View source for Middle America (Americas)

{{Short description|Subregion in the middle latitudes of the Americas}}
{{Distinguish|Central America|Middle America (United States)|Mesoamerica}}
{{Other uses|Middle America (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox <!-- Population and economic figures as sourced, and include core countries only (those in dark green); i.e., excluding Colombia and Venezuela; where applicable, figures represent sums of those for Mexico, countries of Central America, and the Caribbean -->
| bodyclass = geography
| title     = Middle America 
| image     = [[File:Middle America (orthographic projection).svg|250px]]
| label1    = Area
| data1     = {{convert|2728827|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}
| label2    = [[List of continents and continental subregions by population|Population]] (2022) 
| data2     = 224,017,764
| label3    = [[List of sovereign states|Countries]]
| data3     = {{Collapsible list
| title = 21 – 23
| {{Flag|Antigua and Barbuda}}
| {{Flag|Bahamas}}
| {{Flag|Barbados}}
| {{Flag|Belize}}
| {{Flag|Colombia}}{{NoteTag|Sometimes included.|name="Countries"}}
| {{Flag|Costa Rica}}
| {{Flag|Cuba}}
| {{Flag|Dominica}}
| {{Flag|Dominican Republic}}
| {{Flag|El Salvador}}
| {{Flag|Grenada}}
| {{Flag|Guatemala}}
| {{Flag|Haiti}}
| {{Flag|Honduras}}
| {{Flag|Jamaica}}
| {{Flag|Mexico}}
| {{Flag|Nicaragua}}
| {{Flag|Panama}}
| {{Flag|Saint Kitts and Nevis}}
| {{Flag|Saint Lucia}}
| {{Flag|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}
| {{Flag|Trinidad and Tobago}}
| {{Flag|United States}} 
{{NoteTag|Sometimes included.|name="Countries"}}
| {{Flag|Venezuela}}{{NoteTag|name="Countries"}}
 }}
| label4 = [[Dependent territory|Dependencies]]
| data4 = {{Collapsible list
| title = 18
| {{Flag|Anguilla}} ([[The Crown|UK]])
| {{Flag|Aruba}} ([[Kingdom of the Netherlands|NL]])
| {{Flag|Bonaire}} ([[Netherlands|NL]])
| {{Flag|British Virgin Islands}} ([[The Crown|UK]])
| {{Flag|Cayman Islands}} ([[The Crown|UK]])
| {{Flag|Curaçao}} ([[Kingdom of the Netherlands|NL]])
| {{Flag|Guadeloupe|local2}} ([[French Fifth Republic|FR]])
| {{Flag|Martinique|territorial}} ([[French Fifth Republic|FR]])
| {{Flag|Montserrat}} ([[The Crown|UK]])
| {{Flag|Navassa Island}}{{NoteTag|Administered by the [[United States]], claimed by [[Haiti]].}} ([[United States|US]])
| {{Flag|Puerto Rico}} ([[United States|US]])
| {{Flag|Saba}} ([[Netherlands|NL]])
| {{Flag|Saint Barthélemy|local}} ([[France|FR]])
| {{Flagicon image|Local flag of the Collectivity of Saint Martin.svg}} [[Collectivity of Saint Martin|Saint Martin]] ([[France|FR]])
| {{Flag|Sint Eustatius}} ([[Netherlands|NL]])
| {{Flag|Sint Maarten}} ([[Kingdom of the Netherlands|NL]])
| {{Flag|Turks and Caicos Islands}} ([[The Crown|UK]])
| {{Flag|U.S. Virgin Islands}} ([[United States|US]])
 }}
| label5    = [[Gross domestic product|GDP]]
| data5     = $1.416 229 trillion<br />([[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|PPP]], 2005 est.)
| label6    = Major languages
| data6     = [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Mayan languages|Mayan]], [[Nahuatl]], [[Antillean Creole]], [[Haitian Creole]], and others
| label7    = [[Time zone]]s
| data7     = [[UTC−04:00]] ([[Barbados]]) to<br />[[UTC−08:00]] ([[Baja California]])
| label8    = Largest cities
| data8     = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = [[List of North American cities by population|10 largest cities in Middle America]] (2015)
| 
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Mexico City]]
# {{flagicon|Cuba}} [[Havana]]
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Ecatepec de Morelos]]
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Guadalajara]]
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Puebla (city)|Puebla]]
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Ciudad Juárez|Juárez]]
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[León, Guanajuato|León]]
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Tijuana]]
# {{flagicon|Honduras}} [[Tegucigalpa]]
# {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Zapopan]]
 }}
}}

<!-- End of floated right section; article starts here -->
'''Middle America''' is a [[Subregion#North America|subregion]] in the [[middle latitudes]] of the [[Americas]]. It usually includes [[Mexico]], the seven countries of [[Central America]], and the 13 [[island country|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.<ref>[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/middleamerica.jpg CIA political map of Middle America]. 1994. [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection]; [[University of Texas]] Library Online</ref><ref>"[http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Middle%20America Middle America]." ''[[Merriam-Webster|Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]'', 11th ed. 2003. ({{ISBN|0-87779-809-5}}) New York: Merriam-Webster, Inc.</ref><ref name=Augelli>{{cite journal|jstor=2561309|author=Augelli, John P.|title=The Rimland-Mainland Concept of Culture Areas in Middle America|journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers|date=June 1962|volume=52|issue=2|pages=52 (2): 119–129|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1962.tb00400.x|quote=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 ''[[:de:Mittelamerika|Mittelamerika]]''.}}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[Image:MiddleAmerica-pol.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.25|Political map of Middle America]]

[[Physical geography|Physiographically]], Middle America marks the territorial transition between [[Northern America]] and [[South America]], connecting yet separating the two.<ref name="Idiot">Gonzalez, Joseph. 2004. [https://books.google.com/books?id=I4h9x5ZYDDIC "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</ref> On the west, the Middle American mainland comprises the tapering, [[isthmus|isthmian]] tract of the American [[Land#Land mass|landmass]] between the southern [[Rocky Mountains]] in the southern [[United States]] and the northern tip of the [[Andes]] in Colombia,<ref name="EB">"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-381099/Middle-America Middle America]." ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' 2006. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</ref> 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 Antilles|Greater]] and [[Lesser Antilles]] form an [[island arc]] in the east.<ref name=Idiot /> The region developed [[subaerial]]ly southward from North America as a complex [[volcanic arc]]-[[oceanic trench|trench]] system during the [[Early Cretaceous]] period, eventually forming the land bridge during the [[Pliocene|Pliocene epoch]] when its southern end (at Panama) collided with South America through [[plate tectonics|tectonic action]].<ref>Coney, Peter J. 1982. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2399080 Plate tectonic constraints on the biogeography of Middle America and the Caribbean region]." ''Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden'': v. 69, pp. 432–443</ref>

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

{| class="wikitable sortable"
![[List of sovereign states|Country]] / [[Dependent territory|Territory]]
![[List of countries by population (United Nations)|Population]]
![[List of countries and dependencies by area|Area]] (km<sup>2</sup>)
![[List of countries and dependencies by population density|Density]] (people
per km<sup>2</sup>)
![[List of national capitals|Capital]]
|-
|{{Flag|Mexico}}
|127,575,529
|1,943,945
|65.6
|[[Mexico City]]
|-
|{{Flag|Guatemala}}
|17,581,472
|107,158
|164.1
|[[Guatemala City]]
|-
|{{Flag|Cuba}}
|11,333,483
|109,883
|103.1
|[[Havana]]
|-
|{{Flag|Haiti}}
|11,263,770
|27,557
|408.7
|[[Port-au-Prince]]
|-
|{{Flag|Dominican Republic}}
|10,738,958
|48,329
|222.2
|[[Santo Domingo]]
|-
|{{Flag|Honduras}}
|9,746,117
|111,888
|87.1
|[[Tegucigalpa]]
|-
|{{Flag|Nicaragua}}
|6,545,502
|119,994
|54.5
|[[Managua]]
|-
|{{Flag|El Salvador}}
|6,453,553
|20,720
|311.5
|[[San Salvador]]
|-
|{{Flag|Costa Rica}}
|5,047,561
|51,049
|98.9
|[[San José, Costa Rica|San José]]
|-
|{{Flag|Panama}}
|4,246,439
|74,333
|57.1
|[[Panama City]]
|-
|{{Flag|Jamaica}}
|2,948,279
|10,831
|272.2
|[[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]]
|-
|''{{Flag|Puerto Rico}}''
|''3,205,691''
|''9,100''
|''352.2''
|''[[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]]''
|-
|{{Flag|Belize}}
|390,353
|22,805
|17.1
|[[Belmopan]]
|-
|{{Flag|Bahamas}}
|389,482
|9,997
|39.0
|[[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]]
|-
!'''Total'''
!'''217,193,906'''
!'''2,667,589'''
!'''81.4'''
|}

== Use of the term Middle America as synonym ==
Occasionally, the term Middle America is used synonymously with Central America<ref name=Augelli /> (compare with [[Central Africa|''Middle Africa'' and ''Central Africa'']]). In English, the term is uncommonly used as a synonym of the term [[Mesoamerica]] (or [[wikt:meso-|Meso-]][[Americas|America]]),<ref name="EB" /><ref>[http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/007299634x/student_view0/glossary.html 'Glossary'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185414/http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/007299634x/student_view0/glossary.html |date=2007-09-30 }} ''Images of the Past'', 4th ed. 2005. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.</ref> which generally refers to an ancient [[cultural area|culture region]] situated in Middle America extending roughly from central Mexico to northern [[Costa Rica]].<ref>Dow, James W. 1999. ''[http://personalwebs.oakland.edu/~dow/personal/papers/meso/ca_of_ma.html The Cultural Anthropology of Middle America] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704223123/http://personalwebs.oakland.edu/~dow/personal/papers/meso/ca_of_ma.html |date=2007-07-04 }}.''</ref> In addition, some residents of the region (e.g., Costa Ricans and [[Nicaragua]]ns) may be referred to as Meso-Americans or Central Americans, but not, however, as [[Middle class|Middle Americans]], which refers to a particular constituency in the United States.<ref>"American." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' ({{ISBN|0-19-214183-X}}). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 35.</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Geography|Central America|North America|South America}}
{{Commons category|Middle America}}
* [[Americas (terminology)]]
* [[Aridoamerica]]
* [[Latin America and the Caribbean]]
* [[Middle America Trench]]
* [[Oasisamerica]]
* [[Southern Cone]]
* [[West Indies]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}} 
* "[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Middle%20America Middle America]", ''[http://dictionary.reference.com/ Dictionary.com]''.
* "[http://www.bartleby.com/65/na/NAmer.html North America]". ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20020205073950/http://www.bartleby.com/65/ 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.
{{refend}}

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{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|17.4000|N|91.0000|W|source:wikidata|display=title}}

[[Category:Middle America (Americas)| ]]