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Middle America (Americas)

Middle America
Middle America (orthographic projection).svg
Area 2,728,827 km2 (1,053,606 sq mi)
Population (2007) 188,187,764
States
Dependencies
GDP $1.416 229 trillion
(PPP, 2005 est.)
Major languages Spanish, English, Mayan, French, Haitian Creole, Antillean Creole, and others
Timezone UTC −4:00 (Barbados) to
UTC −8:00 (Mexico)
Largest urban agglomerations

Middle America is a region in the mid-latitudes of the Americas. In southern North America, it usually comprises Mexico, the nations of Central America, and the Caribbean. In northern South America, is usually comprises Colombia and Venezuela. The Caribbean is occasionally excluded from the region; and the Guianas are infrequently included.

Physiographically, Middle America marks the territorial transition between the rest of North America and South America, connecting yet separating the two. 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, 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. The region developed sub-aerially 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.


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