history 15.3

Mexico, __________ America, and the West _________ are often called _________ America because they lie between the US and South America.

Canada and the United States are called ______-_________, because English is the main language of these countries.

The part of the New World that lies south of the United States is called ______ _______.

The part of the New World that lies south of the US is called Latin America because _______ and other languages developed from Latin are the main tongue of most nations there today.

There are many factors that distinguish Latin America from Anglo-America. For example, _________ ______ is the main religion in Latin America, while __________ prevails in Canada and the United States.

_______, the souther neighbor of the United States, was first inhabited by Indian tribes.

A nomadic tribe from the south, had come to power. The early ________ settled in central and southern Mexico in an area called the Valley of Mexico.

By the 1400's, the Aztecs had established a powerful empire with a magnificent capital, ________ on the site where Mexico City stands today.

The Aztecs had no alphabet, but they invented _____ and _______ for their words.

Spanish explorers discovered Mexico in _____.

The Spanish explorer _________ _________ sailed to Mexico in 1519 to find gold and silver.

The Aztec emperor who gave Cortes and his men gifts of gold and silver

Shaped like a cornucopia with two large peninsulas

Mexico's two large peninsulas

The ______ _______ ("Great River") forms part of this border.

Near the southern end of Mexico, the ________ of __________ is only 137 miles wide. This narrow isthmus separates the Gulf of _______ from the ________ ______.

One of the most mountainous countries in the world

The ________ ________ _________ or western mountain range, includes some of Mexico's most rugged land.

Eastern mountain range

Lies between the mountain ranges and is where most of Mexico's people live.

Mexico's capital

Northern half of Mexico is mostly _______. Here, the ___________ Desert, the ____________ Desert cover a lot of the land

In the _____, especially along the Caribbean coastal plain, there are lush ______ _______ filled with some of the most colorful brids in the world.

Mexico leads the world in the mining and producing of _____.

one of Mexcio's greatest natural resources.

There are more than 1,000 kinds of ______ plants in Mexico's deserts.

The ________ "little candle" is a desert plant which looks like a candle and has many thin, pencil-like stems that are coated with wax that helps conserve its moisture.

The people of Mexico are of three main groups: ________, ________ and _______.

a mixture of Indian and European ancestry.

The capital of Mexico and third largest city in the world.

a nap

tall hat with a wide brim

very popular in mexico.