Row 1
What is the name of the structure that connects the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean? The United States completed its construction in 1914, and it has long played a vital role in the region's economics and politics.
Panama Canal
What is the term for the practice of leveraging an area's natural surroundings to attract tourists?
Ecotourism
Who built vast cities with pyramids and temples in various Central American countries around AD 250 and abandoned most of them around 900, although the ruins of several ancient cities may still be found in the region today?
Maya
Many islands speak Spanish, English, or French, as well as European and African languages mixed together. What language do the Haitians speak?
French Creole
How many independent countries do the Caribbean Islands have?
13
Which country in Central America has the smallest population?
Belize
What is the name of an island group in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Florida that includes nearly 700 islands and thousands of reefs?
Bahamas
Which Caribbean country gained it's independence in 1902?
Cuba
Which industry in the region may be profitable where volcanic ash has enriched the soil; coffee, bananas, sugarcane, and cotton thrive and are key crops.
Agriculture
In Barbados, people eat a traditional dish prepared from pig tails, ears, and snouts; this type of cuisine originated among slaves when slaveholders ate the best parts of the pig and passed the leftovers on to them. What is this dish known as?
Souse
What resources are significantly limited; Central America and the Caribbean islands must rely on these imports, limiting their development opportunities?
Energy
Which country took sovereignty of Cuba from Spain until 1902?
United States
What is the name of a thin strip of land that joins two larger land areas?
Isthmus
What is the name for a self-governing area affiliated with another country?
Commonwealth
Which year did the Spanish colonies of Central America declare their independence from Spain?
1821
Which country occupies the eastern section of Hispaniola and obtained independence in the mid-1800s?
Dominican Republic
Which region, which includes Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, is the southern portion of North America?
Central America
Haiti's capital is the hub of the country's modest industry. What's it called?
Portau-Prince
What is the name of the hundreds of islands that lay across the Caribbean Sea from Central America?
Caribbean Islands
What is the label of a regional variety of a language?
Dialect
Which South American country has a history of peace, a stable democratic administration, and no army?
Costa Rica
Someone who escapes to another country, usually for political or economic reasons, is referred to as what?
Refugee
Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua signed an agreement with the United States in 2005 to enhance trade between the countries known as what?
Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
People in former French and Spanish colonies practice a combination of Catholicism and traditional African religions. Which region practices that combined religion?
SanterÃa
Panama remained a part of Colombia until which year?
1903
A devastating earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, killing around 230,000 Haitians, injuring 300,000, and displacing over a million. On what date did this happen?
January, 12, 2010
What is the name of a moist, high-elevation tropical forest characterized by low clouds?
Cloud Forest
People in the Caribbean islands celebrate a number of holidays. One of the largest and most widespread is a period of feasting and celebration preceding the Christian season of Lent. What is it known as?
Carnival
Which South American country has been rebuilding since the end of a civil war, which concluded in 1990 and is now democratic?
Nicaragua
What is the name of a mountainous country whose people live primarily in mountain valleys and near the northern coast?
Honduras
Around which years did Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala separate?
1838 to 1839
Which location was the first permanent European colony in the Western Hemisphere and is now the Dominican Republic's capital?
Santo Domingo
What are the various smaller islands in the Caribbean made of?
Lesser Antilles
A slave insurrection in Haiti contributed to the country's independence from France in 1804. Who spearheaded the revolt?
Toussaint-L’Ouverture
What is the name of Central America's chocolate source?
Cacao
Spain showed little interest in the lesser Caribbean islands, but who did?
English, French, Dutch, and Danish
What do the four main islands of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba make up?
Greater Antilles
What is the name of Cuba's capital, which is also the country's largest and most important city?
Havana
What is the definition of a vast collection of islands?
Archipelago
What is the term used to describe a dispute between two or more groups within a country?
Civil War
What year did Belize win independence from Britain?
1981
Christoper Columbus believed he had reached the Indies, or the islands near India, thus he called the Caribbean islands what?
West Indies
Which Central American country has the largest population, with almost 13 million people?
Guatemala
Since 1959, who has led Cuba's Communist government?
Fidel Castro
In the early to mid-1900s, which American business controlled the majority of Central American banana production?
United Fruit Company
Which country occupies the western half of the island of Hispaniola and obtained independence from France in 1804?
Haiti
Many Caribbean islands are actually the summits of underwater mountains and volcanoes, whilst others originated as coral reefs that were progressively pushed up to form flat limestone islands. What has pushed this region's land up out of the sea over millions of years?
Colliding Tectonic Plates
A number of Caribbean islands are not sovereign nations. What title do they represent for other countries?
Territories
What is the name of a tropical storm that brings powerful winds, heavy rain, and high seas, often occurring between June and November? Their winds and flooding can wreak devastation and loss of lives.
Hurricanes
What is the name given to an organization owned by its members and operated for their mutual benefit?
Cooperative
Christopher Columbus initially sailed into the Caribbean Sea in 1492, from where?
Spain
Which people's country has been working to rebuild itself since the conclusion of the conflict in 1992, with one advantage being the country's fertile soil, which allows them to grow and export commodities such as coffee and sugarcane?
El Salvador
The Spanish colonies of Central America declared independence from Spain, but much of the territory stayed united, known as what?
United Provinces of Central America
Several of the Caribbean islands are small countries. What is the name of the smallest country, which is less than one-tenth the size of Rhode Island, the smallest US state?
Saint Kitts and Nevis
When Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, what place did he actually discover?
Caribbean Islands