Central America

Central America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. Some geographers classify Central America as a large isthmus, and in this geographic sense it sometimes includes the portion of Mexico east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, namely the Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. However, Central America is much more commonly understood to correspond with the nations between Mexico and Colombia.

The UN subregion of Central America includes all mainland states of North America south of the U.S., including Mexico.

File:CentAmerica.jpg

Map of Central America

Countries

In one common definition, Central America consists of the following countries (located between the northwest border of Colombia and the southern border of Mexico—roughly east to west):

• Panama
• Costa Rica
• Nicaragua
• Honduras
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Belize

Geography

Central America thus has an area of about 202,265 mi² (523,865 km²) and a width between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea ranging from about 350 to about 30 mi (560 km to 50 km).

Central America and the Caribbean Plate.

Fertile soils from weathered volcanic lavas have made it possible to sustain dense populations in the agriculturally productive highland areas. The majority of Central America rests on the Caribbean Plate and it surrounded by the Cocos plate, North American Plate and the Nazca plate. The geology of Central America is active, with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occurring from time to time. The place where the Caribbean and Cocos plates meet causes the most of the geologic instability in the region. In 1931 and 1972 earthquakes devastated Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. The Cocos plate is moving in a Northeastward direction at about 30 feet per century relative to the Caribbean plate.

About four-fifths of the region is hilly or mountainous. More than 40 Volcanoes lines up all along the Pacific coast from Guatemala to Costa Rica. Half the volcanoes in the region are considered dormant, while one-fourth are extinct, the remaining volcanoes are active and together make up the most active volcanic region in the Americas. The highest point in central America is Volcán Tajumulco in Guatemala which is an extinct volcano and is 13,845 feet (4,220 m) high.

The narrowest part of The Americas, Central America is the site of the Panama Canal as well as the proposed, but never-completed Nicaragua Canal.

The Climate is mainly tropical although this varies with altitude, distance from the ocean, and latitude. Temperature can range from over 100° F to below 46° F mainly depending on altitude and moisture content. Rainfall across Central America varies from north to south and from the Pacific coast to the Caribbean coast. Between May and November, and especially from August to October, the Caribbean coast of northern Central America is prone to hurricane damage.

Central America boasts a rich diversity in both flora and fauna, however not as much as South America. Central American forests are richly populated in birds, reptiles and insects, but it is not so for mammals which are much less common. Birds that live in the isthmus include parrots, hummingbirds, eagles, toucans and numerous migratory birds. Snakes can be found in all parts of Central America, as well as sea turtles, lizards, iguanas, the caiman and abundant species of tree frogs. Many of the endemic Central American species are endengared or near extinction due to deforestation, hunting and the pressure of human population growth on the area.

The vegetation of Central America is diverse and can be described as a tropcal rain forest for the eastern half of the low lying portion of the region. The high interior region of Central America is mainly covered in montane forest.

History

In pre-Columbian times, most of modern Central America was part of the Mesoamerican civilization. The Native American societies of Mesoamerica occupied the land ranging from central Mexico in the north to Costa Rica in the south. The pre-Columbian cultures of Panama traded with both Mesoamerica and South America, and can be considered transitional between those two cultural areas.

There was a nation of Central America in the early nineteenth century, consisting of the present day nations of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica (and a portion of the modern Mexican state of Chiapas). This was sometimes known as the United Provinces of Central America or the United States of Central America.

After the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century, most of the inhabitants of Central America shared a similar history. The exception was British Honduras (the modern-day nation of Belize), a sparsely populated area that was leased by the Spanish Crown to Great Britain for 150 years for the exploitation of certain natural dyes. Later the region was claimed as a colony by the English Crown and to never go back to Spain or Guatemala, which claimed it as its territory until the 1970s. British Honduras for the English and Belice for the Spaniards and Guatemalans gained its independence from Great Britain in 1973 and adopted the name "Belize".

From the sixteenth century through 1821 Central America formed the Captaincy General of Guatemala, sometimes known also as the Kingdom of Guatemala, composed by the states of Chiapas (now part of Mexico), Guatemala (including present day Belize), El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Officially, the Captaincy was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and therefore under the rule of the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City. It was, however, administered not by the viceroy or his deputies, but by an independently appointed Captain General headquartered first in Antigua, Guatemala and later in Guatemala City.

In 1821 a congress of Central American criollos declared their independence from Spain, effective on 15 September of that year. That date is still marked as the independence day by most Central American nations. The Spanish Captain General, Gabino Gaínza, sympathized with the rebels and it was decided that he should stay on as interim leader until a new government could be formed. Independence was short-lived, for the conservative leaders in Guatemala welcomed annexation by the First Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide on 5 January, 1822. Central American liberals objected to this, but an army from Mexico under General Vicente Filisola occupied Guatemala City and quelled dissent.

When Mexico became a republic the following year, it acknowledged Central America's right to determine its own destiny. On 1 July, 1823, the congress of Central America declared absolute independence from Spain, Mexico, and any other foreign nation, and a Republican system of government was established.

File:CentralAmerica1860MapSmall.jpg Map of Central America (1860s).

File:CentralAmerica1892.jpg Central America, 1892

In 1823 the nation of Central America was formed. It was intended to be a federal republic modeled after the United States of America. It was provisionally known as "The United Provinces of Central America," while the final name according to the Constitution of 1824 was "The Federal Republic of Central America." It is sometimes incorrectly referred in English as "The United States of Central America." The Central American nation consisted of the states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In the 1830s an additional state was added, Los Altos, with its capital in Quetzaltenango, occupying parts of what is now the western highlands of Guatemala and part of Chiapas (now part of Mexico), but this state was reincorporated into Guatemala and Mexico respectively in 1840.

Central American liberals had high hopes for the federal republic, which they believed would evolve into a modern, democratic nation, enriched by trade crossing through it between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. These aspirations are reflected in the emblems of the federal republic: The flag shows a white band between two blue stripes, representing the land between two oceans. The coat of arms shows five mountains (one for each state) between two oceans, surmounted by a Phrygian cap, the emblem of the French Revolution.

The Union dissolved in civil war between 1838 and 1840. Its disintegration began when Honduras separated from the federation on November 5, 1838.

Central American liberals had high hopes for the federal republic, which they believed would evolve into a modern, democratic nation, enriched by trade passing through it between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. These aspirations are reflected in the emblems of the federal republic: the flag shows a white band between two blue stripes, representing the land between two oceans. The coat of arms shows five mountains (one for each state) between two oceans, surmounted by a Phrygian cap, the emblem of the French Revolution.

In practice, however, the federation faced insurmountable problems. The liberal democratic project was strongly opposed by conservative factions allied with the Roman Catholic clergy and the wealthy landowners. Transportation and communication routes between the states were extremely deficient. The bulk of the population lacked any sense of commitment towards the broader federation because, perhaps largely owing to their continued loyalty to the Roman Catholic church in Spain. The federal bureaucracy in Guatemala City proved ineffectual, and fears of Guatemalan domination of the union led to protests that resulted in the relocation of the capital to San Salvador in 1831. Wars soon broke out between various factions both in the federation and within individual states. The poverty and extreme political instability of the region prevented the construction of an inter-oceanic canal (Nicaragua Canal and Panama Canal), from which Central America could have obtained considerable economic benefits.

Various attempts were made to reunite Central America in the nineteenth century, but none succeeded for any length of time. The first attempt was in 1842 by former President Francisco Morazán, who was quickly captured and executed. The abortive attempt aimed to restore the union as the Confederation of Central America and included El Salvador, Guatemala (which withdrew early), Honduras, and Nicaragua. This first attempt lasted until 1844. A second attempt was made and lasted from October to November 1852, when El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua created a Federation of Central America (Federacion de Centro America). Guatemalan President Justo Rufino Barrios attempted to reunite the nation by force of arms in the 1880s and was also killed in the process, like his 1842 predecessor. A third union of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador as the Greater Republic of Central America or "Republica Mayor de Centroamerica" lasted from 1896 to 1898. The latest attempt occurred between June 1921 and January 1922 when El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras formed a (second) Federation of Central America. This second Federation was nearly moribund from the start, having only a Provisional Federal Council made up of delegates from each state.

Despite the failure of a lasting political union, the concept of Central American reunification, though lacking enthusiasm from the leaders of the individual countries, rises from time to time. In 1856-1857 the region successfully established a military coalition to repel an invasion by U.S. adventurer William Walker. Today, all five nations fly flags that retain the old federal motif of two outer blue bands bounding an inner white stripe. (Costa Rica, traditionally the least committed of the five to regional integration, modified its flag significantly in 1848 by darkening the blue and adding a double-wide inner red band, in honor of the French tricolor).

In 1907 a Central American Court of Justice was created. On December 13, 1960, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua established the Central American Common Market ("CACM"). Costa Rica, because of its relative economic prosperity and political stability, chose not to participate in the CACM. The goals for the CACM were to create greater political unification and success of Import Substitution Industrialization policies. The project was an immediate economic success, but was abandoned after the 1969 "Soccer War" between El Salvador and Honduras.

A Central American Parliament has operated, as a purely advisory body, since 1991. Costa Rica has repeatedly declined invitations to join the regional parliament, which seats deputies from the four other former members of the Union, as well as from Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Today, Central America is composed of seven independent nations: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

Further reading

• Booth, John A., Christine J. Wade, and Thomas W. Walker. 2006. Understanding Central America: global forces, rebellion, and change. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press. ISBN 9780813341958
• LaFeber, Walter. 1983. Inevitable revolutions: the United States in Central America. New York: Norton. ISBN 0393017877
• Perez Brignoli, Hector. 1989. A brief history of Central America. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520060490
• Woodward, Ralph Lee. 1999. Central America, a nation divided. Latin American histories. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195083768

External links

• Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America

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