INTRODUCTION 
Geography and Natural Environment. Un- 
fortunately the terms *“‘ Mexico and Central America” are 
not mutually exclusive. Central America is a natural 
division comprised between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec 
and the Isthmus of Panama. Mexico is a political 
division that includes several 
states in Central America, 
namely, Chiapas, ‘Tabasco, 
Campeche, Yucatan, and the 
territory of Quintana Roo. 
The ancient high cultures of 
Mexico hardly extended as far 
north as the Tropic of Cancer 
and the region beyond this is 
of slight interest to us. Posi- 
tions south of Mexico will ao 
often be referred to the areas __ Fig. 1. The Great Snow- 
of the modern political units Ais RM aS SN ara a 
although these have no im- Aztecs called Codex Telleri- 
mediate relation to pre-Span- 77° Remensis. 
ish conditions. These political units are: Guatemala, 
British Honduras, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, 
and Costa Rica. 
Although lying within the tropics, the territory ex- 
tending from the Isthmus of Panama to Central Mexico 
exhibits great extremes of climate and topography and 
hence of plant and animal life. ‘The year is everywhere 
divided into a wet and a dry season but the relative 
duration of each depends upon land form and altitude. 
The coast of the Pacific is considerably drier than that 
of the Atlantic. Three climatic zones are generally 
recognized, namely, the Tverra Caliente (Hot Land), 
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