Caribbean and Central America Travel

Central America is the name of the region that connect North and South America. It is also sometimes referred to as the “southern end of North America.”

This narrow strip of land separates the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. On its narrowest point, Darien in Panama, the land is only about 30 miles (50 kilometers) wide. It is said that there is no area in Central America that is more than 125 miles from a body of water. Like the Caribbean, Central America also lies on the Caribbean Plate. This region gets its fair share of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The region is mountainous (with majority of its people living in the mountains than in the lowlands), though there are also a stretch of lowland along both coasts. The seven countries in Central America occupies a total land area of 202,265 square miles (523,865 square kilometers).

Most of Central America was part of the Mesoamerican civilization. This area has a flourishing culture and society, even before the Americas was discovered by Christopher Columbus. The Spanish conquered the region and established the Captaincy General of Guatemala. This covers most of the present-day Central America, extending from Mexico to Costa Rica.

The Spaniards and their hold over the region eventually left, but the Captaincy General remained as Federal Republic of Central America. The Federal Republic of Central America acts to represent the democracy in the region. However, due to continuing civil wars within the region, the federation was dissolved in 1838, only 15 years from its formation.

Central America presents travelers with a rich array of culture, architecture and natural beauty. Pegged as one of the most visited places in the world, tourists are spoilt for choice for their Central America vacation. From mountain trekking to seaside escapades, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvado, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are sure to captivate adventure seekers.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 30th, 2010 at 7:04 am and is filed under Central America, Central America Travel Guide, Central America travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.