The Five Themes of Geography

-Period 4-

Group 4

Theme 1: Location Where is it?

Why is it there?

Two Types of Location:

~Relative

~Absolute

Absolute Location Actual spot on the planet where something is Latitude and Longitude Uses grid system Global Address

CaribbeanAbsolute Location

Caribbean 28’ N to 11’ N Latitude 90’ W to 55’ W Longitude

Relative Location

location of something in relation of another place

Caribbean 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: PlacePhysical Characteristics 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 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 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: PlaceHuman Characteristics 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 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 timberare 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

Change1. Plantation agriculture and subsistence farming shaped

Caribbean settlement patterns creating low-lying arable lands.

2. 60% of the region is classified as urban populated with as much as one million or more residents

3. . rural-to-urban migration due to mechanization of agriculture, offshore industrialization, and rapid population growth.

4. Coast of the Caribbean has major ports for European Trade

Interaction Btw. Humans & the Environment Cont. Adapt1. The put buildings on stilts because of major

flooding. 2. Since the beginning they have migrated to other

islands to try to adapt to other places.3. They originally used stones and tools as a

source for foraging and fishing but now use more advanced technology.

Physical Region 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 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

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 urbana developing region