We know that the American continent is a continent located in the Western Hemisphere and is the main body of the Americas. Now, there are 37 countries in the Americas, and they have a strange characteristic: the big ones are a little too big, and the small ones are too small. Three of the world's six largest countries by territory are in the Americas. And those countries with small territories are concentrated in the same place.
It is Central America.
The Central America mentioned here includes the Central American Isthmus and the West Indies, of course, the Central American Isthmus is the main body. Two places share the same characteristics: one is the concentration of small countries and the other is bordering the Caribbean Sea.
Let's explore such a peculiar place.
Overview of the administrative divisions of Central America
Central America, as the name suggests, is located in the middle of the Americas. The south side of the United States and Mexico, Colombia and the north side of Venezuela. It consists of two places, the Central American Isthmus and the West Indies, with a total area of 770,000 square kilometers. The Central American Isthmus accounts for about 5/7 of the total area, with 7 countries on it; The West Indies is the 5th largest archipelago in the world, with 13 countries. In addition to this, the Colombian province of San Andrés Providencia is located in Central America, and the federal possessions of Venezuela are also in Central America; There are also four overseas territories in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. In total, it belongs to 26 countries. If you think about it, you can feel how chaotic its administrative divisions are.
Schematic map of Central America
Central America is really a place where small countries come together
As mentioned above, 20 countries are located in Central America, including 7 in the Central American Isthmus and 13 in the West Indies. So, how small are they? Seriously, the largest Nicaragua is only 121428 square kilometers. Let's take a look at their and other areas located in Central America.
Country & Region, Area (km²)
Nicaragua 121428
Honduras 112492
Cuba 110860
Guatemala 108889
Panama 75517
Costa Rica 51100
Dominica 48734
Haiti 27797
Belize 22966
El Salvador 20720
Bahamas 13939
Jamaica 10991
The U.S. Central American territory covers an area of 9,458 square kilometers
Puerto Rico 9104 (US)
Trinidad and Tobago 5128
The French territory of Central America covers an area of 2,881 square kilometers
Guadeloupe 1702 (fr)
Martinique 1100 (French)
The British territory of Central America covers an area of 1047 square kilometers
The Dutch territory of Central America covers an area of 980 square kilometers
Dominica 751
Saint Lucia 616
Curacao 444 (Netherlands)
Antigua and Barbuda 442
Barbados 431
Turks and Caicos 430 (English)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 389
U.S. Virgin Islands 354 (U.S.)
Grenada 344
Venezuelan Federal Possession 342 (Venezuela) is a Central American territory of Venezuela
Bonaire 288 (Netherlands)
Saint Kitts and Nevis 267
Cayman Islands 264 (English)
Aruba 180 (Netherlands)
British Virgin Islands 153 (English)
Montserrat 102 (English)
Anguilla 96 (English)
Saint Martin 88 (Netherlands, France)
San Andrés-Providencia 44 (Colum), a Mesoamerican territory of Colombia
Sint Eustatius and Saba 34 (Netherlands)
Saint Barthélemy 25 (fr)
From the list above, we can see that their area is generally small, and the area difference is huge. The nine largest countries occupy more than 80 per cent of Central America's territory, while the rest gain very little. Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest Central American country by area. In particular, the Lesser Antilles, which has more than 10,000 square kilometers of land scattered with many small countries, Saint Kitts and Nevis is one of them, including Anguilla, St. Martin and St. Barthélemy, which are only a few tens of square kilometers.
The largest country in Central America: Nicaragua, with the same proportion of Jiangsu province. From the picture, we can see how worthless other countries are.
Note the Chongming Island pictured above, which is about 4 times the size of St. Kitts and Nevis. Netizen: It's not even bigger than a county in China!
Anguilla, St. Martin, Saint Barthélemy, 3 smallest district profiles
Turks and Caicos - Alternative in the Bahamas
Distribution of Central American countries
1【Central American Isthmus】
The Central American Isthmus is the main body of Central America, covering an area of about 550,000 square kilometers, accounting for 5/7 of Central America. It is by far the largest isthmus in the world, connecting North and South America. The Panama Canal was built on the narrowest part of the Central American Isthmus. It has seven countries, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the five main countries arranged in order, the common feature is that they all border the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Belize and El Salvador are two smaller ones, one facing only the Atlantic Ocean and the other only the Pacific Ocean, and both have a common neighbor, Guatemala.
7 countries of the Central American Isthmus
2【West Indies】
The West Indies, another part of Central America besides the Isthmus of Central America, is the 5th largest archipelago in the world, covering about two-sevenths of Central America. It is a concentration area of North American countries. It is divided into the Bahamas and the Antilles, and the Antilles is further divided into the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. The five countries of Cuba, Haiti, Dominica, the Bahamas and Jamaica in the western part of the archipelago firmly occupy the main body of the archipelago, of which Cuba alone has jurisdiction over half of the archipelago's land. The eastern sector, divided into the Leeward Islands (from the Virgin Islands to Montserrat) and the Windward Islands (from Guadeloupe to Grenada), is home to small countries and is an area only the size of a county in China. There is no sovereign state in the southern sector, and the islands are carved out by Venezuela and the Netherlands.
West indies
National area in the eastern section of the West Indies
Administrative divisions of the southern section of the West Indies
What is the reason why there are so many countries in Central America
So, have you ever wondered why Central America, which is only a little larger than Qinghai Province, is under the jurisdiction of so many countries?
This starts in the late 15th century. In 1492, the great navigator Columbus "discovered" America, and his first place to reach was in Mesoamerica. Where? It's San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. Over the next 30 years, Spain and Portugal dominated most of Central America. At the end of the 16th century, the Dutch, French, British and other powers came one after another, and they repeatedly fought over the islands of the West Indies, showing no mercy to each other, each wanting to share more land. This led to a very chaotic division of the West Indies, and also laid the groundwork for the independence of many countries in the future. The Lesser Antilles, where Spain's unconquered islands were the focus of contention. Therefore, the small countries of the Lesser Antilles projectile concentrate.
Colonial spheres of influence in 18th century Mesoamerica
Added to this is the independence movement in Latin America in the 19th century. In 1791, the Haitian rebel army, numbering fewer than 20,000, revolted under the leadership of prominent leaders such as Toussaint Louverture. In 12 years, the rebels defeated the three competing powers of France, Spain and Britain and gained independence. This set off a wave of independence in Central America and Latin America as a whole, and the sudden change in the situation greatly alarmed the Spanish authorities. Since there were different anti-colonial forces in different places, different countries emerged in different places. Belize is a veritable "unlucky egg" among the 7 countries of the Central American Isthmus, and the other 6 countries became independent in 1821. Independence was only granted in 1981, by which time the colonial system had collapsed.
Countries that gained independence in Central America in the 19th century (dark part)
To sum up, there are two reasons: first, the great powers compete without concession, and second, different insurrectionary forces in various places are scrambling to free themselves from colonial rule and lead the colonial people to independence.
【End】
Well, for Central America, a small area but a lot of countries, what do you think, you can leave a message in the comment area, don't forget to like and follow.