Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Central America
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & Videos
Central America Palenque
Learn how deforestation in Central American countries like Belize gives way to erosion and poverty
cathedral, Comayagua, Honduras Mayan temple Mayan pyramid, Chichén Itzá, Mexico Vasco Núñez de Balboa William Walker Central America, c. 1900 Smoke from Central American forest fires drifting over North America, as measured by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on May 22, 1998.NASA's Earth Probe Mission satellite can detect smoke in the atmosphere and is thus able to monitor large fires from space. Aboard the satellite, TOMS measures aerosols, enabling scientists to create maps of the smoke's density.
For Students
default image
Central America summary
Quizzes
Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.
Quick Quiz: Central American Geography
Related Questions
Central America
Central America

Central America

Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Written by
David Bushnell
Emeritus Professor of History, University of Florida, Gainesville. Author of The Emergence of Latin America in the Nineteenth Century; The Making of Modern Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself; Simón...
David BushnellAll
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

Central America, southernmost region of North America, lying between Mexico and South America and comprising Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. (Geologists and physical geographers sometimes extend the northern boundary to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico.) Central America makes up most of the tapering isthmus that separates the Pacific Ocean, to the west, from the Caribbean Sea. It extends in an arc roughly 1,140 miles (1,835 km) long from the...

Discover the world with Britannica

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Free Trial | No Ads | Exclusive Content

Unsubscribe Anytime!

Explore Subscriptions
DNA
Right
Mobile