Which region, which includes Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, is the southern portion of North America?
Central America
What resources are significantly limited; Central America and the Caribbean islands must rely on these imports, limiting their development opportunities?
Energy
Which country in Central America has the smallest population?
Belize
He thought he had reached the Indies, or the islands near India. Therefore, he called the Caribbean islands the what and the people who lived there Indians?
West Indies
Caribbean food and cooking also reflect the region’s past. For example, slave ships carried foods as well as people to the Caribbean. Now foods from Africa, such as yams and okra, are popular there. Also, in Barbados, people eat a dish called what this is made of pigs’ tails, ears, and snout?
Souse
What is the name of a thin strip of land that joins two larger land areas?
Isthmus
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
What is the term for the practice of leveraging an area's natural surroundings to attract tourists?
Ecotourism
Spain had little interest in the smaller Caribbean islands, but the who did?
English, French, Dutch, and Danish
What is a self-governing territory associated with another country?
Commonwealth
What is the name of the hundreds of islands that lay across the Caribbean Sea from Central America?
Caribbean Islands
Which year did the Spanish colonies of Central America declare their independence from Spain?
1821
What is the name of a mountainous country whose people live primarily in mountain valleys and near the northern coast?
Honduras
A slave revolt led by who eventually helped Haiti win independence from France in 1804?
Toussaint-L’Ouverture
Haiti's capital what is the center of the nation’s limited industry?
Portau-Prince
What is the definition of a vast collection of islands?
Archipelago
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
What is the term used to describe a dispute between two or more groups within a country?
Civil War
Along with independence came freedom for the slaves in where?
Haiti
Who is someone who flees to another country, usually for political or economic reasons?
Refugee
What do the four main islands of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba make up?
Greater Antilles
Around which years did Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala separate?
1838 to 1839
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
By the mid-1800s, the what had gained independence?
Dominican Republic
When did a catastrophic earthquake struck close to Port-au-Prince. The quake devastated Haiti, leaving about 230,000 Haitians dead, 300,000 injured, and over a million homeless. Today, many Haitians continue working to rebuild their lives and nation?
January, 12, 2010
What are the various smaller islands in the Caribbean made of?
Lesser Antilles
Panama remained a part of Colombia until which year?
1903
Which South American country has been rebuilding since the end of a civil war, which concluded in 1990 and is now democratic?
Nicaragua
Who won Cuba from Spain?
United States
The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern part of Hispaniola. The capital is what. This was the first permanent European settlement in the Western Hemisphere?
Santo Domingo
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
What year did Belize win independence from Britain?
1981
Which South American country has a history of peace, a stable democratic administration, and no army?
Costa Rica
Who gained independence in 1902?
Cuba
Cuba is the largest and most populous country in the Caribbean. It is located just 92 miles (148 km) south of Florida. What is the capital, this is the country’s largest and most important city?
Havana
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
In the early to mid-1900s, which American business controlled the majority of Central American banana production?
United Fruit Company
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
Languages spoken in the region reflect a colonial heritage. Spanish, English, or French as well as mixtures of European and African languages are spoken on many islands. For example, Haitians speak what?
French Creole
Cuba has been run by a Communist government since who came to power in 1959?
Fidel Castro
What is the name of a moist, high-elevation tropical forest characterized by low clouds?
Cloud Forest
What is the name of Central America's chocolate source?
Cacao
Christopher Columbus discovered what in 1492?
America
What is a regional variety of a language?
Dialect
What is an organization owned by its members and operated for their mutual benefit?
Cooperative
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
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)
These islands now include how many independent countries? The countries themselves show the influence of those first European explorers?
13
The region’s past is also reflected in the religions people practice. Former French and Spanish territories have large numbers of Catholics. People also practice a blend of Catholicism and traditional African religions. One blended religion is what?
Santería
A numbered of Caribbean islands are not sovered nation. what title did it represent for other countries.
Territories
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
Which Central American country has the largest population, with almost 13 million people?
Guatemala
Christopher Columbus first sailed into the Caribbean Sea from where in 1492?
Spain
People on the Caribbean islands celebrate a variety of holidays. One of the biggest and most widespread is what. This is a time of feasts and celebration before the Christian season of Lent begin?
Carnival
The smallest country in the Caribbean is what?
Saint Kitts and Nevis