Central America
The Central American Volcanic Arc runs down the Pacific side of the isthmus from western Guatemala into Costa Rica. It follows the line where the Cocos Plate descends beneath the Caribbean Plate. Belize is the member with no Pacific shore and El Salvador the member with no Caribbean one. Five of them trace independence from Spain to one act signed in Guatemala City on 15 September 1821.
Common questions
Questions about Central America
Which countries are in Central America?
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, on the reading this catalogue applies. The M49 standard published by the UN Statistics Division adds Mexico to the same subregion. A narrower reading takes the region as the provinces of the federal republic of 1823, which leaves out both Belize, a British colony until 1981, and Panama, a department of Colombia until 1903.
Is Mexico part of Central America?
It depends on the scheme. M49, the statistical standard of the UN Statistics Division, files Mexico in Central America beside the 7 countries here, and says of its own groupings that they carry no political meaning. Most geographies, this catalogue included, draw the line at the Guatemalan and Belizean border and file Mexico with North America. Both readings are in print and neither is settled here.
Why is Belize filed with Central America when it belongs to CARICOM?
Because a region here is a position on the isthmus rather than a list of memberships. Belize joined the Caribbean Community in 1974, seven years before independence on 21 September 1981, and its record files it as a constitutional monarchy where the other six are republics. It acceded to the Central American Integration System in 2000, and its land border runs with Guatemala and Mexico.
What was the Federal Republic of Central America?
One state covering Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, declared on 1 July 1823 after the annexation to the Mexican Empire ended, and dissolved by secession between 1838 and 1841. Its blue and white flag is still legible in five national flags here. Belize and Panama were never part of it, which is the reason the narrow reading of the region excludes them.
Do any Central American countries use the United States dollar?
Two. Panama has used it since a monetary agreement of 1904; the balboa is fixed at parity, circulates as coin, and the country issues no notes. El Salvador adopted it under Decree 201, the Monetary Integration Law, in force from 1 January 2001, which fixed the colón at 8.75 to the dollar. The others issue their own: the quetzal, the lempira, the córdoba, the Costa Rican colón and the Belize dollar.