Semester Tes geography Flashcards
Latitude runs?
Latitude measures?
Runs east to west
Measures North to South
What is Latitudes 0 called?
Equator
Longitude runs?
Longitude measures?
Runs North to South
Measures East to West
The starting point of longitude?
Prime Meridian
Latitude lines can also be referred to as?
Parallels
Longitude can also be referred to as?
Meridians
Locations found between 0 and 30 are called?
Low latitudes
Locations found between 30 and 60 are called?
Middle Latitudes
Locations found between 60 and 90 are called?
High latitudes
The 4 things that affect the climate?
(Explain)
Ocean current- bring cold air in the summer and warm air in the winter, keeps a mild temp
Rainfall- little to no rainfall: dry and humid
Landforms- Mountians can trap clouds making one side dry on side wet
Proximity to the equator- if your closer to the equator it will be warmer
What were the Spanish explorers that came from Spain to North America called?
Conquistadors
What is the merging of cultures called?
Cultural Convergence
What is a local military leader?
Caudillo
What are the grassy plains in central North America called?
Pampas
Islands made of coral are called?
Cay
Naturally occurring underwater structures made out of tiny Dead Sea animals?
Coral
Definition of Tropical storms?
Winds on average 39mph
Def of Hurricane
Winds 74mph and up to
The name of the ocean current that warms?
El Niño
The uppermost layer of the trees?
Canopy
People of Native American and European descent?
Mestizo
People of African and European descent?
Mulatto
Def of a Market Economy?
Decisions about production, price, and other economic factors are determined by the law of supply and demand
Def of GDP per capita?
Total value of goods and services
Def of command economy?
A single central government makes economic decisions
Def of Traditional economy?
Families produce goods and services for their own use
Physical characteristics of North America
The Andes mountains, Amazon basin
Climates of North America
Dry and Arid (Lima, Peru)
Wet and tropical (Amazon basin)
Ecosystems in North America
Amazon Rainforest, Grasslands
What two mountain ranges dominate Mexico?
Sierra Madre Oriental
Sierra Madre Occidental
An area of land that is high and flat?
Plateau
An area of land that juts out into any body of water?
Peninsula
The four tectonic plates that intersect the central plateau of Mexico?
North American Plate
Caribbean Plate
Pacific Plate
Cocos Plate
Tectonic plates cause?
Earthquakes and Volcanoes
The four geographic regions of Mexico?
Northern Pacific Coast
Southern Pacific coast
Gulf Coastal Plain
Yucatán Peninsula
What geographic region of Mexico is Irrigation essential to?
Northern Pacific Coast
What geographic region of Mexico is tourism important in?
Southern Pacific Coast
Which geographic region of Mexico is one of the world’s major oil-producing regions?
Gulf coastal plain
What three cultures make up Mexico?
Native Americans
Spanish
Mestizo
What was the name of the Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs?
Hernan Cortez
What Native American group dominated central Mexico?
Aztec
The people born in Spain— who held high official positions?
Peninsulares
People of Spanish Ancestry born in the Americas?
Criollos
What was the name of large estates of land usually run as farms or cattle ranches?
Haciendas
What was the labor system established in the Americas, which used Native Americans as slaves called?
Ecomienda
The criollo priest who called for rebellion against the Spanish rule?
Miguel Hidalgo
When was the Mexican Revolution?
1910
When the revolution ended what government was put in place?
A democratic government
What political party dominated Mexican politics for many decades?
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The act of buying and breaking up large haciendas which were then given to landless farmers was called?
Land redistribution
Farmland owned collectively by members of a rural community?
Ejidos
Growing only enough crops to feed yourself and your family?
Subsistence Farming
Commercial farms owned by a private individual or farming company?
Latifundias
Farm crops grown for sale and profit?
Cash crops
Workers who traveled from place to place in search of work where called?
Migrant farmers
NAFTA stands for?
North American Free Trade Agreement
What countries are apart of NAFTA?
United States, Canada, and Mexico
Factories that assemble products almost exclusively for out of country consumers?
Maquiladoras
Mexicos most important economic activities?
Oil and Tourism
A narrow strip of land that connects two larger bodies of land?
Isthmus
The three major land forms in Central America?
Mountainous Core
Caribbean Lowlands
Pacific Coastal Plain
Four groups of people in Central America?
Europeans
Native American
Mestizo
African
The name of armed forests outside of the regular army?
Guerrilla
A military Dictator
Caudillo
The network of services that support a community?
Infrastructure
Tremors that can occur after an Earthquake?
After shocks
A sudden fall of a mass of ice and snow?
Avalanche
The Caribbean island can be divided into what 3 groups?
The Bahamas
The Lesser Antilles
The Great Antilles
Countries in the greater Antilles?
Cuba
Jamaica
Puerto Rico
Haiti
Dominican Republic
Central America is made up of a mass of islands also referred to as an?
Archipelago
Types of islands in Central America?
Mountain tops
Coral
Active Volcanoes
Def of Windward?
Faces the wind —> 200 inches of rain
(North and East side)
Def of Leeward?
Facing away from the wind—> 30 inches of rain
(South and West sides)
Why did Africans come to the Caribbean?
Brought as slaves to work on plantations
Why did Asians come to the Caribbean?
Came on their own after slavery was abolished to work on plantations
What do farmers plant and cell in North America (3)?
Sugar
Coconuts
Rice
—-
Cotton
Bananas
Coca
