Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program Volcanoes of the World Volcanoes of Mexico and Central America Mexico Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama Regional Volcanology Highlights from Simkin and Siebert, 1994 This region was designated "Central America" by CAVW organizers, despite the fact that Mexico is in North America. Mexico dominates the region, with 75% of the population and 80% of the land area, and the total population ranks it 6th among CAVW regions. The Holocene volcanoes of this region, combined with those of South America and the Canary Islands, total 318, meaning that Spanish is spoken around more volcanoes than any other language. Mexico's early civilizations built the largest city in the Americas and pyramids larger than Egypt's in the second century AD. In 700 AD the Mayans were flourishing from Yucatan to the Pacific, but this civilization fell 200 years later. To the north, though, in the fertile central valley of Mexico, the Toltecs were building the most highly developed pre-Columbian civilization in Latin America. From the mid-12th century the Aztecs dominated, and the first documented new world eruption (Popocatepetl, in 1345) was recorded in the Aztec codices. A population as large as 15 million was present in 1519, when Cortez and 600 conquistadores landed, but within two years the Spaniards had killed the Aztec king and captured their principal city. The spread of the Spanish empire over the region was swift, and most historical volcano documentation has been by Catholic priests since 1520. | |
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