Section 1
What is the southern part of North America?
Central America
What lies in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Florida?
Bahamas
In several Central American countries, who was building large cities with pyramids and temples about AD 250, but abandoned most of their cities around 900?
Maya
In the early to mid-1900s, one landowner in particular, the , controlled most of the banana production in Central America.
United Fruit Company
What is a mountainous country? Most people live in mountain valleys and along the northern coast. The rugged land makes transportation difficult and provides little land where crops can grow. However, citrus fruits and bananas are important exports.
Honduras
What is the term for a narrow strip of land that connects two larger land areas?
Isthmus
Colliding what has pushed land up out of the sea for several million years?
Tectonic Plates
What was the year that the Spanish colonies of Central America declared independence?
1821
What is the source of chocolate?
Cacao
What is the term for a conflict between two or more groups within a country?
Civil War
What is arranged in a long curve, and stretches from the southern tip of Florida to northern South America?
Caribbean Islands
What is the term for a moist, high elevation tropical forest where low clouds are common?
Cloud Forest
After the Spanish colonies of Central America declared independence from Spain in 1821, much of the region remained joined together as the what?
United Provinces of Central America
In 2005 Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua signed the with the United States to help increase trade among the countries.
Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
In which part of Central America do a few rich families own much of the best land while most people live in poverty? These conditions were a reason behind a long civil war in the 1980s.
El Salvador
What is the term for a large group of islands?
Archipelago
What occurs between June and November?
Hurricanes
The countries of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala separated from each other in what years?
1838 to 1839
What is the most populous country in Central America? More than 13 million people live there. About 60 percent of Guatemalans are mestizo and European. About 40 percent are Central American Indians. Many speak Maya languages. Coffee is the most important crop.
Guatemala
Which part of Central America has also been rebuilding since the end of a civil war. In 1979, a group called the Sandinistas overthrew a dictator. Many people supported the Sandinistas, but rebel forces aided by the United States fought the Sandinistas for power. The civil war ended in 1990 when elections ended the rule of the Sandinistas.
Nicaragua
The four large islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico make up what?
Greater Antilles
What in the region can be profitable where volcanic ash has enriched the soil?
Agriculture
Panama remained part of Colombia until what year?
1903
What has the smallest population in Central America? The country does not have much land for agriculture, either. But ecotourism—the practice of using an area’s natural environment to attract tourists— has become popular lately. Tourists come to see the country’s coral reefs, Maya ruins, and coastal resorts.
Belize
Unlike most other Central American countries, has a history of peace. It also has a stable, democratic government. The country does not even have an army. Peace has helped this place make progress in reducing poverty. Agricultural products like coffee and bananas are important to its economy. Also, many tourists visit its rich tropical rain forests.
Costa Rica
Smaller islands form the what?
Lesser Antilles
What resources are also limited?
Energy
Belize did not gain independence from Britain until what year?
1981
What is the term for the practice of using an area’s natural environment to attract tourists?
Ecotourism
What provides a link between the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean? The United States finished building it in 1914. For years it played an important role in the economy and politics of the region. The United States controlled it until 1999. Then, as agreed to in a treaty, Panama finally gained full control of it.
Panama Canal