Central America

In political geography, Central America consists of the following states:

  Belize

  Guatemala

  Honduras

  Costa Rica

  Nicaragua

  Panama

  Salvador

In physical geography , Central America is most often understood as the part of the North American continent from the Isthmus of Teuantepec to the Isthmus of Panama (sometimes the territory is extended beyond the borders of both isthmuses for various reasons - for example, draw the northern border along the border of the Neotropic zone ).

Forested lowlands , plains and swamps are located along the coast of Central America. The region is crossed by rivers and mountain ranges . Most of Central America is occupied by mid-altitude mountains that are part of the Cordillera mountain system ( South Sierra Madre , Sierra Madre de Chiapas , etc.). Highly fragmented mountain ranges prevail , cut by deep river gorges , sometimes with sections of flattened plateaus , alternating with tectonic depressions. From the border of Mexico , where the highest peak of Central America rises - the Tahumulco volcano (height 4,217 m), to the Western Panama from the Pacific side, a volcanic ridge with many active volcanoes , including those that have arisen in historical time ( Santa Maria , Atitlan , Santa Ana , Kosiguina , Poas , Irasu , etc.). Large lowlands are located only in the north - the accumulative Tabasco and Mosquito coast (Mosquito) and the Yucatan Peninsula , composed mainly of limestones with a wide development of karst processes and forms.

Relatively stable blocks of the Central American massif and the Yucatan Plate are located in the northern part, while the southern part is occupied by the Cordillera fold belt .

The Central American massif is formed by a complex-folded complex of metamorphic rocks of the Paleozoic and possibly Precambrian ( greywacke , siliceous schists , diabases , amphibolites , gneisses ), which are unconformably overlapped by stone-Permian and Triassic-Jurassic continental deposits, as well as Cretaceous limestones . Widespread are Devonian , Carboniferous, and Cretaceous granitoids.

The Yucatan Plate is an epipaleozoic platform ; consists of a folded base, composed of metamorphic rocks, of the Paleozoic and possibly Precambrian age, and the almost horizontal cover of sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic (up to 6 km thick) overlapping it: red-colored Triassic deposits, evaporites and limestones of Jurassic and Cretaceous, Paleogene-Neogene terrigenous sediments.

The folded belt of the Cordillera in a very reduced form continues the structure of the Cordillera of Mexico; southeast of the Teuantepec isthmus, it is separated from the Central American massif by the advanced Chiapas trough, made by marine and continental deposits of Paleogene and Neogene . At the base of this belt, the Paleozoic metamorphic folded complex is exposed in some places, which is blocked in the territory of Guatemala by the Late Paleozoic molasses. The main place is occupied by the Mesozoic, mainly Cretaceous carbonate and flysch strata, containing large bodies of hyperbasites . In the southern regions in the Mesozoic, underwater volcanism products of the main composition, which were formed under oceanic conditions, are widely developed. These areas are characterized by the development of salt domes. The main folding refers to the Late Cretaceous - the Early Paleogene . The strip of folded Cretaceous and older rocks forms a gentle arc and leaves in the northeast under the waters of the Gulf of Honduras .

On various older structures, there is a belt of Neogene and modern volcanoes, which stretches from Mexico to the Panama Canal along the Pacific coast, parallel to the Central American deep-sea trench . The formation of the Isthmus of Panama , which separated the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean, is associated with young volcanic and tectonic activity.

Of the minerals in Central America, gold and silver ores are known, represented by medium (El Rosario in Honduras ) and small (Peace, La Luz in Nicaragua) in size hydrothermal deposits associated with Cretaceous intrusions , and placers (Coco in Nicaragua ), as well as small deposits of antimony and mercury. Small chromite deposits are associated with bodies of hyperbasites; with Neogene volcanic intrusions - large copper-porphyric deposits of Panama (Cerro-Colorado and Cerro-Petakilla). Oil and gas deposits are confined to the salt domes of the Teuantepek isthmus.

Due to heavy rainfall and the mountainous nature of the relief, the annual runoff in Central America usually exceeds 600 mm, reaching 1,500 mm or more on the Caribbean slopes of Costa Rica and Panama , only on the southern slopes of the South Sierra Madre and in the northwest of the Yucatan Peninsula the runoff layer is less than 100 mm The river network is dense, with the exception of the Yucatan Peninsula, which is almost devoid of surface watercourses. Short, turbulent, rapids rivers prevail; the largest are Motagua , Patuka and Coco . The rivers of the Atlantic basin are full-flowing throughout the year; rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean are characterized by sharp fluctuations in discharge and strong summer floods. There are many lakes in the tectonic basins, including the largest - Nicaragua , Managua , Isabal , Atitlan .

The coast of the Pacific Ocean with a narrow intermittent strip of coastal lowland is straightforward in the northern part, strongly divided by bays ( Fonseca , Nikoya , Chiriki , Montijo , Panama and others), forms a series of peninsulas ( Nikoya , Osa , Asuero , etc.) and is accompanied by mainland islands ( Koiba , Sebako , Rey , etc.). The shores of the Gulf of Mexico (Campeche Bay) and the Caribbean Sea are mostly low, lagoon (lagoons of Karataska, Chiriqui, etc.), only in the southeastern part of the base of the Yucatan Peninsula the Gulf of Honduras deeply protrudes; the coasts are bordered by small, mainly coral islets.

The climate in the region is hot and humid, the temperature rarely drops below 24 ° C. The climate is hotter on the coast, and cooler in the mountains and on the plateaus. From June to September, in some areas more than 300 mm of precipitation falls per month.

Central America lies in the tropical (to the basin of the Republic of Nicaragua) and subequatorial climatic zones. Due to the situation in low latitudes (7–22 ° N), it receives a lot of solar heat (radiation balance, over 80 kcal / cm² per year, 1 kcal = 4.19 kJ) and has high temperatures throughout the year (the average temperature of the coldest month in the lowlands is from 22-24 ° C in the north to 26 ° C in the south, the warmest is 26-28 ° C; in the mountains at an altitude of 1000-2000 m it is 5-8 ° C lower). The northeastern, windward slopes (with respect to the trade winds from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea) have a constantly humid climate; precipitation falls from 1,500–2,000 mm per year in the north to 3,000 mm (sometimes up to 7,000 mm) in the south. On the leeward Pacific slopes, precipitation is associated with summer cyclones in the north and equatorial monsoons in the south, winters are usually dry, and 1000–1800 mm of precipitation falls annually. Inland hollows and the low-lying parallel to the trade winds northwest of the Yucatan Peninsula receive less than 500 mm of rain per year. In the south of Central America, the exposure differences are blurred and on the Pacific slope the winter dry season is weakly expressed.

Central America has rich forests where valuable hardwood trees such as mahogany grow . But in some places, such as Costa Rica , forests are cut down unusually intensively. To preserve the surviving forests established national parks. Jaguars , monkeys, snakes, caimans , iguanas , many species of birds, as well as various species of butterflies and other insects due to the destruction of forests are threatened with extinction.

On the lowlands and northeast windward slopes up to a height of 800 m (Tierra Caliente belt), humid tropical evergreen forests dominate on red-yellow lateritic, mainly ferrallite soils; they have many palm trees, trees with valuable colored wood, vines, epiphytes . Significant areas, especially in the Tabasco lowlands, are swampy; the shores are framed by mangroves . Near the coast - plantations of bananas, cocoa, pineapples and other tropical crops; in the arid northwest of the Yucatan Peninsula, where xerophilous forests and shrubs grow, there are agave plantations (henequen). In the mountains, altitudinal zoning is clearly expressed. Up to a height of 1700 m, the Tierra Templada belt is located, where heat-loving species disappear and tree-like ferns predominate; from a height of 1700 m (Tierra Fria belt) - mixed forests of evergreen deciduous (oaks, magnolias , etc.) and coniferous (pines, Guatemalan fir (less often - sacred fir ), Lusitanian cypress , yew, etc.); Alpine meadows are found in fragments above 3200 m; in the south, alpine equatorial paramos meadows . On the highlands, on mountain red and brown-red laterized soils, coniferous-hard-leaved, in some places pure pine forests are common; pastoral cattle breeding is developed here, corn, potatoes, and legumes are grown. On the Pacific slopes - mostly deciduous (at the time of drought) tropical forests ( ceiba , coccoloba , etc.) on mountain red ferrallite soils, alternating below, in the driest regions and in the inner basins, spiny woodlands, shrubs, cactus thickets and secondary savannas on brown-red soils; plantations of coffee (at an altitude of 600-900 m), tobacco, sugarcane and cotton. The floristic composition is characterized by a predominance of North American species north of the Nicaragua Basin and South American species south of it.

Wide -nosed monkeys , bakers , tapirs , armadillos , a jaguar , blood-sucking bats, many birds, reptiles and insects are found. In the northern part, representatives of North America are also characteristic - lynxes , raccoons , many rodents ( ground squirrels , hares, squirrels , shrews, shrews , sacculent rats , etc.). Among tapirs, rodents, bats and birds, there are endemic species.

Area Settlement

Central America was already inhabited by representatives of different cultures before the advent of Europeans. It is believed that people began to populate the region with the arrival of North America from Asia or the Polynesian islands about 15 thousand years ago.

Olmecs (1150-800 BC)

The ancient Mexican culture of the Olmecs with the center of La Venta flourished in the territory of the current states of Veracruz and Tabasco . The Olmecs invented their own writing and counting, created a primitive calendar. Colossal stone heads were found in La Venta, apparently depicting leaders. Each head had its own helmet, and in pre-Columbian America, a headdress indicated the status of a person.

Mayan Civilization Development

The Mayans living in the territory of modern Mexico , Guatemala , Honduras and western Central America had hieroglyphic writing, only partially decrypted, a complex and accurate cyclic calendar that does not coincide with the Gregorian calendar. The main difference between the Mayan calendar is the presence of cycles, which is not in the linear Gregorian calendar starting from the Nativity of Christ. Hieroglyphs are the heirs of the Olmec culture, the heyday of civilization which dates back to 1200 BC. e. The most ancient traces of the Mayan civilization date back to 200-300 years. BC e .; then the military expansion of Teotihuacan begins, and for a long time there is no mention of Maya; then the Mayans reappear, and, apparently, despite the extremely unfavorable geophysical conditions of the rainforest, their culture reaches a fairly high level. By 750 A.N. e. Maya already has four large urban centers ( Tikal , Kopan , Palenque and Kalakmul ), around which there are many small villages and towns; however, the existence of a centralized Mayan state during this period is unlikely.

For some reason, among which the most plausible can be considered an invasion and religious strife, between 800 and 900. the inhabitants left the cities, leaving these magnificent monuments to the jungle. After such a catastrophe, the Mayan culture concentrated on the Yucatan Peninsula, where between 900 and 1200. n e. many urban centers have sprung up. One of them, Chichen Itza , most likely, was conquered by the Toltecs from Tollan (the predecessors of the Aztecs), and became one of the centers from where the Toltecs carried out their raids.

Toltecs (900–1200)

Warlike tribes standing at the barbaric stage of development. However, after the death of Teotihuacan, they, having inherited the culture of the city, built their own - Tollan (Tula). They were skilled artisans, artists and created complex sculptures. The main Toltec deity was Quetzalcoatl .

Aztecs (1428-1521)

The Aztecs came from the northwest and built their capital in the Valley of Mexico City - Tenochtitlan - a huge city that impressed with the splendor of palaces and temples. They created one of the most developed cultures of Central America. Religion affected all aspects of their lives. They worshiped more than 120 gods. Especially revered was the god Witsilopochtli , a sacrifice to which thousands of people were sacrificed annually.

Colonization

After the discoveries of Columbus, Spanish adventurers went to America. In 1519, Hernan Cortes entered the Aztec capital and destroyed it. One of the richest countries in the world, hitherto unknown to Europe, has become a province of Spain.

Independence

Republican era

In the XIX century there was a state of the United Provinces of Central America , which included the territories of modern Guatemala , Honduras , El Salvador , Nicaragua and Costa Rica (which included then part of Panama ) and part of the modern Mexican state of Chiapas .

Most of the modern population of Central America is of mixed, mainly Native American and Spanish origin. In Belize , Salvador , Nicaragua , Honduras , Panama, this is the vast majority of the inhabitants. In Guatemala, about half of the population are Indians who speak their own languages. In Costa Rica, the descendants of the Spanish colonists almost did not mix with the local Indians. Panama is characterized by a large proportion of the Negro population (12-15%). In the XVI century, these lands were conquered by the Spaniards who were looking for gold here. Prior to this, they were inhabited by various Indian tribes, including the Mayans, who ruled here from 300 to 900. The first European settlers bought African slaves, whose descendants still live in Nicaragua, Belize, and Panama. Spanish is spoken throughout the region, although English is the official language in Belize. Many people also speak local Native American languages.

Religion

Most residents profess Catholicism , but their religious holidays often have a national connotation. For example, All Saints Day ( November 1 ) is celebrated in Guatemala with noisy horse racing.

Agriculture

Most of the population is engaged in agriculture . Cattle are raised in the highlands , bananas , sugarcane , and cotton are grown for export. Central America accounts for about a tenth of global coffee production. From the milky juice of the chiclet tree, or sapogillas , chewing gum is made. A rich crop of cocoa beans , the raw material for making chocolate, is harvested here. Corn , beans and rice grown in the region are the staple foods of the local population.

Industry

The industry is poorly developed, its basis is still made up of small factories producing clothes, shoes and other everyday goods. Handicraft pottery, woolen carpets, leather goods and hats are sold to tourists.

Infrastructure

Natural features

• Lake Nicaragua (Nicaragua) is the largest freshwater reservoir in Central America and the only freshwater lake in the world inhabited by sharks.
• Belize Reefs are the second largest barrier reef in the world.

Architectural objects

• The city of Antigua (Guatemala) , built in the 16th century, was the capital of Guatemala in the colonial era, but was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1773 .

Intangible objects

• Folk Dances (Guatemala)

• La Amistad International Park - Located on both sides of the Panama-Costa Rican border. The park includes two biosphere reserves adjacent to each other. One of them is located in Costa Rica, the other is in Panama. Both reserves are called the same - La Amistad, which means “friendship” in Spanish.

• Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica) - Located on the Osa Peninsula, on the Pacific coast. The area of ​​the park is 54,000 ha. The splendor of the nature of this remote, almost untouched forest in Central America, the diversity of its vegetation and wildlife attracts people's attention.

• Monteverde National Reserve (Costa Rica) - in the 1960s, a group of scientists and local residents established the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which eventually included the watershed zone. Since then, the reserve has repeatedly expanded, and now it covers approximately 10,500 hectares.

• Latin America
• North America
• South America
• America
• New World
• West Indies
• Volcanoes of Central America

• Gelbig K. In a country by the Caribbean: Traveling Central America / Karl Gelbig; Per. with him. A. B. Shmeleva; Foreword V. Okuneva; The book was reviewed and commented on by E. N. Lukashova (physical geography) and L. A. Fainberg (ethnography); Artist V.I. Surikov. - M .: Geografgiz , 1963. - 304, [16] p. - (Travel and adventure). - 85,000 copies. (region)

• Tyurin E. A. , Zubarev V. G. , Butovsky A. Yu. “History of Ancient Central and South America”
• Central America Open Directory Project Link Directory (dmoz)
• The ancient history of the countries of Central America (mythology, legends and much more) on the site "World of the Indians"
• The meaning of the word "Central America" ​​in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia