Geography

The geography group has been looking at Central America, that interesting but little-known strip of land which links the two major American continents and whose shores are washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Just off the western coastline two tectonic plates are colliding, so nearly all of these seven countries have a line of active volcanoes running from north-west to south-east. On the other side of the isthmus lies the Atlantic “hurricane alley” where huge storms are generated and sweep through the Caribbean.

The original population of Central America was Amerindian, but the Spanish Conquistadors subjugated Mexico in 1521 and then moved southwards, brutally laying waste to the land and enslaving the local people. To this day, the Amerindian people find themselves on the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder, while the rulers are mostly of European stock. The official language is Spanish and the predominant religion Roman Catholic. Only Belize escaped Spanish domination, mainly because it had no gold or silver!

The volcanic soils are very fertile and all these countries rely on exporting coffee, bananas, sugar and palm oil to the United States. All are very poor economically and consequently are politically quite unstable. They have been beset by civil wars, drug gangs and general corruption. Costa Rica is a notable exception. It is democratic and peaceful and is one of the very few countries which has no army. Unsurprisingly it is a popular tourist destination.

Jill Taylor

At the beginning of this year we spent 3 months learning and teaching each other about the countries of Central Asia. Our first task was to master the spelling of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan etc. The ancient Silk Road, which links China to the Middle East and Europe, has run through this part of the world for over 2000 years, and consequently its peoples have had a very chequered history. They have been overrun and conquered many times by various nomadic tribes, notably Genghis Khan in the thirteenth century.

From the eighteenth century until their independence in 1991, they came under the rule of the Russian Empire, latterly the USSR. A variety of local languages are spoken and the majority religion is Islam. Armenia is an interesting exception to this, having become, in 301 A.D., the first country ever to declare Christianity to be its state religion. Today 95% of Armenians are members of the Armenian Church, which is separate from the Greek and Russian Orthodox and from the Western Christian churches.

The Central Asian countries are situated just where the Indian tectonic plate is colliding with the Eurasian plate and so they suffer frequent earthquakes. But this geological fact also means that they are rich in fossil fuels and in rare and valuable metals, especially gold and uranium.

Large areas are desert and a lot of the land is mountainous, but the valleys are very fertile and fruit and vegetables are plentiful. Rice and wheat are staples, and grapes, apricots, sunflowers and almonds grow in abundance.

We were surprised to learn that Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are important exporters of cotton.

But the production of cotton has had a serious impact on the Aral Sea because the rivers which feed it have been diverted, especially in the Soviet era, to irrigate the cotton fields. The Aral Sea used to be the 4^th largest freshwater lake in the world but it is now only a tenth of its original size as can be seen in this video:

https://scroll.in/video/815731/watch-this-timelapse-video-by-nasa-captures-the-horrifying-shrinking-of-the-aral-sea

These are just a few of the interesting facts we discovered in researching Central Asia. Before we began we weren’t even quite sure where these countries were on the map. Now we are much more aware of their existence and some of the problems they face today.

Jill Taylor

The new geography group decided to spend its first three months studying some of the South Pacific Islands. Many of them were visited by Captain Cook and became part of the British Empire but gained their independence in the 1960s and 1970s.

A few of us had been lucky enough to visit that part of the world, so we heard first-hand accounts of life in New Caledonia (which has just voted to reject independence and remain French), Fiji and Samoa.

We found that, although the islands are exceptionally beautiful and the people warm and friendly, life there is not always easy. All the islands sit on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and many, especially Tonga, suffer frequent volcanic eruptions and earth tremors. This is also a part of the Earth where typhoons are common and whole villages of flimsy housing can be flattened.

Most of the islands’ economies are dependent upon foreign aid from New Zealand, Australia, and increasingly, China. One or two have deposits of gold and copper, but most make their living from tourism, agriculture and fisheries. They export coconuts, papaya, coffee, timber, palm oil, sugar and pearls, but income from fisheries is declining as fish stocks are depleted and the sea fills up with plastic.
As sea levels rise, some of the lower lying coral atolls are disappearing and villagers will have to be re-housed on other islands. Kiribati is particularly at risk, as only one of its 32 islands has a significant area of land which is more than 3 metres above sea level.

We found studying and discussing these islands’ history, economies, climate and current affairs fascinating. There is so much more to learn about them, and we shall all be much more aware of what is going on in that part of the world in the future.

Jill Taylor