Portal:Central America
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The Central America Portal
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...)
Selected article
Panama (/ˈpænəmɑː/ ⓘ PAN-ə-mah, /pænəˈmɑː/ pan-ə-MAH; Spanish: Panamá IPA: [panaˈma] ⓘ), officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast (Colombia–Panama border), the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's over 4 million inhabitants.0
Before the arrival of Spanish colonists in the 16th century, Panama was inhabited by a number of different indigenous tribes. It broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined the Republic of Gran Colombia, a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela. After Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada eventually became the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the construction of the Panama Canal to be completed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. The 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties agreed to transfer the canal from the United States to Panama on December 31, 1999. The surrounding territory was first returned in 1979. (Full article...)Did you know...
- ... that the government of El Salvador, the Catholic Church, and street gangs negotiated a truce to reduce homicides from 2012 to 2014?
- ... that the Corozal was the most powerful dredger ever built when she was launched in 1911 to work on the Panama Canal?
- ... that Victor Hugo Tinoco was a deputy in the National Assembly of Nicaragua, first for the Sandinista National Liberation Front, then for the opposition Sandinista Renovation Movement?
- ... that Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro X. Molina has had to flee his home country twice in his lifetime?
- ... that footballer Alexandra Pinell scored the Costa Rica U20 team's only goal at the FIFA tournament hosted by their country?
- ... that the Central American government voted for annexation to the First Mexican Empire after a request from Regent Agustín de Iturbide?
- ... that Mariano Fiallos Oyanguren refused to participate in an attempt to rig the 1990 Nicaraguan presidential election?
- ... that to animate conquistadors in Jungle Cruise, frogs were recorded in a Costa Rican forest?
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General images
- Image 2José 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 8Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival [according to whom?] (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 9Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 10Indigenous 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 11Illustration 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 12Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 15Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
- Image 16Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
- Image 17K'inich Kan B'alam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 18Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 2120th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)
- Image 22José 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 25One 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 26Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
- Image 28Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 29The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 31Anthropomorphic figure from the Proto-Lencan culture found at Los Naranjos, Honduras. An example of Mesomerican art during the preclassic Period. (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 33"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 35The 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 37Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
- Image 42Tikal 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 43The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 44El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
- Image 45Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
In the news
- 5 May 2024 – 2024 Panamanian general election
- Panamanians elect their President and members of the National Assembly. (Reuters)
- José Raúl Mulino, the stand-in for former president Ricardo Martinelli, wins the presidential election with more than 35% of the vote, after his three nearest opponents conceded. He will assume office in July. (AP)
- 3 May 2024 –
- Panama bans First Quantum Minerals from extracting copper following the closure of its Cobre Panamá mine last year. (Reuters) (The Globe and Mail)
- 30 April 2024 –
- The International Court of Justice rejects a request by Nicaragua asking the court to order Germany to suspend aid to Israel. (euronews)
- 6 April 2024 – 2024 raid on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador
- Nicaragua suspends diplomatic relations with Ecuador following the raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador. (Al Arabiya)
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