,and European influences blend differently from place to place.

In the Caribbean,people speak a variety of languages.

These reflect the area's history.

Music, too,shows a blending of cultures.

From Cuban salsa to Jamaican reggae,much Caribbean music combines African and European styles to make something completely new.

The rap music that is popular in the United States also has Caribbean roots.

Some of the first rappers to perform in the United States introduced to this country the Jamaican technique of mixing together tracks from different songs.

A Blend of Cultures

The countries of Central America share a common history.

In their cultures,the Native American and Spanish heritages blend.

In most of Central America,people speak Spanish.

Central America also speak about 80 Native American languages,nearly half which are Maya languages.

Roman Catholicism is the most widespread religion in the West Indies.

Many islanders practice religions that have African influences.

In Haiti,elements of Catholic and African religious practices combine with Catholic beliefs in the religion called Santeria.

In Trinidad,the Shango religion blends Catholic,Baptist and West African beliefs.

In recent years,millions of Central Americans have become Protestants and Mormons.

Many Maya people today believe that when a person is born,so is an animal.

That animal,the competition spirit,lives through the same experiences as the person does.

A person usually learns about his or her companion spirit in dreams.

Many Central American towns are known for their crafts,such as weaving,embroidery,pottery,silversmithing,and basketmaking.

Many of the styles and methods used originated with ancient Native Americans.

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Land and Waterways of Africa

Africa was the ceaboutnter of Earth's only continents,Pangaea 225 million years ago

It broke up into separate continents that drifted apart over many millions of years

The piece that became Africa stayed where it was

Africa's two major land types

lowlands,highlands

lowlands are in the north and west

highlands are in south and east

Several peaks rise out of the highlands of Kenya and Tanzania

The highest is Mount Kilimanjaro

The name comes from phrase kilima njaro,which means shining mountain.

Plateaus and Rifts

Most of Africa south of the Sahara - both highlands and lowlands lies on a high plateau.

Plateau is a raised area of relatively level land.

The African plateau rises from coastal plains along much of the north and west coastlines

Steep cliffs line much of the southern and eastern coasts,rising sharply from the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

The tectonic plates on which Africa sits have been slowly pulling apart for 50 million years.

The separation of the plates has been forming a series of broad,steep walled valleys called rifts.

It make up the Great Rift Valley,which stretches from the Red Sea to Mozambique.

Waterways

Parts of the Great Rift Valley have filled with water to form huge lakes,such as lake Tanganyika.

Africa's largest lake,Lake Victoria,lies in a shallow basin between two rifts valleys on the borders of Uganda,Kenya,and Tanzania.

Lakes and rivers provide fresh water and fish.

But,waterfalls and rapids make boat travel difficult.

Many of Africa's rivers have exceptional features

The Nile River,flowing northward out of the mountains of central Africa

It's the world's longest river

The Okavango River crosses Angola,Namibia,and Botswana before emptying into marshes north of the Kalahari Desert

The Zambezi River features many powerful waterfalls,including Victoria Falls

The mist from these falls can be seen 25 miles away.

Many climate

Four major climatic regions of Africa

south of the Sahara are desert,semiarid,tropical,and equatorial

Desert climates are found in the Sahara to the north and the Namib and Kalahari to the south

These areas have little rain,high temperatures,and few plants and animals

The Sahel is a semiarid region south of the Sahara

This area is experiencing desertification

Desertification is a process by which a desert spreads.

Drought

It's one cause of desertification

The lack of rain causes fewer plants to grow

Without plants,soil blows away,leaving a dry,barren landscape

Other causes are overgrazing and overuse of the land for farming

Tropical and Equatorial Regions

The tropical climate extends from the semiarid areas toward the Equator

There is a rainy season of up to six months,and the rest of the year is dry

Savannas

found in both semiarid and tropical areas,are flat grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs

Many African animals,including lions,elephants,giraffes,and zebras,live on these grasslands

The equatorial region has two rainy seasons and two brief dry seasons each year

Located at the Equator,this climate has high temperature year round and annual rainfall of 50 to 60 inches

Many animals,including the chimpanzee,gorilla,hippopotamus,and African gray parrot,live in the rain forest

Resources

Africa is rich in mineral resources,such as gold and diamonds,that form over hundreds of millions of years

Nonrenewable resources

such as copper and diamonds,cannot be replaced or can be replaced only over millions years

Renewable resources

can be used and replaced over a relatively short time period

The renewable resources of this region include trees used to make wood products,cocoa beans,cashew nuts,peanuts,vanilla beans,coffee,bananas,rubber,sugar,and tea

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Moving Toward Independence

Colonial rule in Africa disrupted social systems and governments,and robbed Africa of resources

During 1920s and 1930s, colonial rulers sent a few Africans to attend universities in Europe and the United States

These educated young people started to dream of independence

Nationalism grew strong

Journey to Freedom

The Example of Racism(인종차별)

Many Europeans believed that Africans were unable to govern themselves

Racism is the unfounded belief that one race is inferior to another race

Educated Africans believed they could govern themselves

African men had fought for the European Allies during World War I,and thousands had died

Pan Africanism is an idea that people of African descent around the world should work together for their freedom, attracted more supporters

In 1919,the first Pan African Congress was organized

New African Countries

Between 1951 and 1980,most of the colonies in Africa south of the Sahara gained independence

For some countries,the path to nationhood was smooth

Nigeria: Diversity Brings Division

Before Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960,it had experienced a well organized government,rich resources,and a strong economy under British rule

It was hoped that Nigeria's diversity

It has many different cultures and viewpoints would be a source of strength

Many Nigerians are Muslim

While others are christian or follow traditional African religions

Nigerians speak more than 400 languages

The slave trade and colonial rule had worsened hostility between the ethnic groups in Nigeria

Many Nigerian politicians focused on their ethnic group and not the whole country

Some leaders stole money and gave or took bribes

In 1966,deadly riots break out,and many people were killed

The next year,people in the eastern part of Nigeria announced the formation of a separate country,Biafra

After 3 years of civil war between Biafran Nigerians and the Nigerian Army,Biafra was defeated and rejoined Nigeria

Independence of South Africa

The United Kingdom gave South Africa independence in 1910

But unfortunately,this action did not bring freedom to most south Africans

Only white South Africans could vote,and many laws were passed to restrict nonwhites

In 1948,an official policy of racial segregation(apartheid) was adopted

Apartheid strictly separated people by color

Many people resisted apartheid

Protesters held marches,went on strike,and sometimes became violent

Although many protesters were jailed or killed,they did make progress

In 1991, apartheid ended,all South African adults could vote

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Islam Comes to India

The people who believe Islam is Muslim.

Turkish kingdom stretched south to the Deccan Plateau.

The region was ruled from the city of Delhi by a sultan.

Sultan is a king of Empire

The Mongols never invaded the region.

Many people who were threatened by the Mongols

Fled across the mountains into South Asia

The Mughal Empire

The ruler was Babur

He involved local readers in his government

built trade routes,strengthening his rule.

He was the beginning of the great Mughal Empire

Akbar was the third Mughal Emperor

Strong and intelligent leader who was careful to include both Hindus and Muslims

His policies allowed their religions to remain peaceful

Additionally, they were able to pay taxes according to their own financial circumstances.

Akbar love are art ,good supporter

The trade routes connected with Empire

In 1707,with the death of the last Mughal Emperor,the empire eventually collapsed.

Arrival of the British

In 1600,Queen Elizabeth I gave trade rights to the East India Company, an organization of English merchants,to trade in India and East and Southeast Asia

The Mughals agreed to let the british set up the factory and trading centers

The East India Company shipped spices,tea,cotton,silk,indiigo,sugar,and asltpeter

By 1818,after the Rajputs and other group agreed to be ruled by the british,Great Britain's strength in the region was undeniable

In 1796,Great Britain took possession of the island nation of Sri Lanka,then called Ceylon,and the island nation of the Maldives

Nepal,Bhutan,and Afghanistan never became colonies of Great Britain

The British tried to colonize Afghanistan

Nepal and Bhutan depended on their mountainious frontiers(국경),or borders,to keep out foreigners

Making India British

Germany brought various technologies such as its army, navy, merchants, and missionaries to India, exerting a significant influence on the country

The people's response to this was to either live as they were or follow them

Among the highest castes,parents sent their children to British schools so that they could learn English and become successful

Independence

After World War I,Indians began to think of independence

They had a great leader in Mohandas Gandhi

He used nonviolence and peaceful resistance of injustice,to impress upon the British the need for independence

He also wanted all Indians to be treated equally

He wanted women to have the same freedoms as men

He encouraged Hindus and Muslims to find peaceful ways to solve their problems

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South Asia's Governments

In a republic,the people elect leaders to represent them

Some countries,such as India,chose a parliamentary form of government

Others chose to be constitutional monarchies

In a constitutional monarchy,the king or queen serves a mostly ceremonial role,while the prime minister and cabinet actually run the government

Afghanistan

In 1964,a new constitution established a constitutional monarchy for Afghanistan

The monarchy collaspsed in 1973

In 1979,the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and established a Communist government

A UN agreement forced Soviet troops to withdraw from Afghanistan in 1989

A group of fundamentalist Muslims, the Taliban,took control of the government

Under the Taliban,people had to follow strict rules,particularly women

In 2001,the Taliban was accused of harboring terrorists responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States

Bangladesh and Bhutan

Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 and adopted its constitution in 1972

The constitution gives Bangladesh a parliamentary form of government,with a prime minister and a president

For three centuries,Bhutan was ruled jointly by two types of leaders on spiritual and the other political

In 1907 the spiritual ruler withdrew from public life,and since then Bhutan has had a king only

In 1953,an assembly,which meets twice a year to pass laws,was formed

In 1968,a Council of Ministers was created to advise the king

Pakistan

Pakistan gained independence from Great Britain in 1947

The constitution of 1947 gave Pakistan a parliamentary government

In 1958,martial law was declared

The military took control of the government and maintained power until 1988

Today,Pakistan is a republic with a prime minister and a president,both of whom must be Muslim

People in Pakistan have differing views about the role of Islam in the government

Some think Islam is what holds the people together as one nation

Others feel that Islam does not meet the needs of all the groups in the country

The Maldives,Nepal,and Sri Lanka

In 1965,the Maldives gained independence from Great Britain and became a republic three years later

The Citizens' Council has 48 members,40 elected by the people and 8 appointed by the president

The president also appoints the judges,who follow Islamic law in making their judgement

For centuries,Nepal was ruled exclusively by kings

The prime minister replaced the king as the country's ruling official

In 1962,Nepal became a constitutional monarchy and all political parties were banned

In the 1990s,the king allowed the formation of political parties

In 1948,Sri Lanka gained independence from Great Britain

Today,it's a democracy with a president as its leader

The World's Largest Democracy

India is the world's largest democracy

Approximately 370 million Indians voted in the 1999 elections

The country's official head of state is the president

India's prime minister actually runs the government

India's constitution went into effect in 1950,protecting Indians from being treated unfairly

According to the constitution,all Indians are assured the same basic rights

Democracy and Rights

India's constitution stated that even the lowest and poorest classes could vote

The poor are also represented in the government

Special programs reserve jobs for people of the lower castes secure places for them in schools

The Dalits have gained political power

They were outside the caste system and considered even lower than the lowest caste

Today,they vote for leaders,though more changes are needed to ensure the Dalits have equal rights in the government and the economy

After independence from Britain,Indian women gained many new rights

Finally,all women were granted the right to vote

Indian women began working at jobs that had been held only by men

Women became teachers and doctors

They were elected to public office

A panchayat is a village council.

Local Government

The panchayat collects taxes for maintaining schools and hospitals

It builds roads and digs wells for drinking water

The councils also take care of primary school education in India

The panchayat works on three levels

The first level represents a village or a group of small villages

The Second level is made up of panchayat chiefs from 100 villages

The third level represents an entire district

Some districts have as many as ten million people

Today,there are over 3 million panchayat representatives in India

By law,one third of them must be women

The constitution also makes room for the Dalits and other minorities to participate in the panchayat system