Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from southern Mexico to southeastern Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage.
Central America is commonly said to include Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. This definition matches modern political borders. Central America begins geographically in Mexico, at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico's narrowest point, and the former country of Yucatán (1841–1848) was part of Central America. At the other end, before its independence in 1903 Panama was part of South America, as it was a Department of Colombia. At times Belize, a British colony until 1981, where English instead of Spanish is spoken, and where the population is primarily of African origin, has been considered not part of (Spanish-speaking) Central America.
The Greater Republic of Central America, later the United States of Central America, originally planned to be known as the Republic of Central America, was a short-lived political union between El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, lasting from 1896 to 1898. It was an attempt to revive the failed Federal Republic of Central America that existed earlier in the century.
The Central American crisis began in the late 1970s, when major civil wars and communist revolutions erupted in various countries in Central America, causing it to become the world's most volatile region in terms of socioeconomic change. In particular, the United States feared that victories by communist forces would cause South America to become isolated from the United States if the governments of the Central American countries were overthrown and pro-Soviet communist governments were installed in their place. During these civil wars, the United States pursued its interests by supporting right-wing governments against left-wing guerrillas.
Operation Charly, was allegedly the code-name given to a program during the 1970s and 1980s undertaken by the junta in Argentina with the objective of providing military and counterinsurgency assistance to right-wing dictatorships and insurgents in Central America. According to Noam Chomsky, the operation was either headed by the Argentine military with the agreement of the United States Department of Defense, or was led by the US and used the Argentinians as a proxy.
Salvadoran passports are issued to citizens of El Salvador to travel outside the country.
The Central American Integration System has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1 February 1993. On 13 December 1991, the ODECA countries signed the Protocol of Tegucigalpa, extending earlier cooperation for regional peace, political freedom, democracy and economic development. SICA's General Secretariat is in El Salvador.
Visitors to Montenegro must obtain a visa from one of the Montenegrin diplomatic missions unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt countries. Visa policy is regulated by Regulation on Visa Regime Act. Where there are no diplomatic or consular representations of Montenegro, visa requiring foreigners may obtain them from diplomatic or consular representations of Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia.
The Central America-4 Free Mobility Agreement is a treaty signed in June 2006 between the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, establishing the free movement across borders between the four signatory states of their citizens without any restrictions or checks. Foreign nationals who enter one of the signatory countries can also travel to other signatory states by land without having to obtain additional permits or to undergo checks at border checkpoints. Similar to the Schengen Agreement in Europe, the CA-4 Agreement establishes a harmonized visa regime for nationals travelling to the area.
El Salvador became independent from Spain in 1821. It has produced its own stamps since 1867.
Visitors to Bosnia and Herzegovina must obtain a visa from one of the Bosnia and Herzegovina diplomatic missions unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt countries.
Visitors to Venezuela must obtain a visa from one of the Venezuelan diplomatic missions, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries.
Visitors are required to hold proof of sufficient funds to cover their stay and documents required for their next destination.
Visitors not holding return / onward tickets could be refused entry. Naturalized Venezuelan citizens, must hold in addition to their passport and National Identity Card, the original of the official decree of their naturalization issued by the Venezuelan government.
All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months.
The gallery of passport stamps by country or territory contains an accurate alphabetical list of sovereign states, partially recognised states, and dependent territories with images of their passport stamps including visas. All Schengen countries and Cyprus use the same format for their stamps and stamps are not issued when traveling from one Schengen country to another, except for land border crossings to, from, and between Romania and Bulgaria.
Visitors to El Salvador must obtain a visa from one of the Salvadoran diplomatic missions, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months.
Visitors to Guatemala must obtain a visa from one of the Guatemalan diplomatic missions, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries.
Visitors to Honduras must obtain a visa from one of the Honduran diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 3 months.
Visitors to Nicaragua must obtain a visa from one of the Nicaraguan diplomatic missions, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries or countries that can obtain a visa on arrival. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months.
The British Overseas Territories maintain their own entry requirements different from the visa policy of the United Kingdom. As a general rule, British citizens do not have automatic right of abode in these territories.
The following lists events that happened during 2020 in Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The War of 1907 was a conflict fought between El Salvador and an alliance between Honduras, Nicaragua, Salvadoran exiles, and American filibusters. The invasion of El Salvador on 11 June 1907 resulted in a quick military victory for El Salvador as invading forces withdrew by the end of the day. The war officially ended with the signing of a peace treaty on 20 December 1907 which established the Central American Court of Justice.
