Columbus claims Central America for Spain. Most of western Central America is inhabited by Maya and Nahua Indians.

The Spanish establish the district of Guatemala, whose range extends from the southern province of Chiapas in Mexico to the province of Costa Rica.

Central America, under the name of the United Provinces of Central America, declares its independence from the new nation of Mexico.

The United Provinces of Central America breaks apart due to political turmoil and insecurity. They become the independent nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica.

Panama revolts against its mother country, Colombia, and becomes an independent nation. The revolt is instigated and supported by U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt when Colombia, owner of the Panama territory, does not comply with his wish to build a canal through Panama.

The Panama Canal is completed. Under the treaty with Panama for the canal, the United States controls rights to the canal area until the year 2000. The canal provides a route nearly 5,000 miles shorter than sailing around the tip of South America. Today, more than 700,000 ships have passed through the canal.

Many middle- and upper-class Panamanians and Hondurans leave their native countries to come to the United States in search of better opportunities. These people are considered to be the first large wave of Central American immigration in the United States.

A civil war breaks out in Guatemala. It will last until 1996, the longest and most destructive war in Central American history. Over 100,000 people die, thousands disappear, and roughly a million people are left homeless or are forced to flee the country.

A rebel group in Nicaragua, calling themselves the Sandinista National Liberation Front, or "Sandinistas" for short, overthrows the long-standing government led by the Somozas. The new government nationalizes businesses, improves social programs, and gives land to the poor. The United States government believes that the new government is communist. In the following years, the U.S. organizes and trains a group of soldiers called "Contras" to fight against the Sandinistas. After much suffering and losses on both sides, a truce is finally reached in 1988.

Archbishop Oscar Romero is murdered by assassins for criticizing the government of El Salvador. While tension between the government and rebel groups had existed throughout the 1970's, Romero's murder marks the start of a full-fledged civil war. Over 75,000 people are killed in 12 years of war before peace is finally reached in 1992. During this decade of war, almost 500,000 Salvadorans emigrate to the United States. Today, Salvadorans are the largest Central American population in the United States.

United States troops invade Panama to capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and bring him to trial on international drug-trafficking charges. Noriega is brought to the U.S., where he is convicted. During the invasion, hundreds of civilians are killed and over 2 billion dollars worth of structural damage is done to the country.