Central America & Caribbean

The Mesoamerican heartland where writing, calendars and monumental architecture flourished independently of the Old World.

20 countries·3 civilizations·2 major empires

Overview

The Olmecs seeded a civilizational tradition that ran through Teotihuacan, the Maya and the Aztec Triple Alliance. After 1492 the Caribbean became the first theater of European colonization.

Historical timeline

c. 1500 BCE – 400 BCEOlmec civilization
250 – 900 CEClassic Maya
1428 – 1521Aztec Triple Alliance
1492 – 1821Spanish colonial period

Civilizations

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Maya Civilization

c. 2000 BCE – 1697 CE

Mesoamerica's most literary civilization — writing, mathematics, astronomy and city-states.

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Aztec Empire

1428 – 1521

The Triple Alliance that ruled central Mexico from its island capital.

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Olmec Civilization

c. 1500 – 400 BCE

Mesoamerica's 'mother culture'.

Countries in this region

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Mexico

Mexico City · 128 million

Heir to the Olmec, Maya and Aztec civilizations and the seat of colonial New Spain.

Taíno island, Spanish colony, US protectorate and revolutionary socialist state.

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Guatemala

Guatemala City · 18 million

Heart of the Maya civilization; long civil war and vibrant Indigenous heritage.

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