Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Caribbean History Practice Exam

The first group of people migrated to the Americas primarily via the Bering Strait, which served as a land bridge known as Beringia during the last Ice Age. This land bridge connected what is now Siberia in Russia to Alaska in the United States, allowing prehistoric people to cross from Asia to North America. This migration likely occurred around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago when lower sea levels exposed the land bridge due to glaciation.

The geographical context of the other options highlights their inapplicability to the earliest migrations. The Atlantic Ocean was not a viable route for migration into the Americas at that time, as it represented a significant barrier rather than a passage due to the distance and lack of navigational technology. Similarly, the Panama Canal, constructed much more recently in the early 20th century, did not exist when the first people entered the continent. The Gulf of Mexico is also not directly related to the initial migration patterns of these early inhabitants, as the primary route was overland through Beringia instead of via oceanic or coastal paths.