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Central America
Map of Central America
Area 523,780 km2 (202,233 sq mi)
Population 43,308,660 (2013 est.)
Density 77/km2 (200/sq mi)
Countries 7
Demonym Central American, American
GDP $107.7 billion (exchange rate) (2006)
$ 226.3 billion (purchasing power parity) (2006).
GDP per capita $2,541 (exchange rate) (2006)
$5,339 (purchasing power parity) (2006).
Languages Spanish, English, Mayan languages, Garifuna, Kriol, European languages, and many others
Time Zones UTC - 6:00, UTC - 5:00
Most Populated Cities
Guatemala Guatemala City
Honduras Tegucigalpa
Nicaragua Managua
Panama Panama City
Honduras San Pedro Sula
El Salvador San Salvador City
Guatemala Questzaltenango
Panama San Miguelito
Costa Rica San José
Honduras Choloma
Guatemala Quetzaltenango
El Salvador Santa Ana
El Salvador San Miguel
Honduras La Ceiba

Central America ([América Central or Centroamérica] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) is the central geographic region of the Americas and specifically part of the continent known as North America. It goes from Guatemala and Belize in the north-west, to Panama in the south-east. It is the area of land that sits south-east of Mexico and north-west of Colombia. It is between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Centroamerica-ubicacion
Central America in red

Central America has an area of 524,000 square kilometers (202,000 sq mi). It is almost 0.1% of the Earth's surface. This is a list of the countries in Central America, from the largest to the smallest:

While Nicaragua is the largest country in area, of Central America, Guatemala has the largest population by country in Central America, with more than 14 million people and they also have the most populated city in Central America, being Guatemala City.

Guatemalacityvolcanoes
Guatemala City is the largest city in Central America.

Six of the seven countries have Spanish as their official language, with Belize being the non-Spanish speaking country, as their official language is English, although there are now at least 195,597 (62.8%) of people in Belize who speak Spanish.

Some people also speak indigenous or creole languages like the Maya languages.

Central America has a density of 77 people per square kilometer.

Geography

Centroamerica politico
Countries and capitals of Central America.

Central America has an area of 524,000 square kilometers (202,000 sq mi). It is almost 0.1% of the Earth's total surface. In 2009 the population was estimated at 41,739,000. It has a density of 77 people per square kilometer or 206 people per square mile.

Physical geography

Tectonic plates Caribbean
     Central America and the Caribbean Plate

Central America has many unique features that go from the north-western borders of Belize and Guatemala to the Isthmus of Panama. There it connects to the Colombian Pacific Lowlands in South America.

Central America is an area of some 524,000 square kilometres. The Pacific Ocean is on the southwest, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the north. Most of Central America rests on the Caribbean Plate.

The region is geologically active. It has volcanic eruptions and earthquakes from time to time.

The 1976 Guatemala earthquake killed 23,001 people. Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was devastated by earthquakes in 1931 and 1972. The last one killed about 5,001 people. Three earthquakes hit El Salvador. The first one in 1986 and two in 2001. An earthquake devastated northern and central Costa Rica in 2009. It killed at least 35 people. In Honduras a powerful earthquake happened in 2009.

Volcanic eruptions are common. In 1968 the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica erupted. This killed at least 87 people. The 3 villages of Tabacon, Pueblo Nuevo, and San Luis were buried under ash.

Central America has many mountain ranges; the longest are the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, the Cordillera Isabelia and the Cordillera de Talamanca. Most of the population of Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala live in valleys, between mountains. Valleys are also suitable for the production of coffee, beans and other crops.

Biodiversity

El Chorreron, San Fernando, El Salvador
El Chorreron, El Salvador.
SPBEACH97
San Pedro Beach in Ambergris Caye, Belize
Playa el sonte2
Tropical beach (El Zonte) near La Libertad, El Salvador.

Central America is part of the Mesoamerican Biodiversity hotspot, boasting 7% of the world's biodiversity. As a bridge between North and South America, Central America has many species from the Nearctic and the Neotropic ecozones. However the southern countries (Costa Rica and Panama) of the region have more biodiversity than the northern countries (Guatemala and Belize), meanwhile the central countries (Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador) have least biodiversity. The table shows current statistics for the seven countries:

Country Amphibians Birds Mammals Reptile
 Belize 46 544 147 140 877 2894 3771
 Costa Rica 183 838 232 258 1511 12119 13630
 El Salvador 30 434 137 106 707 2911 3618
 Guatemala 133 684 193 236 1246 8681 9927
 Honduras 101 699 201 213 1214 5680 6894
 Nicaragua 61 632 181 178 1052 7590 8642
 Panama 182 904 241 242 1569 9915 11484


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: América Central para niños

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