How does the Gulf of Mexico differ from the Caribbean Sea?

Answer 1

First, the common traits. Mexico and Cuba are both Latin American countries, meaning a majority of people who speak Spanish, profess the Roman Catholic religion and at some point during their respective histories, were conquered, colonized and finally gained their independence from Spain. While both nations have been blessed with a higher income than most of the developing countries in the world, these nations have lacked enough investment to put such resources to work and help improve the economic situation of both Mexicans and Cubans alike.

Now, on the differences. Mexico is a North American country with access to the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, while Cuba is a Caribbean island with access to both the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Both are republics, but Mexico is a federation of 31 independent states and one federal district while Cuba is a socialist state with 15 provinces and one special municipality. The racial make up of Mexico is predominantly of mestizo (60%), Amerindian people (30%) and Europeans (9%) while the Cuban people have a different mix of ethnicities including Europeans (64%), mestizo (27%) and people of African (9%) ancestry. In general terms, Mexico is more economically developed than Cuba.

Finally, some statistics:

• Population: (both July 2015 est.)
  • Mexico: 121,736,809
  • Cuba: 11,031,433
• Land area:
  • Mexico: 1,972,550 sq km (761,606 sq mi)
  • Cuba: 110,860 sq km (42,803 sq mi)
• Gross Domestic Product:
  • Mexico: US$2,143 billion (11th in the world)
  • Cuba: US$128.5 billion (75th in the world).
• GDP Per Capita:
  • Mexico: US$17,900
  • Cuba: US$10,200
• Median Age:
  • Mexico: 27.3 years
  • Cuba: 39.9 years

Answer 2

Although these regions were once conquered and/or settled by Spanish conquistadors during the Age of Discovery, inheriting their language, religion and some cultural traits, each country within the region began to differ in specific customs depending on local, previously existing ethnic groups as well as local environment variables.

For example, Mexico was home to two major ethnic groups, being the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. As the Mayan influence extended between southern Mexico and northern Central America, some cultural, linguistic and ethnic traits are shared among these countries. However, as Mexico also was home to the Aztec civilization, it has many other traits not present on its southern neighbors.

Answer 3

The most important is that Mexico is a country, while the Caribbean is a body of water. Also, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has coastline along the Caribbean Sea. However, if you mean "Caribbean" as the different islands and countries along the Caribbean Sea, you also mean what cultural differences exist between such region and Mexico. In that case, all these countries fall into the cultural bloc called Latin America, where most of these countries share some common traits:

Most of them speak Spanish, Portuguese or French, which are languages originated from ancient Latin (hence the name Latin America).

Most of them are composed by a racial mix of Amerindian, white and black people, depending on the specific country. For instance Haiti is composed by an overwhelmingly black majority, while countries like Mexico or Guatemala have a population composed by mestizo people (mix of white and Amerindian).

Most of the people from these countries profess Roman Catholicism, and in some specific areas, Protestantism is also common.

Besides that, most countries are pretty different from each other, and have many different customs and cultural traits unique to each society. For instance, the gastronomy: Mexico is a country where chili peppers are common to spice up foods, while other countries in the region don't even know what a chile is.

Answer 4

Central America used to belong to the New Spain, as present-day Mexico was known until 1821 until its independence from Spain was attained. Therefore, both Mexico and Central America share common traits such as language (Spanish), religion (Roman Catholicism) and customs inherited from the colonial days, when the region was controlled by the Spanish Crown. However, since the region split off from Spain, each country acquired traits on its own. For example, mariachis are almost non-existent in Central America.

Answer 5

Well besides several prominent cultural and demographic differences, Venezuela is the only country on record to ever experience a Mega piranha crisis.