Regional Geography
of Central America
Outline
1. Physical Characteristics
o Relative location
o Landscape and Physical Environment
o Weather and climate
2. Human Characteristics
o Population, Density and
Age/Sex characteristics
o Language and religion
o Cultural/ethnic groups
3. Economic Characteristics
o Major economic activities
o Imports and Exports
o GNP and GNP per capita
4. References
Physical
Characteristics
Guatemala encompasses an area that is fractured both in the
sense of its connectivity and its history. The country is located on the Central
American Isthmus but at the very northern edge. It is directly south of Mexico
and is bordered by many countries including Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. It covers an
area of 108,889 square kilometers, which is roughly the size of Louisiana. (Lonely
Planet)
Guatemals has a diverse and beautiful
landscape filled with lakes, volcanoes, mountains, desert
and rainforest. Most of the country
lies above the North American tectonic plate but also lies above the Cocos
plate along the Pacific coast and the Caribban plate
in the far south of the country, so the area is succeptible
to earthquakes and volcanoes which have claimed many lives over the years. The
northern part of the country houses the rainforest and the ancient Maya ruins. Here
you can see many tropical wildlife that is indigenous to the area. There are
lakes scattered across the country and each one contains crystal blue waters
and plenty of fish.
There is a spectacular chain of 30 volcanoes that runs parallel
to the Pacific coast from the Mexican border to the border with El Salvador.
(Lonely Planet)
The weather and climate of Guatemala will vary depending on the
area that you are in.
The northeastern portion of Guatemala is tropical rainforest so
there is a tropical climate with rain all year in some areas and wet and dry
seasons in others. The southwest portion of the country is also tropical but it has a distinct wet and dry season. Around Antigua there is warm to hot
summers and mild winters. (Lonely Planet)
Human
Characteristics
There are roughly 17.6 million people living in Guatemala.
Of those 17.6 million people about 35% are under age 15 and only 5% are over
age 65. The
average life expectancy of males is 69 and 76 for females. The gross national
income is $8,310 and roughly 59% of the population lives in poverty. The infant
mortality is 20 for every 1,000 live births. 51% of the population is living in
and urban area. (PRB)
There are many indigenous languages spoken around the region but Spanish is the most commonly spoken
language. There are some variations
in spoken Spanish around the region. The main religion of the area is Catholicism but Evangelical Protestants have made a surprising
growth in the area. The
majority of people in this region are Roman Catholic.
In most of these countries, the Catholic population ranges from 80 to 90
percent. Forcing the indigenous population to accept Catholicism was not an
easy task for the Spaniards. One factor, however, that made conversion possible
was that Catholicism has many saints, and the indigenous religions have many
gods. Hence, for many indigenous peoples, Catholicism has been mixed with
indigenous religions to form a combination of the two religions. In recent
years, evangelical Protestant groups have created challenges to the Catholic
Church in Central America. Protestant groups have aggressively pursued converts
in these countries. In some instances, struggles over converts have resulted in
violent conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. (Lonely Planet)
The majority of cultural and ethnic groups in this area depend on which region you are
looking at. Around Mexico City is where
the great Aztec civilization was established and a lot
of their influences are still around.
Moving further south was the Maya civilization and just like the Aztecs,
their influence on culture remains strong. (Finlayson)
Economic
Characteristics
Guatemala is considered to be part
of the developing world. There is economic diversity, however 59% of the
country lives in poverty. (Lonley Planet)
Guatemala’s trade
has been very dependent on coffee and bananas. For quite some time, coffee has
been the main source of revenue for the region with bananas at a close second. Guatemala’s
largest trade partner is the United States. (Lonely Planet)
As mentioned earlier the
GNP of Guatemala is $8,310 which makes the GNP per capita roughly $4,400. Looking at
these numbers you can see that more than half the country is living in poverty.
(PRB)
References
·
Clammer, Paul, and Ray Bartlett. Lonely Planet Guatemala.
Lonely Planet Global Limited, 2019.
·
“Data
Center: International Indicators.” Population Reference Bureau,
2019, www.prb.org/international/geography/guatemala.
·
FINLAYSON,
CAITLIN. WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY. S.n., 2019,
Pressbooks, worldgeo.pressbooks.com/chapter/middle-and-south-america/#chapter-199-section-3.
Submitted by Jennie P. on 4/23/2020.