Mexico-Guided Notes
Mexico-our southern neighbor
 Mexico has a long and colorful history.
 Over 500 years ago, people from ____________________________ sailed to Mexico.
 Before that, Mexico had some of the world’s greatest ___________________________.
 Today, Mexico is a highly industrialized.
 Mexico is an important source of workers, resources, and food for the ______________
___________________.
Mexico-Geography statistics
 Population: ___________________________________
 Area: 754,120
 Length of Coastline: 5,794 miles
 Length of Roads: 155,250 miles
 Longest River: _________ __________________ (1,900 miles)
 Highest Mountain: Pico de Orizaba (18,700 ft.)
 Major Cities: Mexico City (capital), Guadalajara, Puebla, Monterrey
 Major Religions: Roman _____________________________, Protestant Christian
 Major languages: Spanish, native languages
 Official Currency: Peso
 Workforce: ___________ million
Where is Mexico Located?
 Mexico is just south of the United States.
 It is shaped like a __________________________.
 Mexico is the widest in the north where it borders the United States.
 That border is 1,429 miles long.
 In the south Mexico is bordered by the Central American countries of Belize and
Guatemala.
 The Pacific Ocean borders Mexico on the west and the ______________ of
_________________ borders it on the east.
PHYSICAL REGIONS OF MEXICO
 CENTRAL PLATEAU-The largest region in Mexico.
 ___________________________ PLAINS REGION- form a rim around the central
region of plateau and mountains.
 DESERT REGION-This is in the northwestern part of Mexico.
 YUCATAN __________________________ REGION-This region is in the
southeastern part of Mexico.
Central plateau region
 A plateau is an area of ____________________ _______________________.
 The plateau is divided into two parts.
 The northern half is dry and farmers must use ______________________ in order to
raise crops.
 The southern half of the plateau is higher than the northern half.
 This area gets more rain so more crops are grown, especially corn.
 The southern half is Mexico’s _________________________.
Central plateau region
 Most of Mexico’s people live in the southern part of this region.
 In this southern part is the _____________________ of Mexico.
 This valley is 50 miles long and 40 miles wide.
 Mexico City, the __________________ of Mexico, is located in this large valley.
 Mexico City is the 3rd larges city in the World.
 It is bigger than any city in the United States.
 There are over ______ ______________________ people in Mexico City.
Central plateau region
 This area of Mexico has many active __________________________.
 Some of these volcanoes are active enough to produce lava.
 The Central Plateau also has many _____________________________.
 Earthquakes happen when the Earth’s plates shift.
 Four important ________________________ plates come together in Mexico.
Coastal plains region
 This area is divided up into two coastal regions.
 The eastern coastal ___________________ runs along the Gulf of Mexico, from the
Texas border to the Yucatan Peninsula.
 This plain is warm and the southern half is a jungle.
 The western coastal plain along the ____________________ is more narrow and dry
than the gulf coastal plain.
 Farmers use irrigation to grow cotton, wheat, and other ____________________.
Desert region
 The largest desert in this region is called the ____________________________ Desert.
 Another desert lies in the most western part of Mexico.
 This desert is called ________________ California.
 Baja California is a peninsula, which means that it is a strip of land surrounded by water
on three sides.
 Few people live in this _____________________.
Yucatan peninsula region
 This area is near the coast and somewhat flat.
 ___________________________ rock formed most of the peninsula.
 This soft rock dissolves in water.
 Because of this there are huge underground _______________________.
 These are some of the biggest caves in the world.
 This area is not good for farming, so there is a small ____________________________
that lives here.
Mountains in Mexico
 This is Mexico’s main physical feature.
 High mountain ranges rise on the east, west, and south of the Central ______________.
 The Sierra Madre _________________________ (The Eastern Sierras) is the southern
part of the Rocky Mountains that are in the United States.
 The Sierra Madre ________________________ (The Western Sierras) continues in
California as the Sierra Nevada range.
 __________________________ forests cover the northern part of the Sierra Madre
Occidental.
Mountains in Mexico
 The Madre del Sur (The Southern Sierras) extend to the _______________________ of
Tehuantepec.
 An isthmus is narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas.
 A narrow ______________ separates these mountains from the Pacific Ocean.
 Tropical rain forests cover the Southern Sierras.
 This type of thick forest grows in warm areas where a great deal of ____________ falls.
Mexico’s tallest mountains
 Mexico’s tallest mountain is ______________ de _____________________, which is an
old volcano.
 It is 18,700 feet high.
 The people of Mexico City can see two snow-covered mountains from their homes.
 One is Popocatepetl, which means “_____________________ Mountain”.
 The other is Ixtacihuatl, which means “___________________ Mountain”.
Coast Resorts in Mexico
 Mexico has a long _________________________ with some of the world’s most
beautiful beaches.
 The government of Mexico has developed some beaches into resorts.
 ____________________ is a popular resort on the Yucatán Peninsula in the east on the
Gulf of Mexico.
 Acupulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan are other resorts in the west on the
____________________ Ocean.
Major bodies of water in Mexico
 No major rivers cross Mexico.
 Most rivers are short and drop quickly from the high mountains to the coast, or they
drain into large lakes.
 The largest lakes in Mexico are Lake ____________________ in the state of Jalisco and
Lake Patzcuaro in Michoacan.
 The Rio Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) is the ____________________ river in Mexico
and forms part of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
Climate in Mexico
 Much of Mexico has a _____________ climate.
 This is a dry climate that is usually found near deserts.
 Mexican deserts have a little more rain than other deserts in the world.
 They are still very dry because of the high ____________________ that surround them.
 The steppe can get very hot and cold with ____________________________ as high as
90◦ F. and as cold as 32◦
Climate in Mexico
 Some of Mexico’s coastal areas have a tropical ___________________________ climate.
 They are hot all year around.
 These areas receive a lot of rain, but have a drier season during the winter.
 The savanna is a place where there is lots of tall ___________ with a few ___________.
Mountains and climate
 Without mountains, Mexico would be hot most of the time.
 Temperature usually gets hotter the closer a place is to the _______________________.
 However, altitude affects climate as well.
 ______________________ is the height a place is above sea level.
 A high altitude brings cooler temperatures.
 Rainfall also usually increases at a high altitude.
 Because mountains cover Mexico, its climate can be both _________ and ___________.
Mexico’s altitudinal zones
 Three names are given to the three different zones of altitude that exist in Mexico
 Tierra _________________-these are the hot areas at lower altitudes.
 Tierra ___________________-between 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. There areas
are not to hot or cold. This is where most of Mexico’s people live.
 Tierra ______________-altitudes over 8,000 feet where it is colder and frost may form.
The culture of Mexico
 Before Europeans came to Mexico, many ______________________ groups lived there.
 They lived in villages and farmed the land.
 Others developed large ____________________.
 An empire is a nation that rules a large area of land.
 The Mayans built an empire in the Yucatan and Guatemala.
 The ____________________ and Toltecs formed empires in the Valley of Mexico.
The culture of Mexico
 At one time, millions of native people lived in Mexico.
 Europeans brought _____________, such as measles and smallpox.
 These killed many native people.
 As many as _________ percent of them died by the end of the 1500’s.
 Descendants of these native people make up 10% of the population.
 These people have kept much of their culture because they live in rural, _____________
areas.
Mestizos
 In 1519, a Spaniard named Hernando ______________________ sailed to Mexico.
 He met the Aztecs, who were the native people of the area.
 He also met some smaller native groups who did not like the Aztecs.
 These smaller groups helped Cortes defeat the _____________________.
Mestizos
 More and more Spaniards arrived in Mexico.
 Some of them married native women.
 These people of mixed European and native ancestry are called ___________________.
 About _________% of the Mexican people are mestizos.
 Their culture is a blend between the two cultures they came from, but they tend to be
more European than native.
 Some are _________________, while others are poor.
Other cultures in Mexico
 About 15% of the Mexican people are neither native people nor mestizos.
 This 15% is made up of ________________________.
 Most of them come from countries in Central America.
 Some came to escape political troubles, or to find better jobs.
 People from Japan, _________________________, Spain, and the United States.
 Most of them are sent there by the _______________________________ they work for.
Languages in Mexico
 Because Spain ruled Mexico for many years, _________________ is its official language.
 The government, businesses, and schools use Spanish.
 Many native people speak their native languages.
 There are as many as __________ native languages spoken in Mexico.
 Over a million native people only speak their native languages.
 Words like ____________________ and __________________ come from the language
of the Aztecs, not from Spanish.
Religion in Mexico
 The Spanish also brought their religion to Mexico.
 More than ________% of the people in Mexico are Roman Catholic.
 Some of the poor have gone away from the Catholic church and joined
________________ churches.
 Many people in ___________________ areas belong to these protestant religions.
Population trends in Mexico
 In the last 100 years Mexico’s population has exploded.
 In 1900, Mexico had 13 million people, today the population is close to
______________ million.
 Nearly 1/3 of the population is under the age of ___________.
 This growth has caused problems like high unemployment.
 The ____________________________ struggles to provide basic services for its people.
Mexico City
 This is a city of many __________________________________.
 It has beautiful tree-lines streets and tall buildings.
 It also has some of the worst _____________________ in the world.
 Slums are poor, overcrowded areas.
 Mexico City has many busy, noisy city markets
 There are many horrible ________________ jams that are much worse than U.S. Cities.
Other major cities in Mexico
 ____________________________ is Mexico’s second largest city. It is also located on
the Central Plateau. It is an important and growing industrial center.
 ________________________ is the largest city in Northern Mexico. It produces much
of Mexico’s steel and iron.
 Tampico and Vera Cruz are Mexico’s biggest ports. Both sit on the Gulf of Mexico.
Vera Cruz is a major rail center.
 _______________________________, on the Pacific coast, is also an important port.
Oil in Mexico
 The most important ____________________ resource Mexico has is oil.
 Most of the oil that has been discovered is along the Gulf of Mexico.
 Most of the oil and natural gas fields are located _________________________.
 Offshore means that they are in water not land.
 Mexico’s economy depends a lot on oil.
 A lot of gas and oil is exported to the _________________________.
Other natural resources
 Mexico has many __________________________ resources.
 Minerals are materials that are valuable, solid, and found in the earth.
 Workers in Mexico mine uranium, mercury, iron ore, coal, zinc, copper, lead, and silver.
 Mexico is the worlds leading producer of ___________________.
 The biggest mining regions are in the Central Plateau and the Sierra Madre Occidental.
 Mexico also has large ________________________ resources.
Land reform in Mexico
 Only about 12 percent of Mexico’s land can be used for _______________________.
 About 25% of Mexico’s people are farmers.
 At one time rich landowners controlled almost all the land.
 In 1910, there was a _____________________________.
 A revolution is the overthrowing of a government.
 Because of this revolution, land reform occurred that took land from the wealthy and
gave it to the _______________________.
Manufacturing in Mexico
 The largest manufacturing industry in Mexico is producing ______________ products.
 Other important manufacturing products are cars, textiles, chemicals, food products,
electrical goods, glass, and paper.
 There are many _______________________-owned assembly plants near the U.S.Mexico border.
 Companies from the U.S. produce goods in ___________________ and then sell the
finished goods in the United States.
Service industries in Mexico
 A Service industry is a job or business that provides a service directly to a customer.
 The biggest service industries are ________________, banking, and insurance.
 Tourism is the biggest service industry because tourists come to Mexico for the
sunshine, beautiful beaches, and scenery.
 They also visit the remains of Mexico’s ancient _________________.
NAFTA
 Mexico, the United States, and Canada signed the North America Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994.
 These means that these three countries got rid of trade __________________________.
 A barrier divides one thing from another.
 Trade barriers divide countries because they limit ______________________ or put
special taxes on them.
NAFTA
 Products from all three NAFTA countries cross international borders easily.
 Mexico does more than _____________-__________________ of its trade with the U.S.
 Mexico hopes that the U.S. will trade more with them.
 They also hope U.S. companies will continue to invest __________________ in Mexico.
 This would lead to more ________________ for people in Mexico.
Poverty in Mexico
 There is a great gap between the rich and poor in Mexico.
 At least ___________ percent of Mexico’s population today lives in poverty.
 Rural areas experience a lot of poverty.
 Millions of ________________, Mexico’s small farmers and farm workers, remain poor.
 The poorest people in Mexico are its ______________________ people.
Other problems in Mexico
 In 1994, a group called the _________________________ raised and army and tried to
overthrow the government.
 They were upset over _________________ and the government’s treatment of the poor.
 A lot of poor people have turned to the drug trade to make money.
 The sale and distribution of ____________________ drugs has not been stopped by the
U.S. and Mexican governments. It is not easy to do this.
Foreign debt
 This is the money a country __________ to other governments.
 In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Mexico borrowed huge sums of money to pay for industrial
development.
 Mexico owes a large amount of money.
 Because of this _______________, the government cut back on imports, medical care,
education, and elderly care.
Environmental problems in Mexico
 ____________ pollution is a serious problem in Mexico City.
 It may cause up to 100,000 deaths a year.
 Millions of tons of untreated waste flow into rivers each year.
 Mexico City produces 11,000 tons of __________________ everyday, but only 75
percent of it is actually collected.