There are many islands in the Caribbean. Hispaniola, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica are the largest. Made up of coral reefs and inactive volcanoes, the Caribbean islands are often hit with powerful hurricanes that cause major destruction. Central America is located between Mexico and South America. It has active volcanoes, rain forests, and lowlands.

Native cultures lived in Central America and the Caribbean before Christopher Columbus arrived in the area. After 1492, the area was colonized by the Spanish, the French, the British, and the Dutch. Haiti won its independence from France in the 1790s when Toussaint L'Ouverture led a revolution to end slavery, and slavery was abolished in Central America in the 1800s. Gradually, the colonies gained their independence, but most of the wealth and power remained in the hands of a few landowners. During the 1980s, dictators were overthrown in Haiti, Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

The people of the Caribbean and Central America are descendants of Indians, Africans, Asians, mestizos, and Europeans. Farmers in most of Central America and the Caribbean grow cash crops such as sugar, coffee, cacao, and cotton to export. Tourism is a big industry in the Caribbean. Equal rights is still a major issue in Central America and the Caribbean. Rigoberta Menchu has dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of Indians and in 1992 won the Nobel Prize for Peace.