The
Mesoamerican region (often abbreviated
MAR) is a trans-national
economic regionEconomic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach. Neoclassical location theorists, following in the tradition of Alfred...
in the
AmericasThe Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America...
that is recognized by the OECD and other economic and developmental organizations, comprising the united economies of the seven countries in
Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
—
BelizeBelize , is a country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, composed of many cultures and speaking many languages. Although Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language...
,
Costa RicaCosta Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.Costa Rica, which translates literally as "Rich Coast", constitutionally...
,
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
,
GuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 km² with an estimated population...
,
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
,
NicaraguaNicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km
2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of...
, and
PanamaPanama, officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of both Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the...
— plus nine southeastern
states of MexicoThe United Mexican States is a federation made up of thirty-one "free and sovereign states". These states constitute one federated State or Union. The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over the Federal District, a territory which does not belong to any state but to all, as well as...
—
CampecheThe State of Campeche is a state in the south-east region of the Mexican Republic. It is bordered by the Mexican states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west...
,
ChiapasChiapas is the southernmost state of Mexico, located towards the southeast of the country. Chiapas is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest, and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean.Chiapas has an area of...
,
GuerreroThe State of Guerrero is a state in the southern meridional region of Mexico. With an area of , it occupies about 3.3% of Mexican territory. It borders the Pacific Ocean to the south , Michoacán to the west , Oaxaca to the east , and Mexico State , Morelos , and Puebla to the north...
,
OaxacaThe Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located in the southern part of the country, west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec...
,
PueblaPuebla is a Mexican state located in the south-central part of the country, to the east of Mexico City. The state borders Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south. The state's largest cities are Puebla and Tehuacan, it has...
,
Quintana RooQuintana Roo is a state of Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It borders the States of Yucatán and Campeche to the north and west, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the nation of Belize to the south...
,
TabascoTabasco is a state in Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the west, Chiapas to the south, and Campeche to the north-east. To the east Tabasco borders with the Petén department of Guatemala, and to the north with the Bay of Campeche...
,
VeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that constitute the United Mexican States. Veracruz is borderd by Tamaulipas to the north, the Gulf to the east, Tabasco to the southeast, Oaxaca and Chiapas to the south and Puebla, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi to the west...
, and
YucatánYucatán is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The Yucatan peninsula includes three states: Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; all three modern states were formerly part of the larger historic state of Yucatán in the 19th century. The state capital of...
.
Designated as an 'economic territory' by the OECD, the identification of the Mesoamerican region as a focus for common regional economic development has been observed since the adoption in 2001 by the signatory countries of the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP), an initiative intended to foster regional integration and development across southeastern
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and the countries of Central America.
The
Mesoamerican region (often abbreviated
MAR) is a trans-national
economic regionEconomic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach. Neoclassical location theorists, following in the tradition of Alfred...
in the
AmericasThe Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America...
that is recognized by the OECD and other economic and developmental organizations, comprising the united economies of the seven countries in
Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
—
BelizeBelize , is a country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, composed of many cultures and speaking many languages. Although Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language...
,
Costa RicaCosta Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.Costa Rica, which translates literally as "Rich Coast", constitutionally...
,
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
,
GuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 km² with an estimated population...
,
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
,
NicaraguaNicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km
2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of...
, and
PanamaPanama, officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of both Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the...
— plus nine southeastern
states of MexicoThe United Mexican States is a federation made up of thirty-one "free and sovereign states". These states constitute one federated State or Union. The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over the Federal District, a territory which does not belong to any state but to all, as well as...
—
CampecheThe State of Campeche is a state in the south-east region of the Mexican Republic. It is bordered by the Mexican states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west...
,
ChiapasChiapas is the southernmost state of Mexico, located towards the southeast of the country. Chiapas is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest, and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean.Chiapas has an area of...
,
GuerreroThe State of Guerrero is a state in the southern meridional region of Mexico. With an area of , it occupies about 3.3% of Mexican territory. It borders the Pacific Ocean to the south , Michoacán to the west , Oaxaca to the east , and Mexico State , Morelos , and Puebla to the north...
,
OaxacaThe Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located in the southern part of the country, west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec...
,
PueblaPuebla is a Mexican state located in the south-central part of the country, to the east of Mexico City. The state borders Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south. The state's largest cities are Puebla and Tehuacan, it has...
,
Quintana RooQuintana Roo is a state of Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It borders the States of Yucatán and Campeche to the north and west, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the nation of Belize to the south...
,
TabascoTabasco is a state in Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the west, Chiapas to the south, and Campeche to the north-east. To the east Tabasco borders with the Petén department of Guatemala, and to the north with the Bay of Campeche...
,
VeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that constitute the United Mexican States. Veracruz is borderd by Tamaulipas to the north, the Gulf to the east, Tabasco to the southeast, Oaxaca and Chiapas to the south and Puebla, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi to the west...
, and
YucatánYucatán is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The Yucatan peninsula includes three states: Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; all three modern states were formerly part of the larger historic state of Yucatán in the 19th century. The state capital of...
.
Designated as an 'economic territory' by the OECD, the identification of the Mesoamerican region as a focus for common regional economic development has been observed since the adoption in 2001 by the signatory countries of the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP), an initiative intended to foster regional integration and development across southeastern
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and the countries of Central America. The PPP also includes the country of
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
; other than this, the territory and governments involved with the PPP are the same as those covered by OECD's Mesoamerican region.
Situated within the wider region of
Middle America4. San Juan
5. Havana
6. Port-au-Prince
7. Santo Domingo
8. Puebla
9. Tijuana
10. Toluca}}|}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 West Indies. The...
(on the tapering
isthmusAn isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas. Of note, the Isthmus of Panama connects the continents of North and South America , and the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt connects Africa and Asia .Canals are often built on isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to...
of southern
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
), the geographical region defined by the MAR loosely correlates with that of
MesoamericaMesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries...
, the
pre-ColumbianThe Pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization during the...
culture area defined and identified by archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists and ethnohistorians. For several thousand years prior to the European colonization of the Americas beginning in the early 16th century, the diverse cultures and civilizations of Mesoamerica also shared in common a number of broad
culturalCulture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, historical and linguistic traits. The modern-day
indigenous populationsThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
who are the descendants of pre-Columbian cultures number roughly over 11 million people (approx. 17.2% of total regional population) spread across the MAR economic territory, and are largely among the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups in the region.