Portal:Central America

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Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from southern Mexico to southeastern Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage.

In the pre-Columbian era, Central America was inhabited by the Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica to the north and west and the Isthmo-Colombian peoples to the south and east. Following the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the Americas, Spain began to colonize the Americas. From 1609 to 1821, the majority of Central American territories (except for what would become Belize and Panama, and including the modern Mexican state of Chiapas) were governed by the viceroyalty of New Spain from Mexico City as the Captaincy General of Guatemala. On 24 August 1821, Spanish Viceroy Juan de O'Donojú signed the Treaty of Córdoba, which established New Spain's independence from Spain. On 15 September 1821, the Act of Independence of Central America was enacted to announce Central America's separation from the Spanish Empire and provide for the establishment of a new Central American state. Some of New Spain's provinces in the Central American region (i.e. what would become Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) were annexed to the First Mexican Empire; however in 1823 they seceded from Mexico to form the Federal Republic of Central America until 1838. (Full article...)

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Stela 51 from Calakmul, dating to 731, is the best preserved monument from the city. It depicts the king Yuknoom Tookʼ Kʼawiil.

Maya stelae (singular stela) are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall, sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief, although plain monuments are found throughout the Maya region. The sculpting of these monuments spread throughout the Maya area during the Classic Period (250–900 AD), and these pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilization. The earliest dated stela to have been found in situ in the Maya lowlands was recovered from the great city of Tikal in Guatemala. During the Classic Period almost every Maya kingdom in the southern lowlands raised stelae in its ceremonial centre.

Stelae became closely associated with the concept of divine kingship and declined at the same time as this institution. The production of stelae by the Maya had its origin around 400 BC and continued through to the end of the Classic Period, around 900, although some monuments were reused in the Postclassic (c. 900–1521). The major city of Calakmul in Mexico raised the greatest number of stelae known from any Maya city, at least 166, although they are very poorly preserved. (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 Hurricane Gert Maya civilization Maya peoples 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 in August 2021 Sheika Scott became the youngest player to score in the Costa Rican Women's Premier Division, at just 14 years old?
... that the government of El Salvador, the Catholic Church, and street gangs negotiated a truce to reduce homicides from 2012 to 2014?
... that the Electriquette was an electric wicker vehicle that could be rented at the 1915 Panama–California Exposition?
... that the Central American government voted for annexation to the First Mexican Empire after a request from Regent Agustín de Iturbide?
... that Swedish naval officer Axel Lagerbielke was imprisoned in Lima for over a year, held in Callao and eventually escaped from Panama on an English packet boat to Jamaica?
... that Marcos G. McGrath, the Catholic archbishop of Panama, was allowed to enter Manuel Noriega's "witch house" and other residences, and found evidence of torture, devil worship, and voodoo?
... that the 7th Macho de Monte Infantry Company of the Panama Defense Forces was named after a tapir?
... that the Adelaide L. T. Douglas House, built for a New York City socialite, housed the United States Olympic Committee before being sold to Guatemala?

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General images

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

Image 1Cihuatán (from Mesoamerica)
Image 2Mesoamerica and its cultural areas (from Mesoamerica)
Image 3Rigoberta Menchú, Human rights activist. K'iche'-Guatemalan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 4Tikal 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 5One 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 6Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 7The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
Image 8Nery Brenes Costa Rican Athlete (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 9Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 10Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (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 12Casa Blanca (from Mesoamerica)
Image 13Young Costa Ricans in San José. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 14Nicarao community in Rivas, Nicaragua. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 15Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
Image 16The emblem glyph of Tikal (Mutal) (from Mesoamerica)
Image 17José Matías Delgado At the time of signing the Central American act of independence, in a representation of the meeting of September 15, 1821 of the Chilean painter Luis Vergara Ahumada. (from History of Central America)
Image 18Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
Image 19Salvadoran School Children from Metapan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 20Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 21Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud (from Mesoamerica)
Image 22"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
Image 23Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival ^{[according to whom?]} (from Mesoamerica)
Image 24Anthropomorphic figure from the Proto-Lencan culture found at Los Naranjos, Honduras. An example of Mesomerican art during the preclassic Period. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 25Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands (from Mesoamerica)
Image 26Olmec Colossal Head No. 3 1200–900 BCE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 27José Matías Delgado y de León listed as the intellectual leader of the independence movement; Delgado was defined as influential, skillful, and intelligent, he started the revolutionary movements against the Spanish crown. (from History of Central America)
Image 28El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 29Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
Image 30Joya de Cerén (from Mesoamerica)
Image 31The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
Image 32Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
Image 33Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 34Examples of the diversity of maize (from Mesoamerica)
Image 35San Andres (from Mesoamerica)
Image 36Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 37Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 38Heroes of Central American Independence (from History of Central America)
Image 39Countries and capitals of Central America (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 40Holy Spirit Grotto (from Mesoamerica)
Image 41Yojoa Lake in Honduras. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 42Illustration 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 43Tazumal (from Mesoamerica)
Image 44A small ceremonial ballcourt at Tikal. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 45Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century (from Mesoamerica)
Image 46The 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 4720th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)

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7 January 2025 – Denmark–United States relations, Proposals for the United States to purchase Greenland, Panama–United States relations: U.S. president-elect Donald Trump refuses to rule out using military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, declaring U.S. control of both to be "vital to American national security". (AP); Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. makes a personal visit to Greenland weeks after Trump announced that "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity". In response to the visit, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen states that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders". (BBC News); Panamanian foreign minister Javier Martínez-Acha asserts that only Panamanians operate the Panama Canal and that its sovereignty is non-negotiable, dismissing Trump's claims that China operates the canal and his suggestion of potential U.S. military action to regain control. (DW)
6 January 2025 –: Davivienda, of Colombia, and Scotiabank, of Canada, announced a merger where Davivienda absorbs Scotiabank operations in Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, and, in turn, Scotiabank acquires 20% of the stakes in Davivienda. (Scotiabank)
4 January 2025 – Haitian crisis, Guatemala–Haiti relations: Gang war in Haiti; Another 75 Guatemalan Army troops arrive in Haiti, joining 75 that arrived yesterday, to combat escalating gang violence. (CNN) (BBC News)

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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 Central American and Caribbean Games
Central American and Caribbean Games	1926 Mexico City 1930 Havana 1935 San Salvador 1938 Panama City 1946 Barranquilla 1950 Guatemala City 1954 Mexico City 1959 Caracas 1962 Kingston 1966 San Juan 1970 Panama City 1974 Santo Domingo 1978 Medellín 1982 Havana 1986 Santiago 1990 Mexico City 1993 Ponce 1998 Maracaibo 2002 San Salvador 2006 Cartagena 2010 Mayagüez 2014 Veracruz 2018 Baranquilla 2023 San Salvador 2026 Santo Domingo 2030 TBD
Central American and Caribbean Beach Games	2022 Santa Marta 2025 Puntarenas
Central American and Caribbean Junior Games	2024

v t e Cuisine of Latin America and the Caribbean
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
Middle America	Mexico
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies not included. Semi-autonomous territories are in italics.

v t e Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
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
Middle America	Mexico
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies not included. Semi-autonomous territories are in italics.