Geography 3

Question 1

The area of California and New Mexico given by Mexico to the United States in 1848

Answer 1

Mexican Cession

Question 2

Armed rebellion in which the Mexican people fought for political and social reform

Answer 2

Mexican Revolution

Question 3

Government taking ownership of a company or industry

Answer 3

Nationalize

Question 4

What role did Father Jose Morelos play in the fight for Mexican independence?

Answer 4

He wrote a Declaration of Independence and led rebels.

Question 5

What did the leaders during the early years of Mexican independence want to achieve? Were they successful?

Answer 5

They wanted to create a stable government and no they were not successful.

Question 6

What was the Mexican Cession?

Answer 6

After Mexico lost the Mexican American war it gave up one-third of its territory. today made up of California and the Southwestern United states

Question 7

What major benefit did the Mexican Revolution bring to the people of Mexico?

Answer 7

A new constitution was approved that gave more land and writes to the poor and working class.

Question 8

How did the United States respond to efforts to nationalize industries by Central American governments?

Answer 8

The United States opposed such actions and in some cases backed the overthrow of these governments.

Question 9

During which decades did economic and political stability return to Mexico and Central America?

Answer 9

During the 1980s and 1990s.

Question 10

Which two policies of the United States helped bring prosperity to Mexico and Central America?

Answer 10

Free trade and economic investment.

Question 11

What were the main reasons for the Mexican Revolution?

Answer 11

Widespread poverty and denial of democratic rights.

Question 12

What characterized most of the governments of the region during the years after independence from Spain?

Answer 12

Instability, dictatorships, and frequent change of government

Question 13

Government controlled by a single leader

Answer 13

Dictatorship

Question 14

A complete ban on trade with a country

Answer 14

Embargo

Question 15

What were the two main groups of American Indians who first inhabited the Caribbean Islands?

Answer 15

Arawak and the Carib.

Question 16

What crop was the most important to the colonial economy in the Caribbean?

Answer 16

Sugar

Question 17

What were the three legs of the triangular trade, and what goods were traded on each?

Answer 17

The first leg brought manufactured goods from Europe to Africa. The second leg brought enslaved Africans to the Americas. The third leg brought sugar molasses to Europe.

Question 18

Which country ruled Haiti at the time of its first fight for independence?

Answer 18

France

Question 19

What prompted the United States to break away from Fidel Castro?

Answer 19

Castro’s nationalization of US owned property.

Question 20

How did the government of Cuba change after Fidel Castro took power?

Answer 20

Cuba became a communist dictatorship.

Question 20

Why did the United States place a trade embargo on Cuba?

Answer 20

It opposed communist Cuba’s policies.

Question 21

A movement of people from their homeland to other places

Answer 21

diaspora

Question 22

The spread of cultural traits from one country to another

Answer 22

Cultural diffusion

Question 23

Large-scale painting painted on a wall

Answer 23

Mural

Question 24

What decides where most people live in Mexico and Central America?

Answer 24

The location of farmland and job opportunities.

Question 25

What has helped lead to the recent rise in the population of Mexican cities near the U.S. border?

Answer 25

Job opportunities in this region.

Question 26

What groups have contributed most to Mexico’s cultural blending?

Answer 26

Mexican Indian and Spanish.

Question 27

In what way do religious traditions in Guatemala reflect a blending of cultures?

Answer 27

Stories about Maya gods have been recast to be about Catholic saints.

Question 28

What are some of the positive and negative effects of the Mexican diaspora?

Answer 28

Positive effects are: finding jobs, escaping corruption, seeding money home; Negative effects are: leaving friends and family and making a difficult journey.

Question 29

Money that people who live in another country send back to families in their home countries

Answer 29

Remittance

Question 30

Tourism that focuses on the environment and seeks to minimize environmental impact

Answer 30

Ecotourism

Question 31

Act of concentrating on a limited number of goods or activities

Answer 31

Specialization

Question 32

The state of people or countries being dependent on one another

Answer 32

Interdependence

Question 33

What effects did the shift toward democratic government in the 1990s have on countries in the region?

Answer 33

Greater Political stability and economic growth.

Question 34

What explains the political stability of Costa Rica?

Answer 34

A long tradition of elections and civilian government.

Question 35

Why do you think Rigoberta Menchu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Answer 35

Her work helped end violence in her country.

Question 36

How does Belize’s government differ from those in other Central American countries?

Answer 36

Most central American countries have Presidential democracy but Belize has a Parliamentary democracy led by a Prime Minister with the King or Queen of Britain as head of state.

Question 37

What type of economy is most common in Mexico and Central America?

Answer 37

Mixed economy

Question 38

What types of investments are needed to boost economic growth in the region?

Answer 38

Investment, Entrepreneurship, and Human Capital.

Question 39

What major change did Mexico’s leaders make in the late 1990s to improve the country’s economy?

Answer 39

They moved toward a market economy by loosening government regulations.

Question 40

What might happen to the Mexican economy if remittances were stopped?

Answer 40

Spending stimulates economic growth so the economy would probably slow down since people would have less money to buy goods and services

Question 41

What conditions have allowed Costa Rica’s economy to prosper compared to many other Central American nations?

Answer 41

A stable Political situation and high education levels have attacked foreign investment.

Question 42

What economic barriers does NAFTA limit among its members?

Answer 42

Tariffs, quotas, and embargoes

Question 43

What is the difference between the roles the governments of Mexico and Panama played in their country’s economics?

Answer 43

Compared to Mexico Panama’s government had a limited role in the country’s economy.

Question 44

What are some criticisms of free-trade agreements?

Answer 44

Workers in poor countries lose out from free-trade and countries can become too dependent on the economic success of other countries.

Question 45

Tropical cyclone that forms over the tropical Atlantic Ocean

Answer 45

Hurricane

Question 46

A language that mixes two or more parent languages

Answer 46

Creole

Question 47

Cuban religion that combines Catholic and West African beliefs

Answer 47

Santeria

Question 48

What impact do natural disasters such as hurricanes have on Caribbean Islands?

Answer 48

They bring death and injuries and harm the economy.

Question 49

How did colonialism and slavery shape the culture of the Caribbean?

Answer 49

Caribbean culture mix elements of the culture’s of past European rulers and enslaved Africans.

Question 50

What were the four main types of governments in the Caribbean nations?

Answer 50

Presidential Democracy, Constitutional Monarchy, Communists dictatorship, and Parliamentary Democracies

Question 51

Why has Cuba’s economy performed poorly?

Answer 51

The communist government's tight control of the economy has discouraged investment and entrepreneurship.

Question 52

What are the four most important examples of diversity and blending in Caribbean culture?

Answer 52

Languages, religions, art, and food.

Question 53

Why is tourism so important to the region?

Answer 53

Many country’s economies rely on tourism.

Question 54

Event marked by mud and earth sliding down hillsides onto lower areas

Answer 54

mudslide

Question 55

Process by which water, ice, or wind remove rock and soil

Answer 55

erosion

Question 56

A body of public works, such as roads, bridges, and hospitals, that a country needs to support a modern economy

Answer 56

Infrastructure

Question 57

A group of businesses that control an industry

Answer 57

Cartel

Question 58

A wide gap in access to the internet

Answer 58

Digital divide

Question 59

What natural environmental challenges do all the nations of Middle America face?

Answer 59

Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes

Question 60

How is deforestation connected to agriculture?

Answer 60

People sometimes clear forests to use the land for farming but this can cause soil erosion.

Question 61

How have Mexico City officials tried to solve the pollution problem?

Answer 61

They sometimes ban a large number of vehicles from city streets.

Question 62

What are five of the region’s main economic challenges?

Answer 62

Poverty, Lack of education, Income inequality, Poor Infrastructure, and Crime Corruption.

Question 63

How does poverty harm a country’s economy?

Answer 63

Poverty limits educational opportunities and dieverts government resources.

Question 64

How are the causes of mudslides and erosion different?

Answer 64

Earthquakes can cause mudslides. Erosion can result from natural processes or human actions.

Question 65

What social problems do drug cartels create for countries in Middle America?

Answer 65

Drug cartels are responsible for thousands of murders and other illegal activities.