Central America (Alternity)

Central America, officially the Federal Republic of Central America (Spanish: República Federal de Centroamérica) is a Latin American nation located in the Central American region of southern North America. It is bordered to the south by Panama, and to the north by Mexico and British Honduras.

Initially inhabited by Mayan Indians in the Pre-Columbian era, modern-day Central America was discovered by Spain in the 16th century, who rapidly conquered the lands formerly inhabited by the Mayans, overrunning the former Maya capital of Tikal in the modern-day state of Guatemala in 1541. Central America was under control of the Spanish Empire as the Viceroyalty of New Spain until 1821, when Mexico won its eleven-year war of independence against Spain, and established the brief First Mexican Empire. In July 1823, four months after the collapse of the First Mexican Empire, Central America declared its independence from Mexico, which the latter finally recognized on May 31, 1824. In 1836, the sixth state of the republic, Los Altos, broke from Mexico and joined Central America. In 1906, the nation's Ministerio de Ingeniería (Ministry of Engineering) began construction of the Nicaragua Canal, completing it ten years later, in July 1916, with aid from the United States, who had already completed the Panama Canal in neighboring Panama in 1914. Profits from the canal gave a boost to the national economy for decades, allowing Central America to escape the Great Depression relatively unscathed.

It has enjoyed relative stability since the 19th century, with a prosperous economy and recent adoption of clean, renewable-energy power for its cities.

Guatemala Uprisings (1890-1910)
Main Article: Guatemala Uprisings (1890-1910)

The Nicaragua Canal (1906-1916)
Main Article(s): The Canal Years & Nicaragua Canal

World War II (1940-1946)
Main Article: World War II (1938-1946)

Territory
Main Article: States of Central America