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The Central America Portal

Central America is a subregion of the Americas. 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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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 to animate conquistadors in Jungle Cruise, frogs were recorded in a Costa Rican forest?
... that Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro X. Molina has had to flee his home country twice in his lifetime?
... that the Central American government voted for annexation to the First Mexican Empire after a request from Regent Agustín de Iturbide?
... that José de la Cruz Mena, who contracted leprosy at the age of 21 and was blind at 26, was described as "the pre-eminent Nicaraguan composer of his time"?
... that peasant leader Medardo Mairena was the sixth aspiring presidential candidate in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election to be arrested?
... that Panama cross-banded tree frog males synchronize their mating calls to confuse predators that locate them by sound?
... that Alfredo Frohlich formed an award-winning collection of Panamanian postal history that included items from as early as 1777?
... that the Bitcoin Law would make El Salvador the first country to recognize bitcoin as legal tender?

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General images

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

Image 1K'inich Kan B'alam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
Image 2Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud (from Mesoamerica)
Image 3The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
Image 4José 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 5Indigenous 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 6Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 7Nery Brenes Costa Rican Athlete (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 8The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
Image 9El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 10Olmec Colossal Head No. 3 1200–900 BCE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 11Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 12"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
Image 13Yojoa Lake in Honduras. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 14Countries and capitals of Central America (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 15Joya de Cerén (from Mesoamerica)
Image 16Rigoberta Menchú K'iche'-Guatemalan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 17Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival ^{[according to whom?]} (from Mesoamerica)
Image 18Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
Image 19Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 20Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 21Casa Blanca (from Mesoamerica)
Image 22Tikal 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 23Young Costa Ricans in San José. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 24Examples of the diversity of maize (from Mesoamerica)
Image 25Cihuatán (from Mesoamerica)
Image 26Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 27A small ceremonial ballcourt at Tikal. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 28Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
Image 29One 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 30Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 31Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 32Tazumal (from Mesoamerica)
Image 33Salvadoran School Children from Metapan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 34San Andres (from Mesoamerica)
Image 35Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands (from Mesoamerica)
Image 36The emblem glyph of Tikal (Mutal) (from Mesoamerica)
Image 3720th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 38Illustration 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 39The 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 40Anthropomorphic figure from the Proto-Lencan culture found at Los Naranjos, Honduras. An example of Mesomerican art during the preclassic Period. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 41Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
Image 42Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century (from Mesoamerica)
Image 43Holy Spirit Grotto (from Mesoamerica)
Image 44Mesoamerica and its cultural areas^{[according to whom?]} (from Mesoamerica)

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22 February 2024 –: A court in Panama orders the arrest of former president Ricardo Martinelli, who is under protection of the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City. (ABC News)
7 February 2024 –: Nicaragua grants political asylum to former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli after he requests protection at the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City, Panama. (Reuters)
4 February 2024 – 2024 Salvadoran general election: Salvadorans vote to elect the president, vice president, and Legislative Assembly. With over 80% of the popular vote, Nayib Bukele wins re-election in a first-round landslide. (BBC News) (Reuters)
2 February 2024 – 2023 Guatemalan general election: The European Council applies sanctions to Attorney General of Guatemala María Consuelo Porras and three of her collaborators, as well as to a judge, for undermining democracy, the rule of law, and the transfer of power. (Prensa Libre)
17 January 2024 –: Former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei is barred from entering the U.S. after the State Department accuses him of "significant corruption". (Reuters)
14 January 2024 – Inauguration of Bernardo Arévalo: In Guatemala, the Constitutional Court aligns itself with the outgoing ruling party and denies legal recourse to Semilla, affirming that Semilla's elected members of Congress must assume office as "independents", thereby disqualifying them from running for the presidency of the Congress. The legislature of the outgoing Congress subsequently announces a delay in the investiture of the incoming legislature, as well as in the presidential investiture of Bernardo Arévalo. (Prensa Libre)

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v t e Central America
Sovereign states	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama

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.