Portal:Central America
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The Central America Portal
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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 south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. 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 northern Guatemala to central 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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The Maya (/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 region. Today they inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and westernmost 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. (Full article...)Did you know...
- ... 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 the government of El Salvador, the Catholic Church, and street gangs negotiated a truce to reduce homicides from 2012 to 2014?
- ... that peasant leader Medardo Mairena was the sixth aspiring presidential candidate in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election to be arrested?
- ... 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 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 goalkeeper Daniela Solera had the most touches of any Costa Rican player in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup?
- ... that Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro X. Molina has had to flee his home country twice in his lifetime?
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General images
- Image 1"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 2Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
- Image 320th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)
- Image 5Rigoberta Menchú, Human rights activist. K'iche'-Guatemalan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
- Image 6The 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 7Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
- Image 8Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 11Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
- Image 13Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 14Illustration 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 16Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 19José 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 20Tikal 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 22K'inich Kan B'alam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 25Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
- Image 26José 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 28Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival [according to whom?] (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 30The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 32Anthropomorphic figure from the Proto-Lencan culture found at Los Naranjos, Honduras. An example of Mesomerican art during the preclassic Period. (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 33El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 34The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 35Mesoamerica and its cultural areas (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 36Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 37Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
- Image 39One 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 43Indigenous 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)
In the news
- 24 July 2024 –
- Ten migrants are found drowned in a river near the Colombia–Panama border, according to Panamanian border police. (Al Jazeera)
- 2 July 2024 – 2024 Atlantic hurricane season
- One person is killed in a landslide caused by Tropical Storm Chris in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Expreso Mexico)
- 2 July 2024 – Panama–United States relations
- Panama and the United States sign a deal to reduce the flow of illegal immigration to the southern United States border through the Darién Gap, with the United States covering the costs of repatriating migrants who enter Panama illegally. (DW)
- 1 July 2024 – Mexican drug war
- Mexican authorities discover the bodies of nineteen men who were shot dead in and near a dump truck abandoned in La Concordia, Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border. (AP)
- 26 June 2024 –
- Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $8 million for drug trafficking and firearms offences in a U.S. federal court. (CNN) (Reuters)
- 22 June 2024 –
- The death toll from the storms and heavy rains in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras increases to 30 people, including at least six children. (Reuters)
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