How would central america be different today if the united states extended to panama?

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.)

ENTRAL AMERICA

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Ralph Lee Woodward See All Contributors

Professor Emeritus of Latin American History, Tulane University, New Orleans. Author of A Short History of Guatemala.

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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

Central America

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Temple of Inscriptions, Mexico

Temple of Inscriptions, Mexico

The Temple of Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico. The mountain element was represented by the Mayan culture in pyramidal stone temples.

C. Reyes/Shostal Associates

Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.

BRITANNICA QUIZ

Quick Quiz: Central American Geography

Central America consists of seven countries (and sometimes part of an eighth), but this quiz includes only two questions. How quickly can you answer them?

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 northwest to the southeast. At its narrowest point the isthmus is only about 30 miles (50 km) wide, and there is no location in Central America that is more distant than 125 miles (200 km) from the sea.

Humid swamps and lowlands extend along both the west and east coasts, but four-fifths of Central America is either hilly or mountainous. The western band of Pacific coastal lowland is narrow and overshadowed by mountain ranges, and, except in Nicaragua and Honduras, the eastern plains along the Caribbean are also narrow. Elevation steadily increases west of the Caribbean lowlands, until, toward the Pacific Coast, plateau highlands culminate in mountain ridges and some 40 volcanic cones, some of which attain elevations of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 metres). Some of Central America’s volcanoes erupt violently from time to time, and earthquakes frequently occur in the region. The weathered volcanic lavas produce a fertile soil, however, and the highlands of the volcanic zones have consequently become highly productive agricultural zones and areas of dense population.

in february 1787, congress decided that a convention should be convened to revise the articles of confederation, the nation’s first constitution. in may, 55 delegates came to philadelphia, and the constitutional convention began. debates erupted over representation in congress, over slavery, and over the new executive branch. the debates continued through four hot and muggy months. but eventually the delegates reached compromises, and on september 17, they produced the u.s. constitution, replacing the articles with the governing document that has functioned effectively for more than 200 years.