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's 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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The El Salvador national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de El Salvador) represents El Salvador in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol (English: Salvadoran Football Federation) founded in 1935. It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1938 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of UNCAF in the Central American Zone. From 1938 to 1961, it was a member of CCCF, the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean and a predecessor confederation of CONCACAF, and also a member of PFC, the former unified confederation of the Americas, from 1946 to 1961.

El Salvador has qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice (1970 and 1982). It also participated once in the Olympic Games (1968). (Full article...)

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Did you know...

... that several 19th-century presidential elections in El Salvador had candidates that ran virtually unopposed?
... that El Salvador's only goal at a FIFA World Cup occurred during a 10–1 loss to Hungary?
... that a drawing of a dog was promoted by the president of El Salvador, caused an unaffiliated song to peak on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, and got its original creator doxxed?
... that both El Salvador and Honduras claim to be the country of origin of the pupusa?
... that Panamanian earth scientist Erika Podest uses remote sensing to see how climate change has affected global soil moisture?
... that the Electriquette was an electric wicker vehicle that could be rented at the 1915 Panama–California Exposition?
... that footballer Alexandra Pinell scored the Costa Rica U20 team's only goal at the FIFA tournament hosted by their country?
... 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?

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General images

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

Image 1A small ceremonial ballcourt at Tikal. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 220th century political map of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 3Indigenous 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 4José 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 5Central America until 1860, showing the Kingdom of Mosquitia. (from History of Central America)
Image 6Yojoa Lake in Honduras. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 7Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex (from Mesoamerica)
Image 8Heroes of Central American Independence (from History of Central America)
Image 9Rigoberta Menchú, Human rights activist. K'iche'-Guatemalan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 10Illustration 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 11Anthropomorphic figure from the Proto-Lencan culture found at Los Naranjos, Honduras. An example of Mesomerican art during the preclassic Period. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 12Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele (from Mesoamerica)
Image 13Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear (from Mesoamerica)
Image 14Harry Shum, Jr Asian-Costa Rican – Glee Actor/Dancer (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 15The emblem glyph of Tikal (Mutal) (from Mesoamerica)
Image 16Cultural areas of Mesoamerica (from Mesoamerica)
Image 17José 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 18Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 19Mesoamerica is primarily situated in western and southern Mexico and Guatemala, above it is Aridoamerica and below is the Isthmo-Colombian Area (from Mesoamerica)
Image 20Examples of the diversity of maize (from Mesoamerica)
Image 21Salvadoran School Children from Metapan (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 22Berta Caceres, Lencan environmental activist. -Honduran (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 23Olmec Colossal Head No. 3 1200–900 BCE (from Mesoamerica)
Image 24Zapotec mask of the Bat God. (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 26Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 27Nery Brenes Costa Rican Athlete (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 28Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century (from Mesoamerica)
Image 29Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival ^{[according to whom?]} (from Mesoamerica)
Image 30The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality (from Mesoamerica)
Image 31Flag of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 32Tikal 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 33Celebration of the Chinese year in Costa Rica (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 34"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days (from Mesoamerica)
Image 35Young Costa Ricans in San José. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 36Historical map of Central America (from History of Central America)
Image 37The Aztec Empire in 1512 (from Mesoamerica)
Image 38Countries and capitals of Central America (from Ethnic groups in Central America)
Image 39El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 40The 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 41Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud (from Mesoamerica)
Image 42Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun. (from Mesoamerica)
Image 43Nicarao community in Rivas, Nicaragua. (from Ethnic groups in Central America)

In the news

14 April 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis: At least three oil tankers pass through the strait, including the Panama-flagged Peace Gulf, which took the new route through Iranian waters as instructed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. (Al Jazeera)
13 April 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis: Three ships successfully cross the Strait of Hormuz since the blockade was announced, including Marshall Islands-flagged vessel New Future, Vietnam-flagged NV Sunshine, and Panama-flagged tanker Auroura, which was recently sanctioned by the United States for its links to Iranian oil trading. (Bloomberg) (Caspian Post)
6 April 2026 –: One person is killed and four people are injured after a tanker explodes on the Bridge of the Americas near the Panama Canal. (Straits Times)
5 April 2026 –: Eight people are killed after a bus and a truck collide head-on near Quimistán, Honduras. (infobae)
19 March 2026 – South Africa's genocide case against Israel: Germany withdraws from defending Israel in South Africa's International Court of Justice genocide case against Israel, citing their need to defend themselves in a separate case launched against them by Nicaragua. (Haaretz)
17 March 2026 –: The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador votes 59–1 to approve a constitutional amendment to permit courts to issue sentences of life imprisonment to individuals convicted of murder, rape, or terrorism where the limit was previously 60 years. (Reuters)

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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

v t e Cuisine of Latin America and the Caribbean
Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten Trinidad and Tobago
Central America	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
North America	Mexico
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies not included. Semi-autonomous territories are in italics.

v t e Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten Trinidad and Tobago
Central America	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
North America	Mexico
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies not included. Semi-autonomous territories are in italics.