Middle America (Americas)

Subregion in the middle latitudes of the Americas

Not to be confused with Central America, Middle America (United States), or Mesoamerica.

For other uses, see Middle America (disambiguation).

Middle America

Area| 2,728,827 km2 (1,053,606 sq mi)
Population (2022)| 224,017,764
Countries|

21 – 23

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Colombia[note 1]
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* El Salvador
* Grenada
* Guatemala
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States [note 1]
* Venezuela[note 1]

Dependencies|

* Anguilla (UK)
* Aruba (NL)
* Bonaire (NL)
* British Virgin Islands (UK)
* Cayman Islands (UK)
* Curaçao (NL)
* Guadeloupe (FR)
* Martinique (FR)
* Montserrat (UK)
* Navassa Island[note 2] (US)
* Puerto Rico (US)
* Saba (NL)
* Saint Barthélemy (FR)
* Saint Martin (FR)
* Sint Eustatius (NL)
* Sint Maarten (NL)
* Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
* U.S. Virgin Islands (US)

GDP| $1.416 229 trillion
(PPP, 2005 est.)
Major languages| Spanish, English, French, Mayan, Nahuatl, Antillean Creole, Haitian Creole, and others
Time zones| UTC−04:00 (Barbados) to
UTC−08:00 (Baja California)
Largest cities|

10 largest cities in Middle America (2015)

*     1. Mexico City
2. Havana
3. Ecatepec de Morelos
4. Guadalajara
5. Puebla
6. Juárez
7. León
8. Tijuana
9. Tegucigalpa
10. Zapopan

Middle America is a subregion in the middle latitudes of the Americas. It usually includes Mexico, the seven countries of Central America, and the 13 island countries and 18 territories of the Caribbean. Together with Northern America, they form the continent of North America.

Colombia and Venezuela of Caribbean South America are sometimes included in this subregion. The Caribbean is occasionally excluded from this subregion while Bermuda and The Guianas are infrequently included.[1][2][3]

## Geography

[edit]

Political map of Middle America

Physiographically, Middle America marks the territorial transition between Northern America and South America, connecting yet separating the two.[4] On the west, the Middle American mainland comprises the tapering, isthmian tract of the American landmass between the southern Rocky Mountains in the southern United States and the northern tip of the Andes in Colombia,[5] separating the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Atlantic Ocean (viz. the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea) on the east, while the Greater and Lesser Antilles form an island arc in the east.[4] The region developed subaerially southward from North America as a complex volcanic arc-trench system during the Early Cretaceous period, eventually forming the land bridge during the Pliocene epoch when its southern end (at Panama) collided with South America through tectonic action.[6]

## Countries and territories

[edit]

Small island nations are excluded. Puerto Rico is in italics due to not being independent.

Country / Territory | Population | Area (km2)  | Density (people

per km2)

| Capital

|
|
|
|

Mexico | 127,575,529  | 1,943,945  | 65.6  | Mexico City
Guatemala | 17,581,472  | 107,158  | 164.1  | Guatemala City
Cuba | 11,333,483  | 109,883  | 103.1  | Havana
Haiti | 11,263,770  | 27,557  | 408.7  | Port-au-Prince
Dominican Republic | 10,738,958  | 48,329  | 222.2  | Santo Domingo
Honduras | 9,746,117  | 111,888  | 87.1  | Tegucigalpa
Nicaragua | 6,545,502  | 119,994  | 54.5  | Managua
El Salvador | 6,453,553  | 20,720  | 311.5  | San Salvador
Costa Rica | 5,047,561  | 51,049  | 98.9  | San José
Panama | 4,246,439  | 74,333  | 57.1  | Panama City
Jamaica | 2,948,279  | 10,831  | 272.2  | Kingston
Puerto Rico | 3,205,691 | 9,100 | 352.2 | San Juan
Belize | 390,353  | 22,805  | 17.1  | Belmopan
Bahamas | 389,482  | 9,997  | 39.0  | Nassau
Total | 217,193,906 | 2,667,589 | 81.4

## Use of the term Middle America as synonym

[edit]

Occasionally, the term Middle America is used synonymously with Central America[3] (compare with Middle Africa and Central Africa). In English, the term is uncommonly used as a synonym of the term Mesoamerica (or Meso-America),[5][7] which generally refers to an ancient culture region situated in Middle America extending roughly from central Mexico to northern Costa Rica.[8] In addition, some residents of the region (e.g., Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans) may be referred to as Meso-Americans or Central Americans, but not, however, as Middle Americans, which refers to a particular constituency in the United States.[9]

## See also

[edit]

* Geography portal
* Central America portal
* North America portal
* South America portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Middle America.

* Americas (terminology)
* Aridoamerica
* Latin America and the Caribbean
* Middle America Trench
* Oasisamerica
* Southern Cone
* West Indies

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Sometimes included.
2. ^ Administered by the United States, claimed by Haiti.

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ CIA political map of Middle America. 1994. Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection; University of Texas Library Online
2. ^ "Middle America." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. 2003. (ISBN 0-87779-809-5) New York: Merriam-Webster, Inc.
3. ^ a b Augelli, John P. (June 1962). "The Rimland-Mainland Concept of Culture Areas in Middle America". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 52 (2): 52 (2): 119–129. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1962.tb00400.x. JSTOR 2561309. "Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, to which the term is normally applicable, share a general [geographic] focus .... For some ... "Middle America" refers only to Mexico and Central America; others add the West Indies and, infrequently, even Colombia, Venezuela, and The Guianas. Occasionally, the term "Central America" is used synonymously with "Middle America". Also, German geographers often refer to just the isthmian territories from Panama to Guatemala as Mittelamerika."
4. ^ a b Gonzalez, Joseph. 2004. "Middle America: Bridging Two Continents" (ch. 17). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography. (ISBN 1-59257-188-3) New York: Alpha Books; pp. 213–7
5. ^ a b "Middle America." Encyclopædia Britannica 2006\. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
6. ^ Coney, Peter J. 1982. "Plate tectonic constraints on the biogeography of Middle America and the Caribbean region." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden: v. 69, pp. 432–443
7. ^ 'Glossary' Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Images of the Past, 4th ed. 2005. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
8. ^ Dow, James W. 1999. The Cultural Anthropology of Middle America Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine.
9. ^ "American." The Oxford Companion to the English Language (ISBN 0-19-214183-X). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 35.

### Sources

[edit]

* "Middle America", Dictionary.com.
* "North America". The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2001–6. New York: Columbia University Press.
* Oxford English Reference Dictionary, 2nd ed. (rev.) 2002. (ISBN 0-19-860652-4) Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

* v
* t
* e

Earth's primary regions and subregions

Worlds|

* Arab World
* Down Under
* New World
* Old World
* Three/Four Worlds
* First World
* Second World
* Third World
* Fourth World

Hemispheres|

* Eastern Hemisphere
* Land Hemisphere
* Northern Hemisphere
* Southern Hemisphere
* Water Hemisphere
* Western Hemisphere

Landmasses|

* Africa-Eurasia
* Eurasia
* America
* Antarctica
* Australia
* Zealandia
* submerged
* Tectonic plates

Continents|

| Africa|

* Mediterranean
* Saharan
* Northern
* Maghreb
* Mashriq
* Middle East
* Middle East and North Africa
* Sub-Saharan
* Central
* East
* Horn
* Great Lakes
* Southern
* Western

|

Antarctica|

* East Antarctica
* Antarctic Plateau
* Transantarctic Mountains
* West Antarctica
* Antarctic Peninsula

Asia|

* Asia–Pacific
* Central
* Aral Sea
* Aralkum Desert
* Caspian Sea
* Eastern
* Inner Asia
* Greater Central Asia
* Northeastern
* Far East
* Pacific Asia
* Russian Far East
* Northern
* Siberia
* Ural
* Southeastern
* Mainland
* Maritime
* Southern
* Himalayan states
* Indian subcontinent
* Subregions
* Western
* Arabian Peninsula
* Caucasus
* South Caucasus
* Greater Iran
* Iranian plateau
* Levant
* Dead Sea
* Levantine Sea
* Middle East
* Mashriq
* Middle East and North Africa
* Near East

Europe|

* Central
* Eastern
* Balkans
* Caucasus
* North Caucasus
* South Caucasus
* Southern Russia
* European Russia
* Southeastern
* Northern
* Baltic
* British Isles
* Nordic
* Northwestern
* Scandinavia
* Scandinavian Peninsula
* Southern
* Mediterranean
* Middle East
* Italy
* Italian Peninsula
* South-eastern
* Balkan Peninsula
* South-western
* Iberian Peninsula
* Western
* Atlantic
* Low Countries
* Northwestern
* Celtic
* Germanic
* Romance
* Slavic

North America|

* Aridoamerica
* Caribbean
* Central
* Mesoamerica
* Middle
* Northern
* Appalachia
* Bible Belt
* East Coast
* Eastern United States
* Great Lakes
* Mid-Atlantic
* Midwest
* Mountain states
* New England
* Northeastern United States
* Northern United States
* Pacific Northwest
* Southeast
* Southern United States
* Southwest
* West Coast
* West South Central United States
* Western United States
* Atlantic Canada
* Canadian Prairies
* Central Canada
* Eastern Canada
* Northern Canada
* Western Canada
* Northern Mexico
* West Indies
* Anglo
* French
* Latin
* Ibero
* Hispanic
* Portuguese
* Latin America and the Caribbean

Oceania|

* Australasia
* Australia
* Mainland Australia
* New Guinea
* Tasmania
* Zealandia
* Melanesia
* Island Melanesia
* Micronesia
* Near Oceania
* Polynesia
* Remote Oceania

South America|

* Amazon Plain
* Amazon Basin
* Amazon Rainforest
* Andean States
* Brazilian Highlands
* Caribbean South America
* The Guianas
* Latin America and the Caribbean
* Southern Cone
* Patagonia

Islands|

| By continent|

* Africa
* America
* North America
* Caribbean
* Central America
* South America
* Antarctica
* Asia
* Europe
* by area
* by population
* Oceania
* Australia
* New Zealand

|

By ocean|

* Arctic Ocean
* Atlantic Ocean
* Baltic Sea
* Black Sea
* Caribbean Sea
* Irish Sea
* Mediterranean Sea
* Adriatic Sea
* Aegean Sea
* Ionian Sea
* Indian Ocean
* Persian Gulf
* Pacific Ocean
* East China Sea
* South China Sea
* Southern Ocean

Oceans|

* Antarctic/Southern Ocean
* Antarctic Convergence
* Arctic Ocean
* Atlantic Ocean
* Indian Ocean
* Pacific Ocean
* Great Barrier Reef
* Mariana Trench
* Ring of Fire
* World Ocean

Other waterbodies|

* Lakes
* lists
* Rivers
* Seas

Rim|

* Atlantic Rim
* Indo-Mediterranean
* Indian Ocean Rim
* Mediterranean Rim
* Pacific Rim

Polar|

* Antarctic
* Arctic

Global|

* Global East
* Global Heartland
* Global North
* Global Northeast
* Global Northwest
* Global South
* Global Southeast
* Global Southwest
* Global West

* Continents of Earth / List of seas / Physical Earth

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany

17°24′00″N 91°00′00″W﻿ / ﻿17.4000°N 91.0000°W﻿ / 17.4000; -91.0000
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template