Geography: Location, History and Human Impact

• Mnemonics aid in remembering items like 4th-grade spelling words.
• Geography's definition extends beyond memorizing capitals and factoids.
• It addresses fundamental questions about Earth's history, human impact on environments, and the formation of geographical features.

Geography's Scope

• Geography encompasses Earth's 4.5 billion-year history and future predictions.
• The goal is to highlight the most interesting and awe-inspiring aspects of Geography.

US-Guatemala Banana Trade

• Knowing the volume of the US-Guatemala banana trade is a trivia-worthy fact.
• Geography uses questions to understand the links between people and the physical world.

Guatemala's Geographical Location

• Guatemala is in Central America, between North and South America.
• It is known for rainforests and great biodiversity.
• Guatemala is located between 13°45’ and 17°48’ north latitude and 88°14’ and 92°13’ west longitude.
• Geographic coordinates pinpoint places of interest, from Volcan de Fuego to Mayan ruins at Tikal.

Guatemala's Physical Environment

• Guatemala's climate, landforms, and waterways are notable physical features.
• The country is mountainous and contains both active and dormant volcanoes, which provide fertile soil.

Banana Growth Requirements

• Bananas need a constant temperature between 20 and 35 degrees Celsius.
• Most of Guatemala’s tropical regions range between 18 and 35 degrees.
• Bananas need about 170 centimeters of rain a year.
• Most of Guatemala gets between 70 and 200 centimeters.
• Bananas need well-drained soils rich in potassium.
• Guatemala's volcanoes spew rocks rich in iron, magnesium, and potassium.

Identifying Space

• Identifying space involves understanding features and relationships in a given area.
• Space refers to specific locations on Earth's surface.
• Pinpointing locations of interest is necessary to answer a question.
• Defining and measuring areas is aided by maps and satellite images.

Guatemala's Cultural and Historical Context

• Guatemala has been home to indigenous peoples like Mayan groups (K’iche’, Kaqchikel, Mam) and non-Mayan groups (Xinca).
• The region is known for Mayan empires and empires created by Spanish colonizers.
• Cuauhtemallan was the name given to the area by Tlaxcalan warriors with Spanish Conquistadors.
• Guatemala has many names and meanings to different people.

Understanding Place

• Place is the attached value, meaning, and emotion to a location that can’t be measured.
• Place is the significance attached to a specific space.
• Bananas aren’t native to Guatemala or the Americas.
• Bananas were brought to Central America in the 1500s from areas near present-day Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Human-Environment Interactions

• In Guatemala, almost one out of every three people in the workforce works in agriculture as of 2020.
• Human-environment interactions are how humans connect with and live within the environment
• Human-environment interactions also include and the impact the environment has on lives, choices.
• Humans might decide to grow bananas in Guatemala due to flat land, fertile soil, and suitable climate.

US Banana Imports from Guatemala

• The US imports bananas from Guatemala each year because there are no tariffs or import restrictions, and transportation costs are fairly low.
• Other banana hotspots are farther away, so transportation is more expensive.
• The agriculture industry in Guatemala relies on the plantation system. Plantations arrived in Guatemala with European explorers colonizing the Americas.
• A plantation is a large-scale commercial enterprise that produces one crop and mostly exports it.
• Plantations have had long-lasting consequences.

History of Bananas in the US & Guatemala

• Bananas became popular in the late 19th century in the United States as a “rare and delicious treat”, even though they’d long been a diet staple in many tropical regions.
• Minor C. Keith and Andrew Preston started importing bananas from around Latin America.
• The two men were forced to merge their lucrative banana empires in 1899.
• The Tropical Trading and Transport Company in Central America joined with the Boston Fruit Company.
• The merged company was called the United Fruit Company.
• In 1901 the author O. Henry described countries like Honduras and Guatemala as “banana republics” because of the fruit companies vast control over many nations.
• In 1904, Keith, as vice president of United Fruit, signed an exclusive deal with President Manuel Estrada Cabrera.
• The deal gave the company tax-exemptions, land grants, and control of all railroads on the Atlantic side of Guatemala.
• By the 1930s United Fruit was the largest landholder in Guatemala.
• The corporation became embroiled in violent disputes
  • The 1928 Banana Massacre in Colombia
  • The 1934 Great Banana Strike that eventually led to the creation of trade unions in Costa Rica
  • In 1954 they lobbied the US government to stage a coup and depose the Guatemalan president when hoarded United Fruit land was being redistributed.
• A US-backed military dictatorship didn’t actually help their stock value, but such a big and profitable company had connections across the US government
• Agreements persist in some form or other today.
• The US still gets most of its bananas from Guatemala.
• The United Fruit Company eventually became Chiquita Brands International in 1984.
• Chiquita Brands International is still the number one US supplier of bananas today.
• Banana plantations have significantly influenced unequal distribution of land and wealth.
• Unequal distribution of land and wealth has led to peasant uprisings, repressive military regimes, and the growing economic inequalities in Guatemala.
• With fertile soil, the political power structure, the rise of colonialism, and Europeans creating plantations, bananas have been stamped into Guatemalan history.

Geography's Broader Implications

• Geography is not just the factoid but the story that surrounds it.
• Bananas, the Nile River valley, or heat islands in Chicago provide interesting Geography topics

The Essence of Geography

• Geography looks at the big picture – the confluence of space, place, and the human and environment interactions.
• Geography is a spatial science that explores how things vary by place and asks “why here?”
• No two places are the same, but learning about one place can explain what is happening in another.
• Geography seeks connections between physical processes and human use/interaction with the Earth.
• Maps are useful tools for geographers and tell their own story.
• Maps can represent geopolitical divisions decided without original inhabitants' input
• Geographical place names don't reflect the Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples languages.