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<div style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 2em; width: 20em; text-align: right; font-size: 0.86em; font-family: lucida grande, sans-serif; line-height: normal;"> <div style="border: 1px solid #ccd2d9; background: #f0f6fa; text-align: left; padding: 0.5em 1em; text-align: center;"><big>Central America</big> <div align=center> </div>
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Central America (Spanish: Centroamérica or América Central) is the southern geographic region of North America, connecting South and North America together. Though geographically the southern portion of North America, it is often defined as being a region of the Americas in its own right due to ethnic differentiation between its predominantly Hispanic population and the primarily Anglo-Saxon United States and Canada.
Physiographically, Central America is a narrow isthmus of southern North America extending from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico southeastward to the Isthmus of Panama where it connects to the Colombian Pacific Lowlands in northwestern South America. Alternatively, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt delimits the region on the north. Central America has an area of some 592,000 square kilometres. The Pacific Ocean lies to the southwest, the Caribbean Sea lies to the northeast, and the Gulf of Mexico lies to the north.
Most of Central America rests atop the Caribbean Plate. The region is geologically active, with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occurring from time to time. Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was devastated by earthquakes in 1931 and 1972, and in 2001 two earthquakes devastated El Salvador. Fertile soils from weathered volcanic lavas have made it possible to sustain dense populations in the agriculturally productive highland areas.
Geopolitically, Central America has traditionally consisted of the following countries:
Many modern definitions of Central America include Belize and Panama, neither of which existed upon the formation of the Federal Republic of Central America, a short-lived union created after most of the region gained independence from Spain in the 19th century. The territory now occupied by Belize was originally contested by the United Kingdom and the Spanish Empire and, later, Guatemala (which has considered it, wholly or partially, an eastern department); it became a British colony (British Honduras) in 1871 and gained independence in 1981.
Panama, situated on the Isthmus of Panama, is a transcontinental territory: the Panama Canal (a bypass connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans) transects the isthmus, which connects North and South America. Regardless, all of the country—including the segment east of the Panama Canal—is often considered a part of North America alone. Historically, however, Panama was a possession of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, a Spanish jurisdiction largely situated in northwestern South America from 1717 to 1819. When Panama declared independence from Spain on 28 November 1821, it immediately declared a union with la Gran Colombia (Greater Colombia) and later became a department/state of Colombia until its independence on 3 November 1903.
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. Most notable among these were the Maya, who had built numerous cities throughout the region, and the Aztecs, who created a vast empire. The pre-Columbian cultures of Panama traded with both Mesoamerica and South America, and can be considered transitional between those two cultural areas.
Following Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas for Spain, the Spanish sent numerous expeditions to the region, and they began their conquest of Maya lands in the 1520s. In 1540, Spain established the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which extended from southern Mexico to Costa Rica, and thus encompassed most of what is currently known as Central America, with the exception of British Honduras (present-day Belize). This lasted nearly three centuries, until a rebellion (which followed closely on the heels of the Mexican War of Independence) in 1821.
After the dissolution of Spanish authority, the former Captaincy General remained intact as the Federal Republic of Central America, which was a representative democracy with its capital at Guatemala City. This union consisted of the present day nations of Guatemala (which included the former state of Los Altos), Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica (which included a region which is nowadays part of Panama, and the Guanacaste Province which belonged to Nicaragua), and a portion of the modern Mexican state of Chiapas. The Republic lasted from 1823 to 1838, when it began to disintegrate due to civil wars.
All Central American countries (including Panama) maintain diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) instead of the People's Republic of China [1]. The countries receive funding for various projects, such as the Puente de la Amistad de Taiwan in Costa Rica.
"Central America" may mean different things to different people in the world according to the context:
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