NOTES ON CENTRAL AMERICA* 



* Guatemala. — About 60 per cent of the popu- 

 lation are pure Indians, most of the remainder 

 being half-caste. The foreign population num- 

 bers about 15,000. 



San Salvador. — Aboriginal and mixed races 

 form the bulk of the population, the latest 

 census returns giving 772,200 Mestizos, and 

 234,648 Indians. 



Nicaragua, — The bulk of the population 

 consists of Indians, mulattoes, negroes, and 

 mixed races. 



Costa Rica. — The population is nearly all 

 white. 



Honduras. — The bulk of the population is 

 Indian. 



The capitals, with the populations, are 

 as follows : 



Guatemala City 100,000 



San Salvador 60,000 



San Jose 24,500 



Managua 30,000 



Tegucigalpa 35,ooo 



NICARAGUA 



The development of Nicaragua during 

 the last decade has been most gratif)'- 

 ing to the friends of the country. Given 

 a remarkably rich territory of nearly 

 50,000 square miles and a population of 

 a little over 400,000, the field for success- 

 ful enterprise is great indeed. The pros- 

 perity of the country is mainly due to the 

 administration of President Jose Santos 

 Zelaya, who now for twelve years has 

 been at the head of afifairs in Nicaragua. 



When General Zelaya first came into 

 power there were only 90 miles of rail- 

 road line. Now the mileage is dotible 

 that figure ; but what counts for more is 

 that the work now under way, when com- 

 pleted, will assure through communica- 

 tion from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The 

 surveys for this transcontinental line have 

 been completed, several miles of track 

 have been laid, and much grading in ad- 

 dition has been done. 



* For further information the following authorities are recommended : 



The Hand Books on Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, pub- 

 lished by the International Bureau of American Republics. Washington, D. C. 



"The Capitals of Spanish America," by William E. Curtis. Harper and Brothers. 



"In and Out of Central America," by Frank Vincent. D. Appleton & Company. 



"The Report of the Inter-Continental Railway Commission," 7 volumes, published by the 

 Commission, Washington, D. C. 



"Guatemala, the Country of the Future," by C. M. Pepper, Washington, D. C. 



Also the various reports of Messrs C. M. Pepper and H. G. Davis, of the Inter-Continen- 

 tal Railway Commission. 



THE area of Central America is a 

 little larger than that of Cali- 

 fornia, with a population of 

 about 4,300,000. Though it lies wholly 

 within the tropics, it is only the belts ad- 

 joining the oceans which have torrid cli- 

 mates. The high lands of the interior, 

 five and six thousand feet above the sea, 

 could have been no more effectively sit- 

 uated in a temperate zone. 



The general superficial appearance of 

 Central" America inay be said to be — save 

 on the Caribbean Sea coasts, where it is 

 low and level — that of a region of forest- 

 clad hills, fertile valleys, large lakes, and 

 small rivers. All the capitals are in the 

 interior, and are situated generally at an 

 altitude of from three to five thousand 

 feet, where the climate is cool and salu- 

 brious ; the seaports connecting with the 

 capitals are small, hot, and unhealthy. 



A chain of active volcanoes extends 

 through Guateinala, Salvador, and Nica- 

 ragua, several of which, notably Santa 

 Maria, in Guatemala, have had violent 

 eruptions during recent years. This sec- 

 tion is also frequently visited with de- 

 structive earthquakes. 



Within a few inonths Central Amer- 

 ican travelers will be able to go from 

 New York to Guatemala City by rail, as 

 the few railway gaps in Guatemala and 

 Mexico are being rapidly filled. 



A Comparison of the Central American Republics 



