Diversity and Culture of Central America

In a lot of ways, the territories and people that inhabit the region of Central America are quite similar, but in many other ways, they're also very distinct and very much worth learning about. Central Americans are often callously and carelessly mistaken for Mexican or Colombian, but there are certainly many qualities that make the people of Central America unique. Most scholars concur that the countries of Central America include Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Guatemala. Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Although this definition is sometimes expanded to include the island chain of San Andres and Providencia off the coast of Nicaragua that actually belongs to Colombia, interestingly enough, and on occasion the state of Chiapas in the far southern region of Mexico. Central America may seem fractured now, but nearly two centuries ago most of the region, barring Panama which belonged to Colombia up until the late 1800s, was actually united in a single country called the Federal Republic of Central America, a nation that had recently gained independence from the much larger country of Mexico to the north, which had in turn just gained independence from the Spanish crown. The republic, however, was short-lived, lasting only 16 years before fracturing. There have been multiple efforts in the past couple centuries to reunite the region of Central America, but there's been little success. The area currently has a population of around 50 million people, around the same as Spain, and coincidentally also has a land area that's also nearly the same as Spain, being only 1% off. Being one of the first areas to be colonized by Spain, the area is obviously very Hispanic in culture, with most people speaking Spanish and practicing Roman Catholicism, although this does vary in certain areas. The base for most Central American countries is a racial group in Latin America known as the Mestizos, a group that is genetically split nearly evenly between Native American and European DNA, which gives them the distinct look that most people think of when they think of Latino or Hispanic. The genetic variation of Mestizos varies from country to country, but generally the bulk of their European ancestry comes from the Spanish men that first colonized the region four to five hundred years ago. Pretty much every country in Central America is a part of the Mestizos. has a population that's growing exponentially at the moment, although immigration to the United States is extremely common, with anywhere from 10 to 15% of people of Central American descent currently living in the United States. Let's go ahead and start from west to east. As most everyone knows, the original inhabitants of the Americas were known as Native Americans, or Amerindians, and up until a few decades ago, Guatemala, actually, the most populous Central American nation was actually one of only two countries in the entire world to have a Native American majority, the other being Bolivia in the interior of South America. However, after successive waves of immigration from Europe and other Latin American countries and a series of government-sponsored pogroms persecuting the Amerindians, the makeup of the country is now only around 40% Amerindian with the largest group being mestizos or mixed between native and European. There is, however, a large amount of pure-blooded Europeans in southern and eastern Guatemala, which besides coming from Spain, of course, also notably comes from Germany and Italy, with hundreds of thousands of people in Guatemala actually having a non-Spanish or non-native surname. The bulk of the Native Americans living in Central America aren't Aztecs like in neighboring Mexico, but actually Mayans, and they mostly inhabit Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. Next up, Belize is actually quite a fascinating little country. I've actually visited there before, as well as nearby Honduras a couple years ago, and I have to say, they probably had some of the best beaches I've seen in my entire life, and also, it was insanely hot and humid. But that's beside the point. Belize is the smallest Central American country by population, and it's not even close. Currently less than 400,000 people live in this tropical country, and they're mostly located in a few small cities along the coast, with the majority of the interior being impenetrable jungle. Also, up until very recently, the neighboring and much larger country of Guatemala actually claimed the entirety of the territory of Belize as their own, although they seem to be over it now. Belize is also in a similar position to Guatemala in that only a few decades ago, It was the only nation on the mainland of the Americas that had an African majority, although large waves of immigration from Latin America drastically altered the country's demographics in a relatively short time span. Many, but not all, Afro-Belizeans see themselves as more of an enclave of the Caribbean that just so happens to be in Central America rather than Latin Americans. Afro-Belizeans are actually descended from a myriad of Caribbean nations such as Jamaicans, Barbadians, and Trinidadians who all came to the country while it was under British rule. Because of this, they speak a dialect of English that is more of a Creole language, more similar to that spoken in the Anglo areas of the Caribbean. and their culture is also very similar to theirs. Much like the black Americans in the United States, the Afro-Belizeans have a very large amount of admixture from non-Africans, such as the early English settlers of Belize known as the Baymen, or the native Mayans, and even Asian immigrants such as the Indians and the Chinese. As mentioned previously, because of the massive surge in mestizo immigration from Guatemala and Mexico, Afro-Belizeans no longer constitute a majority in the country, currently sitting at around only 30%, although English is still the official language, with immigrants still expected to learn it, but many still retain the Spanish language. Fascinatingly, Belize also has the largest German population, proportion-wise, of any Central American country at around 5%. El Salvador is an extremely densely populated country, having a population over 20 times larger than that of Belize, despite being about the same area. Salvadorans had become rather racially homogeneous after extreme persecution of the natives nearly caused them to go extinct and miscegenation had created a single gene pool made up of equal parts European and native with significant African admixture as well. El Salvador and neighboring Honduras actually compete with each other for the highest murder rate in the world but don't worry too much as nearly all of the crime in the country you is either drug or gang related, and most of the populace is allowed to live unperturbed. Honduras is actually much larger than neighboring El Salvador, despite having about the same populations, and the two actually do share a bit of a rivalry between each other. Off the northern coast of Honduras, there's a small island chain called the Bay Islands, the largest of which being Roatan, And they have a very distinct history and culture from the rest of Honduras. Before mass migration from the mainland of Honduras, Roatan was majority Afro-Caribbean, much like Belize, but mestizo and Euro-Honduran immigration changed the demographics of the island in only a matter of decades. Now, I do need to issue a correction of one of my previous videos over the Caribbean where I said that the Mosquito people were of native Amerindian-Carib descent, But that's actually the Garifuna people. The Garifuna as well as the Mosquito are both Zambos, meaning a mix between native Amerindian and African, and both live very close to each other in Honduras, but the Garifuna are descended from the island Caribs, not the Mosquito, who are of central Amerindian descent. So apologies for that. If a Mosquito person were to ever watch that video, they'd probably wring my neck. Speaking of the Mosquito, the human beings, not the insects, They are quite fascinating because they occupy an area of land along the coast of eastern Honduras and Nicaragua that actually used to have their own country called the Mosquito Kingdom, which was also a protectorate of the British Empire, who had their own reasons for partnering with the Mosquito. The Mosquito Kingdom, however, was abolished and divided between Honduras and Nicaragua in the 20th century, yet they still retain a ceremonial king to this day. and their culture is vastly differing to the rest of Honduras and Nicaragua. Costa Rica is arguably the only Central American country with a European majority, with around 60-70% of their population being of predominantly European origin. However, the definition of white in Latin America is quite different from the United States, and white Costa Ricans may have up to 15-20% non-European admixture. This is because Costa Rica was relatively isolated from native Amerindian groups and received a large amount of immigration from European countries like Spain, Germany, Italy, and even Poland. Along the coast, Costa Rica received a large amount of immigrants from the Caribbean, much like Honduras and Belize, creating enclaves of Afro-Caribbeans and mixed-race people. Costa Rica and Panama also have one of the largest populations of American expatriates. in the entire world, and the two are also the wealthiest nations in Central America. Panama is one of the newer countries to join the gang, and most people know that the only reason it exists as a country is because the United States wanted to build a canal. Most of Panama is of mestizo origin, but there are also large pockets of natives throughout the country since the majority of the population is highly localized to the coast and large cities. Panama also has a very high admixture of African DNA, along with a large Afro-Caribbean population along its northern coast, since large numbers of Caribbean workers were brought into the country to help build the Panama Canal in the late 1800s. It's quite interesting that there are some Panamanians whose ancestors have been in the country for over a century that to this day only speak English. So that'll about wrap it up for Central America. There really is so much more I could talk about. But the video is getting a little long. Every Central American country has similarities, but they're all incredibly unique and diverse and are well worth learning about. So will they ever unite into a single super country the size of Spain? Well, very improbable, but I suppose crazier things have happened. Thanks for watching everyone, this has been Mason, and I'll see you next time.

Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Although this definition is sometimes expanded to include the island chain of San Andres and Providencia off the coast of Nicaragua that actually belongs to Colombia, interestingly enough, and on occasion the state of Chiapas in the far southern region of Mexico. Central America may seem fractured now, but nearly two centuries ago most of the region, barring Panama which belonged to Colombia up until the late 1800s, was actually united in a single country called the Federal Republic of Central America, a nation that had recently gained independence from the much larger country of Mexico to the north, which had in turn just gained independence from the Spanish crown.

The republic, however, was short-lived, lasting only 16 years before fracturing. There have been multiple efforts in the past couple centuries to reunite the region of Central America, but there's been little success. The area currently has a population of around 50 million people, around the same as Spain, and coincidentally also has a land area that's also nearly the same as Spain, being only 1% off. Being one of the first areas to be colonized by Spain, the area is obviously very Hispanic in culture, with most people speaking Spanish and practicing Roman Catholicism, although this does vary in certain areas. The base for most Central American countries is a racial group in Latin America known as the Mestizos, a group that is genetically split nearly evenly between Native American and European DNA, which gives them the distinct look that most people think of when they think of Latino or Hispanic.

The genetic variation of Mestizos varies from country to country, but generally the bulk of their European ancestry comes from the Spanish men that first colonized the region four to five hundred years ago. Pretty much every country in Central America is a part of the Mestizos. has a population that's growing exponentially at the moment, although immigration to the United States is extremely common, with anywhere from 10 to 15% of people of Central American descent currently living in the United States. Let's go ahead and start from west to east. As most everyone knows, the original inhabitants of the Americas were known as Native Americans, or Amerindians, and up until a few decades ago, Guatemala, actually, the most populous Central American nation was actually one of only two countries in the entire world to have a Native American majority, the other being Bolivia in the interior of South America.

However, after successive waves of immigration from Europe and other Latin American countries and a series of government-sponsored pogroms persecuting the Amerindians, the makeup of the country is now only around 40% Amerindian with the largest group being mestizos or mixed between native and European. There is, however, a large amount of pure-blooded Europeans in southern and eastern Guatemala, which besides coming from Spain, of course, also notably comes from Germany and Italy, with hundreds of thousands of people in Guatemala actually having a non-Spanish or non-native surname. The bulk of the Native Americans living in Central America aren't Aztecs like in neighboring Mexico, but actually Mayans, and they mostly inhabit Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. Next up, Belize is actually quite a fascinating little country.

I've actually visited there before, as well as nearby Honduras a couple years ago, and I have to say, they probably had some of the best beaches I've seen in my entire life, and also, it was insanely hot and humid. But that's beside the point. Belize is the smallest Central American country by population, and it's not even close. Currently less than 400,000 people live in this tropical country, and they're mostly located in a few small cities along the coast, with the majority of the interior being impenetrable jungle.

Also, up until very recently, the neighboring and much larger country of Guatemala actually claimed the entirety of the territory of Belize as their own, although they seem to be over it now. Belize is also in a similar position to Guatemala in that only a few decades ago, It was the only nation on the mainland of the Americas that had an African majority, although large waves of immigration from Latin America drastically altered the country's demographics in a relatively short time span. Many, but not all, Afro-Belizeans see themselves as more of an enclave of the Caribbean that just so happens to be in Central America rather than Latin Americans. Afro-Belizeans are actually descended from a myriad of Caribbean nations such as Jamaicans, Barbadians, and Trinidadians who all came to the country while it was under British rule.

Because of this, they speak a dialect of English that is more of a Creole language, more similar to that spoken in the Anglo areas of the Caribbean. and their culture is also very similar to theirs. Much like the black Americans in the United States, the Afro-Belizeans have a very large amount of admixture from non-Africans, such as the early English settlers of Belize known as the Baymen, or the native Mayans, and even Asian immigrants such as the Indians and the Chinese. As mentioned previously, because of the massive surge in mestizo immigration from Guatemala and Mexico, Afro-Belizeans no longer constitute a majority in the country, currently sitting at around only 30%, although English is still the official language, with immigrants still expected to learn it, but many still retain the Spanish language.

Fascinatingly, Belize also has the largest German population, proportion-wise, of any Central American country at around 5%. El Salvador is an extremely densely populated country, having a population over 20 times larger than that of Belize, despite being about the same area. Salvadorans had become rather racially homogeneous after extreme persecution of the natives nearly caused them to go extinct and miscegenation had created a single gene pool made up of equal parts European and native with significant African admixture as well. El Salvador and neighboring Honduras actually compete with each other for the highest murder rate in the world but don't worry too much as nearly all of the crime in the country you is either drug or gang related, and most of the populace is allowed to live unperturbed.

Honduras is actually much larger than neighboring El Salvador, despite having about the same populations, and the two actually do share a bit of a rivalry between each other. Off the northern coast of Honduras, there's a small island chain called the Bay Islands, the largest of which being Roatan, And they have a very distinct history and culture from the rest of Honduras. Before mass migration from the mainland of Honduras, Roatan was majority Afro-Caribbean, much like Belize, but mestizo and Euro-Honduran immigration changed the demographics of the island in only a matter of decades.

Now, I do need to issue a correction of one of my previous videos over the Caribbean where I said that the Mosquito people were of native Amerindian-Carib descent, But that's actually the Garifuna people. The Garifuna as well as the Mosquito are both Zambos, meaning a mix between native Amerindian and African, and both live very close to each other in Honduras, but the Garifuna are descended from the island Caribs, not the Mosquito, who are of central Amerindian descent. So apologies for that. If a Mosquito person were to ever watch that video, they'd probably wring my neck.

Speaking of the Mosquito, the human beings, not the insects, They are quite fascinating because they occupy an area of land along the coast of eastern Honduras and Nicaragua that actually used to have their own country called the Mosquito Kingdom, which was also a protectorate of the British Empire, who had their own reasons for partnering with the Mosquito. The Mosquito Kingdom, however, was abolished and divided between Honduras and Nicaragua in the 20th century, yet they still retain a ceremonial king to this day. and their culture is vastly differing to the rest of Honduras and Nicaragua.

Costa Rica is arguably the only Central American country with a European majority, with around 60-70% of their population being of predominantly European origin. However, the definition of white in Latin America is quite different from the United States, and white Costa Ricans may have up to 15-20% non-European admixture. This is because Costa Rica was relatively isolated from native Amerindian groups and received a large amount of immigration from European countries like Spain, Germany, Italy, and even Poland.

Along the coast, Costa Rica received a large amount of immigrants from the Caribbean, much like Honduras and Belize, creating enclaves of Afro-Caribbeans and mixed-race people. Costa Rica and Panama also have one of the largest populations of American expatriates. in the entire world, and the two are also the wealthiest nations in Central America. Panama is one of the newer countries to join the gang, and most people know that the only reason it exists as a country is because the United States wanted to build a canal. Most of Panama is of mestizo origin, but there are also large pockets of natives throughout the country since the majority of the population is highly localized to the coast and large cities.

Panama also has a very high admixture of African DNA, along with a large Afro-Caribbean population along its northern coast, since large numbers of Caribbean workers were brought into the country to help build the Panama Canal in the late 1800s. It's quite interesting that there are some Panamanians whose ancestors have been in the country for over a century that to this day only speak English. So that'll about wrap it up for Central America. There really is so much more I could talk about.

But the video is getting a little long. Every Central American country has similarities, but they're all incredibly unique and diverse and are well worth learning about. So will they ever unite into a single super country the size of Spain? Well, very improbable, but I suppose crazier things have happened.

Thanks for watching everyone, this has been Mason, and I'll see you next time.

Transcript for:Diversity and Culture of Central America

Transcript for:
Diversity and Culture of Central America