North America
Central America countries
Central America comprises a total of 20 countries. See Abbreviationfinder. The largest country in the region in terms of area is Nicaragua with 129,779 square kilometers, but most of the inhabitants have Guatemala with 14.7 million inhabitants.
Country | Area (km²) | Residents | Capital |
Antigua and Barbuda | 442 | 68,700 | Saint John’s |
Bahamas | 13,939 | 317,000 | Nassau |
Barbados | 431 | 279,500 | Bridgetown |
Belize | 22,965 | 278,000 | Belmopan |
Costa Rica | 51,100 | 4,200,000 | San Jose |
Dominica | 751 | 69,500 | Roseau |
Dominican Republic | 48,700 | 8,750,000 | Santo Domingo |
El Salvador | 21,041 | 6,710,000 | San Salvador |
Grenada | 344 | 104,600 | Saint George’s |
Guatemala | 108,889 | 14,660,000 | Guatemala City |
Haiti | 27,750 | 8,120,000 | Port-au-Prince |
Honduras | 112.188 | 6,980,000 | Tegucigalpa |
Jamaica | 10,991 | 2,640,000 | Kingston |
Cuba | 110,861 | 11,350,000 | Havana |
Nicaragua | 129,779 | 5,470,000 | Managua |
Panama | 75,517 | 3,050,000 | Panama City |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 262 | 45,000 | Basseterre |
Saint Lucia | 616 | 166,500 | Castries |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 389 | 117,000 | Kingstown |
Trinidad and Tobago | 5,128 | 1,020,000 | Port of Spain |
Source: Countryaah
Governance
The main problem of colonization was to obtain and secure control of productive labor. In the Spanish colonies a special form of organization, encomienda, was developed; The Crown thereby retained ownership of the discovered areas, but transferred the tributary benefits of the resident Indian population to an encomendero, against securing the Native American existence and raising them in the Christian faith. However, failing administration as well as population decline led to large areas in the 1500s. came on private hands in the form of large goods, haciendas, which the Crown sought to tax. A large number of landless Native American land workers were attached to the estates.
In the French colonies, the so-called seigneur system was created, which established mutual obligations between the lord and the fasteners. In practice, feudal taxes played a minor role, while the system established a French culture which, despite modest immigration from the motherland, proved very viable; ca. Thus, 75% of the French colonists in the Québec area still lived in the mid-1800s. under the system.
Country | Head of State | Head of Government |
Antigua and Barbuda | Queen Elizabeth II | Prime Minister Gaston Browne (2014–) |
Bahamas | Queen Elizabeth II (1952–) | Prime Minister Hubert Minnis (2017–) |
Barbados | Queen Elizabeth II | Freundel Stuart (2010–) |
Belize | Queen Elizabeth II (1954–) | Prime Minister Johnny Briceño (2020–) |
Costa Rica | President Carlos Alvarado (2018–) | President Carlos Alvarado (2018–) |
Dominica | President Charles Savarin (2013-) | Roosevelt Skerrit (2004-) |
Dominican Republic | President Danilo Medina (2012–) | President Danilo Medina (2012–) |
El Salvador | – | – |
Grenada | Queen Elizabeth II | Prime Minister Keith Mitchell (2013–) |
Guatemala | – | – |
Haiti | President Jovenel Moïse (2017–) | Acting Prime Minister Jospeh Jouthe (2020–) |
Honduras | President Juan Orlando Hernández (2014–) | President Juan Orlando Hernández (2014–) |
Jamaica | Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain (1952–) | Prime Minister Andrew Holness (2016–) |
Canada | Queen Elizabeth II 2 | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (2015–) |
Cuba | President Miguel Díaz-Canel (2018) | President Miguel Díaz-Canel (2018) |
Mexico | – | – |
Nicaragua | – | – |
Panama | – | President Juan Carlos Varela (2014–) |
Saint Kitts & Nevis | Queen Elizabeth II (1952–) | Prime Minister Timothy Harris (2015–) |
Saint Lucia | Queen Elizabeth II (1952–), represented on the island by Governor-General Emmanuel Neville Cenac (2018–) | Prime Minister Allen Chastanet (2016–) |
St. Vincent & the Grenadines | Queen Elizabeth II | Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves (2001–) |
Trinidad & Tobago | President Paula-Mae Weekes (2018–) | Prime Minister Keith Christopher Rowley (2015–) |
USA | – | – |
For the English colonies on the mainland, it was crucial that the right to land was granted on the condition of a high degree of autonomy, whether the colony was organized as a corporation (Massachusetts), as a royal colony (Virginia) or as private property (Pennsylvania). The political culture of the colonies took shape in the 1600s. at the same time with several system changes in England, which made central management difficult, and already in the 1700s. the colonies were so different that attempts to enforce uniform legislation ran into opposition. The New England colonies, similar to the present states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, were characterized by urban communities that, on a strong Protestant basis, emphasized mutual social obligations; a feudal structure with tormentors and landlords did not exist. The political ideal was the town meeting, which was based on the notion of an agreement between the colonists and not between the ruler and the subjects. In contrast, the so-called Middle Colonies, which included the later states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, were open to several nationalities, religious minorities, and economic interests who organized themselves to gain political influence. In Virginia and the later southern colonies of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, large plantations were established with intensive production of a single export crop, especially tobacco, cotton or rice. As in the Caribbean, they were driven by slaves, but while the owners of the Caribbean plantations most often stayed in London, ie. far away from the unhealthy climate,
While the Spanish crown initially hoped to rule its distant possessions through personal and religious loyalty, the French sought to maintain control over its territories through a sophisticated administrative apparatus. England’s interests were mainly economic, and the so-called Navigation Acts sought to link trade in overseas possessions to state power; political and religious considerations were inferior. The result was a high degree of local self-government with institutions in each of the colonies, which over time harmonized with British model. Royal governors were appointed from London, but despite the establishment of a designated council similar to the Upper House, they depended on assemblies elected by a wider section of the population.