Portal:Central America

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 southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of eight countries: Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Belize (who identifies with the Caribbean). 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.

Most of Central America falls under the Isthmo-Colombian cultural area. Before the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the Americas, hundreds of indigenous peoples made their homes in the area. From the year 1502 onwards, Spain began their colonization. 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 and autonomy from mainland Spain. On 15 September, the Act of Independence of Central America was enacted to announce Central America's separation from the Spanish Empire. Some of New Spain's provinces in the Central American region were invaded and 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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Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, western Honduras, and the Gran Nicoya region of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures.

In the pre-Columbian era, many indigenous societies flourished in Mesoamerica for more than 3,000 years before the Spanish colonization of the Americas began on Hispaniola in 1493. In world history, Mesoamerica was the site of two historical transformations: (i) primary urban generation, and (ii) the formation of New World cultures from the mixtures of the indigenous Mesoamerican peoples with the European, African, and Asian peoples who were introduced by the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Mesoamerica is one of the six areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently (see cradle of civilization), and the second in the Americas, alongside the Caral–Supe in present-day Peru. Mesoamerica is also one of only five regions of the world where writing is known to have independently developed (the others being ancient Egypt, India, Sumer, and China). (Full article...)

List of selected articles
Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama Potbelly sculpture El Salvador national football team Mayan languages Maya stelae 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 goalkeeper Daniela Solera had the most touches of any Costa Rican player in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup?
... that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March 2025 due to an "administrative error" by the U.S. government?
... 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 composer Gonzalo Brenes was a politician in the National Assembly of Panama and served for seven years as Panama's secretary of culture?
... 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 Costa Rica's most famous bull killed two men and loved mangos?
... that footballer Alexandra Pinell scored the Costa Rica U20 team's only goal at the FIFA tournament hosted by their country?

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General images

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

Image 1Olmec Colossal Head No. 3 1200–900 BCE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 2Yojoa Lake in Honduras. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 3Nery Brenes Costa Rican Athlete (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 4Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
Image 5Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands (from Mesoamerica)
Image 6Illustration 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 7Rigoberta Menchú, Human rights activist. K'iche'-Guatemalan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 8Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
Image 9One 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 10Tikal 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 11El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 12Countries and capitals of Central America (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 13Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 14Indigenous 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 15Heroes of Central American Independence (from History of Central America)
Image 16Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 17Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 18Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 19The 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 20Young Costa Ricans in San José. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 21Cultural areas of Mesoamerica (from Mesoamerica)
Image 22The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
Image 23The emblem glyph of Tikal (Mutal) (from Mesoamerica)
Image 24Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century (from Mesoamerica)
Image 25José 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 26Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
Image 27Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 28Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
Image 29Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 30Nicarao community in Rivas, Nicaragua. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 31"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
Image 32Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival (from Mesoamerica)
Image 33Examples of the diversity of maize (from Mesoamerica)
Image 3420th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 35Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 36The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
Image 37José 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 38Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud (from Mesoamerica)
Image 39A small ceremonial ballcourt at Tikal. (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 41Salvadoran School Children from Metapan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)

In the news

15 August 2025 –: The leaders of Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico announce the establishment of a tri-national nature reserve to preserve the Maya Forest. It will be the second-largest nature reserve in Latin America behind the Amazon rainforest. (AP)
12 August 2025 –: A Guatemalan court sentences six former police officers and child protection officials to prison terms of six to 25 years for homicide, mistreatment of minors, abuse of authority, and breach of duty in connection with a 2017 fire at an orphanage in San José Pinula that killed 41 girls and injured 15 others. (Reuters)
31 July 2025 –: The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador abolishes presidential term limits, increases presidential terms from 5 to 6 years, and moves the date of the next presidential election from 2029 to 2027. (BBC News)
21 July 2025 – El Salvador–Venezuela relations: The Venezuelan attorney general's office opens a formal investigation into Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele and his government's alleged mistreatment of Venezuelan migrants detained in the United States and sent to the CECOT megaprison, built to hold alleged gang members. (AP)
18 July 2025 – March 2025 American deportations of Venezuelans: The governments of El Salvador, the United States, and Venezuela conduct a prisoner swap involving over 200 Venezuelans incarcerated at the Terrorism Confinement Center in exchange for the release of ten Americans from Venezuelan custody. (Reuters)
12 July 2025 –: Five men are lynched after being accused of robbing damaged homes in the M_w 5.7 earthquake in Santa María de Jesús, Guatemala, earlier this week. (Al Jazeera)

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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.

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