The Five Themes of
Geography
-Period 4Group 4
Theme 1: Location
Where is it?
Why is it there?
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Two Types of Location:
~Relative
~Absolute
Absolute Location
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Actual spot on the planet where something is
Latitude and Longitude
Uses grid system
Global Address
Caribbean
Absolute Location
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Caribbean
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28’ N to 11’ N Latitude
90’ W to 55’ W Longitude
Relative Location
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location of something in relation of another
place
Caribbean
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Located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico
and Northern America, east of Central
America, and to the north of South
America, west Indies Islands borders the
Caribbean
Theme 2: Place
Physical Characteristics
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Climate: Tropical, rainfall varies with elevation. Mainly warm
and moist and trade winds blow often
Landforms: Caribbean Basin, Gulf of Darién, Mouchoir Bank,
Carmén Beach, Rosalind Bank, and many other mountains,
volcanoes, and plateaus are found here
Plants: There are over 13,000 species of plants in the
Caribbean. One of the most known is the Caribbean
Mahogany Tree. There are 6,500 single island endemic
species meaning these plants are only native to that island.
Other valuable timber found in the Caribbean is the Walnut
and West Indian ebony and poui tree.
Theme 2 Place:
Physical Characteristics
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Houses: Range from island to island depending
on economy. Some houses are small cottages,
whereas there are also villas that are worth
$179,000
Roads: Are found all over the Caribbean since
cars is the main form of transportation. Quality of
roads ranges from place to place
Buildings: Demand for buildings that are wind
resistant, and can resist winds of 150 mph. Many
are made of steel to be protected from hurricanes.
Most have heat and air conditioning.
Caribbean: Human Characteristics
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Ethnic groups: There are still tribes that exist in
the Caribbean. These include the Arawak, Taíno,
Igneri, Marcoix, and the Lucayan. The majority of
the Caribbean is African American. There is a
mixture of Dutch, English, French and Portuguese
ancestry. In addition, there is a minority of
Chinese and Indian people.
Religious groups: The Main religions are
Christianity, Hinduism, Rastafari, Islam, Santería,
and Voodoo
Theme 2: Place
Human Characteristics
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Political Learning's: Most of the states are politically
diverse. Range from Communist Cuba, to capitalist
parliamentary systems in the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Transportation: Have a lot of tourism so airports are found
often. Cars and jeeps are main form of transportation.
There are also motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, hitchhiking,
taxis and buses
Recreational Activities: Sports are: baseball, boating,
soccer, cycling, surfing, scuba diving, windsurfing, dance,
running, and etc. Other activities that are popular is
cooking.
Theme 3: Movement
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The Caribbean consists of 26 different countries that all have their own culture, but
all were highly influenced by the movement of people, such as Columbus from Spain
and other European countries.
African slaves were the first to immigrate to the Americas including the Caribbean,
because of African Diaspora, which was the forceful removal of African people from
their homeland.
The term Creolization also came about from the blending of European, African, and
some Amerindian cultures. The most common language spoken is Spanish at 24
million speakers, but French (8 million) and English (6 million) are also spoken.
Fisheries, bauxite, iron, nickel, petroleum and timber
are the key components to trade and economy for countries in the Caribbean. The
leading Caribbean export comes from Trinidad and Tobago, which contains
substantial petroleum reserves, and is regarded as the richest country in terms of
natural resources. But, in the sense as the whole Caribbean, it doesn't possess
many natural resouces.
Emigraton includes, Cubans choose to live in Miami, and most people from Puerto
Rico move into the U.S.
Theme 4: Interaction Btw. Humans &
the Environment
Change
1.
2.
3.
4.
Plantation agriculture and subsistence farming shaped
Caribbean settlement patterns creating low-lying arable
lands.
60% of the region is classified as urban populated with as
much as one million or more residents
. rural-to-urban migration due to mechanization of agriculture,
offshore industrialization, and rapid population growth.
Coast of the Caribbean has major ports for European Trade
Interaction Btw. Humans & the
Environment Cont.
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1.
2.
3.
Adapt
The put buildings on stilts because of major
flooding.
Since the beginning they have migrated to other
islands to try to adapt to other places.
They originally used stones and tools as a
source for foraging and fishing but now use
more advanced technology.
Physical Region
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The Caribbean Islands are a group of
archipelagos in the Caribbean sea.
There are Forest Islands.
Plantation Islands.
Arid areas.
And even Mountains
Political Region
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some islands are claimed by other
countries like England, Spain, and France.
Cuba is a communist
Puerto Rico is ruled by United states.
Many countries and territories are free and
independent and are struggling to meet the
needs of the people.
Cultural Region
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Creolization
Colonialism
Economic Region
the average annual growth % GDP per
capita, ranges from the bahamas with -0.1,
to guyana with 5.2
GNI goes from as low as St. Vincent and
the Grenadines with 301, to as high as the
dominican republic with 16,130
60% is urban
a developing region