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The Central America Portal

Map of Central America

Central America (Spanish: América Central [aˈmeɾika senˈtɾal] (listen) or Centroamérica [sentɾoaˈmeɾika] (listen)) is a region of North America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Central America consists of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Their combined population is estimated at 52.18 million (2022).

Central America is the southern portion of the continent of North America. It is also a part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from northern Guatemala to central Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a great deal of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which has resulted in death, injury and property damage. (Full article...)

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The Maya peoples (/ˈmaɪə/) are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical civilization. Today they inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. "Maya" is a modern collective term for the peoples of the region, however, the term was not historically used by the indigenous populations themselves. There was no common sense of identity or political unity among the distinct populations, societies and ethnic groups because they each had their own particular traditions, cultures and historical identity.

It is estimated that seven million Maya were living in this area at the start of the 21st century. Guatemala, southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, El Salvador and western Honduras have managed to maintain numerous remnants of their ancient cultural heritage. Some are quite integrated into the majority hispanicized mestizo cultures of the nations in which they reside, while others continue a more traditional, culturally distinct life, often speaking one of the Mayan languages as a primary language. (Full article...)

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Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama Mesoamerica Potbelly sculpture El Salvador national football team Mayan languages Maya stelae Hurricane Gert Maya civilization Central American squirrel monkey Final Offensive of 1981 (El Salvador) Mantled howler Convict cichlid Spanish American wars of independence Honduran white bat

Did you know...

... that the Corozal was the most powerful dredger ever built when she was launched in 1911 to work on the Panama Canal?
... that Rómulo Escobar Bethancourt led the Panamanian delegation when the Panama Canal treaties were negotiated with the United States in 1977?
... that Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro X. Molina has had to flee his home country twice in his lifetime?
... that to animate conquistadors in Jungle Cruise, frogs were recorded in a Costa Rican forest?
... that the February 28 Popular Leagues would seize foreign embassies in protest against the military junta in El Salvador?
... that the 7th Macho de Monte Infantry Company of the Panama Defense Forces was named after a tapir?
... that the Bitcoin Law would make El Salvador the first country to recognize bitcoin as legal tender?
... that peasant leader Medardo Mairena was the sixth aspiring presidential candidate in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election to be arrested?

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General images

The following are images from various Central America-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A small ceremonial ballcourt at Tikal. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 2The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
Image 3Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites, urban centers, and tourist attractions of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 420th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 5José Matías Delgado y de León listed as the intellectual leader of the independence movement; Delgado defined as influential, skillful and intelligent, he started the revolutionary movements against the Spanish crown. (from History of Central America)
Image 6Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival ^{[according to whom?]} (from Mesoamerica)
Image 7Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud (from Mesoamerica)
Image 8The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
Image 9Salvadoran School Children from Metapan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 10Rigoberta Menchú K'iche'-Guatemalan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 11Indigenous Salvadoran women dancing in the traditional "Procession of Palms" a custom celebrated in the town of Panchimalco in El Salvador. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 12Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 13One of the earliest examples of the Mesoamerican writing systems, the Epi-Olmec script on the La Mojarra Stela 1 dated to around 150 CE. Mesoamerica is one of the five places in the world where writing has developed independently. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 14Countries and capitals of Central America (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 15Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
Image 16Joya de Cerén (from Mesoamerica)
Image 17Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
Image 18Yojoa Lake in Honduras. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 19Page 9 of the Dresden Codex (from the 1880 Förstermann edition) (from Mesoamerica)
Image 20Tazumal (from Mesoamerica)
Image 21Examples of the diversity of maize (from Mesoamerica)
Image 22Mesoamerica and its cultural areas^{[according to whom?]} (from Mesoamerica)
Image 23The emblem glyph of Tikal (Mutal) (from Mesoamerica)
Image 24"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
Image 25Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
Image 26Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century (from Mesoamerica)
Image 27Holy Spirit Grotto (from Mesoamerica)
Image 28San Andres (from Mesoamerica)
Image 29The xoloitzcuintle is one of the naguales of the god Quetzalcoatl. In this form, it helps the dead cross the Chicnahuapan, a river that separates the world of the living from the dead. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 30Ballgame court at Monte Albán (from Mesoamerica)
Image 31Olmec Colossal Head No. 3 1200–900 BCE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 32Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 33Cihuatán (from Mesoamerica)
Image 34Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 35Illustration that recreates the structures of the archaeological site of Yarumela or El Chircal in Honduras, this place reflects the Olmec influence that existed in Central America in the pre-classic period. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 36Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 37El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 38Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 39Young Costa Ricans in San José. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 40Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands (from Mesoamerica)
Image 41K'inich Kan B'alam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
Image 42Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 43Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 44Casa Blanca (from Mesoamerica)
Image 45A pair of swinging Remojadas figurines, Classic Veracruz culture, 300 to 900 CE. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 46Nery Brenes Costa Rican Athlete (from Ethnic groups in Central America)

In the news

12 August 2022 – Economic impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: A Belize-flagged ship departs Chornomorsk for Turkey, becoming the first wheat export from Ukraine under a United Nations-brokered deal. (SwissInfo)
30 July 2022 –: One person is wounded in an assassination attempt on President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei. The president is unharmed. (ABC)
28 July 2022 –: Fifteen people are killed and 47 others are injured after a bus crash in Esteli, Nicaragua. (Reuters)
24 July 2022 –: Police in Honduras intensify their crackdown on gangs in response to last week's murder of the son of former president Porfirio Lobo Sosa. (Diario El Salvador)
16 July 2022 –: Protests continue in Panama with road and railways blockades, after protesters rejected president Laurentino Cortizo's concessions. (La Prensa)
12 July 2022 –: Protesters in Panama continue blocking streets and railways, mainly in Chiriquí and Veraguas Provinces, rejecting the concession by president Laurentino Cortizo of freezing fuel prices. (TeleMetro)

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v t e Central American volcanoes
Guatemala	Acatenango Agua Almolonga Atitlán Chicabal Cuilapa-Barbarena Fuego Jumay Moyuta Pacaya Santa María/Santiaguito San Pedro Santo Tomás Siete Orejas Tacaná Tajumulco Tecuamburro Tolimán
El Salvador	Chinameca Chingo Conchagua Izalco Santa Ana San Miguel San Salvador San Vicente Usulután
Nicaragua	Apoyeque Cerro Negro Concepción Cosigüina Maderas Masaya Mombacho Momotombo San Cristóbal Telica
Costa Rica	Arenal Irazú Miravalles Platanar Poás Rincón de la Vieja Tenorio Turrialba
Panama	Barú La Yeguada El Valle
Note: volcanoes are ordered from north-west to south-east.

v t e Latin American cuisine
Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten Trinidad and Tobago
Central America	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Mexico	Mexico
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
See also	Culture and society in the Spanish Colonial Americas
Dependencies not included. Semi-autonomous territories are in italics.

v t e Latin American culture
Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten Trinidad and Tobago
Central America	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Mexico	Mexico
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
See also	Culture and society in the Spanish Colonial Americas
Dependencies not included. Semi-autonomous territories are in italics.