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 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.

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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article

Location of Mayan speaking populations. See below for a detailed map of the different languages.^{[image reference needed]}

The Mayan languages form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica, both in the south of Mexico and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least six million Maya people, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name, and Mexico recognizes eight within its territory.

The Mayan language family is one of the best-documented and most studied in the Americas. Modern Mayan languages descend from the Proto-Mayan language, thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago; it has been partially reconstructed using the comparative method. The proto-Mayan language diversified into at least six different branches: the Huastecan, Quichean, Yucatecan, Qanjobalan, Mamean and Chʼolan–Tzeltalan branches. (Full article...)

List of selected articles
Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama Mesoamerica Potbelly sculpture El Salvador national football team 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 the Adelaide L. T. Douglas House, built for a New York City socialite, housed the United States Olympic Committee before being sold to Guatemala?
... that goalkeeper Daniela Solera had the most touches of any Costa Rican player in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup?
... that the Central American government voted for annexation to the First Mexican Empire after a request from Regent Agustín de Iturbide?
... that Belize's Toledo Progressive Party was accused of being funded by the government of Guatemala?
... that the Nicaraguan nun Dorotea Wilson joined a guerrilla group, renounced her vows, and became a women's rights activist and politician?
... that Alfredo Frohlich formed an award-winning collection of Panamanian postal history that included items from as early as 1777?
... 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 footballer Alexandra Pinell scored the Costa Rica U20 team's only goal at the FIFA tournament hosted by their country?

Related portals

Get involved

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Central America-related articles, see WikiProject Central America.

Need help?

Do you have a question about Central America that you can't find the answer to?

Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.

General images

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

Image 1José 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 2"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
Image 3Young Costa Ricans in San José. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 4Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud (from Mesoamerica)
Image 5Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 6Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 7A small ceremonial ballcourt at Tikal. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 8The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
Image 9José 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 10Nery Brenes Costa Rican Athlete (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 11San Andres (from Mesoamerica)
Image 12Examples of the diversity of maize (from Mesoamerica)
Image 13Nicarao community in Rivas, Nicaragua. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 14Mesoamerica and its cultural areas (from Mesoamerica)
Image 15Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
Image 16Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
Image 17Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 18Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
Image 19Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands (from Mesoamerica)
Image 20Countries and capitals of Central America (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 21Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 22El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 23Tazumal (from Mesoamerica)
Image 24Cihuatán (from Mesoamerica)
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 26Indigenous 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 27Heroes of Central American Independence (from History of Central America)
Image 28Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 29Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
Image 30Tikal 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 31Anthropomorphic figure from the Proto-Lencan culture found at Los Naranjos, Honduras. An example of Mesomerican art during the preclassic Period. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 32Olmec Colossal Head No. 3 1200–900 BCE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 33Salvadoran School Children from Metapan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 34Yojoa Lake in Honduras. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 35Joya de Cerén (from Mesoamerica)
Image 36The emblem glyph of Tikal (Mutal) (from Mesoamerica)
Image 37The 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 38Holy Spirit Grotto (from Mesoamerica)
Image 39Illustration 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 40Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century (from Mesoamerica)
Image 41The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
Image 4220th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 43Casa Blanca (from Mesoamerica)
Image 44Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 45Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 46Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival ^{[according to whom?]} (from Mesoamerica)
Image 47Rigoberta Menchú, Human rights activist. K'iche'-Guatemalan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)

In the news

21 June 2025 –: Panama declares a state of emergency in Bocas del Toro province and temporarily suspends some constitutional rights amid a series of anti-government protests opposing a pension law that has left one person dead and injured at least 30 others, including several police officers. (Al Jazeera) (EFE) (Reuters)
6 June 2025 – Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia: Kilmar Abrego Garcia returns to the United States, two months after being mistakenly deported to El Salvador and spending time at the CECOT prison. He now faces criminal charges in Tennessee for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants. (ABC News)
2 June 2025 – Mexican drug war: Five police officers are killed after an ambush in a highway in the border municipality of Frontera Comalapa. Hours later, an attacker was arrested and authorities confirmed that the attack was a retaliation for the recent arrest of Aler Baldomero Samayoa Recinos, also known as “Chicharra,” leader of Los Huistas, a Guatemalan criminal group that established ties with both the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG. (Revista Proceso)
31 May 2025 – Guatemalan Civil War: A court in Guatemala convicts three men of crimes against humanity and sentences them to 40 years in prison for the rape of 36 women from the Maya Achi indigenous group during the civil war. (AP)
30 May 2025 – Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration: The United States Supreme Court rules that President Donald Trump can revoke the Biden administration's parole programme for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants, totaling over 530,000 people. (BBC News) (WOLA)

Subcategories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

Topics

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache

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