The Chortis Highlands is a highland region in northern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, which covers portions of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

.Townsend, J. H. (2014). Characterizing the Chortís Block Biogeographic Province: geological, physiographic, and ecological associations and herpetofaunal diversity. ''Mesoamerican Herpetology'', 1(2), 204-252.

Geography and geology

The Chortis Highlands is a large dissected plateau which extends across most of Honduras and El Salvador, along with a portion of western Guatemala and north-central Nicaragua. It is named for the Chʼortiʼ people, who inhabit the western portion of the Highlands. Geologically the Highlands is part of the Chortis Block, a

continental fragment Continental crustal fragments, partly synonymous with microcontinents, are pieces of continents that have broken off from main continental masses to form distinct islands that are often several hundred kilometers from their place of origin. Caus ...

that extends eastwards under the Atlantic coastal plain and continental shelf of Honduras and Nicaragua, and westwards under the Pacific coastal lowlands and

Central American Volcanic Arc The Central American Volcanic Arc (often abbreviated to CAVA) is a chain of volcanoes which extends parallel to the Pacific coastline of the Central American Isthmus, from Mexico to Panama. This volcanic arc, which has a length of 1,100 kilomete ...

of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. The Chortis Block forms the northwestern portion of the Caribbean Plate.Marshall, Jeff (2007) "The Geomorphology and Physiographic Provinces of Central America". in ''Central America: Geology, Hazards, & Resources''. Chapter 3, pp.75-122. Taylor & Francis, April 2007 The Chortis Block is bounded on the north by the Motagua-Polochic Fault Zone in Guatemala. The valley of the

Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The Motagua River basin covers an area of and is the largest in Guatemala. The Motagua Riv ...

, which follows the fault, forms the northwestern boundary of the Highlands. The Highlands is composed of several mountain ranges, or ''cordilleras'', separated by intermontane valleys and plains. These ranges include: * Sierra Nombre de Dios * Sierra de Omoa * Sierra de Espíritu Santo * Sierra de Joconal * Montaña de Santa Bárbara * Montañas de Meámbar * Sierra de Montecillos * Sierra de Comayagua * Sierra de Sulaco * Cordillera de La Flor-La Muralla * Sierra de Agalta * Sierra de Botaderos * Sierra Punta Piedra * Montañas de Patuca *

Montecristo Massif The Trifinio Fraternidad Transboundary Biosphere Reserve is a transboundary protected area located where the borders of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras meet (thus the prefix ''tri'' in its name). It protects the Montecristo massif and its clo ...

or Sierra de Montecristo *

Sierra del Merendón Sierra del Merendón is a mountain range extending on the eastern border of Guatemala and Honduras. Its south-western border is marked by the Lempa River valley, its northern border by the Motagua River valley. The mountain range has several dif ...

* Sierra de Celaque * Sierra de Erandique * Sierra de Puca-Opalaca * Montaña de la Sierra * Sierra de Lepaterique * Sierra de Dipilto * Montaña de Colón * Cordillera Dariense * Cordillera Chontaleña The northern, central, and eastern, and southern highlands are drained by rivers that empty into the Caribbean. These include the

Motagua The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The Motagua River basin covers an area of and is the largest in Guatemala. The Motagua Rive ...

in Guatemala, the Ulúa, Aguán, and

Patuca Patuca is a municipality in the south of the Honduran department of Olancho, east of Juticalpa and south of Catacamas. It contains the Patuca River, which is the second largest in Central America. Demographics At the time of the 2013 Honduras ...

rivers in Honduras, the

Coco Coco or variants may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Coco'' (2009 film), a French comedy film * ''Coco'' (2017 film), an American animated fantasy film * '' Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle'' (), a 2020 Japanese anime film ...

which forms the Honduras-Nicaragua border, and the Wawa, Kukalaya,

Prinzapolka Prinzapolka () is a Miskito municipality in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. Prinzapolka (sometimes spelled Prinzapolca) is also an important river and river basin in the Caribbean Coast Region of Nicaragua. Language ...

Río Grande de Matagalpa Río Grande de Matagalpa (, ''Awaltara'' in Miskito language, Miskito, ''Ucumulalí'' in Matagalpa language, Matagalpa) is a river of Nicaragua. Running from its source near Matagalpa to the Caribbean Sea in the northern part of the South Caribb ...

, and San Juan in Nicaragua. The western portion of the highlands is drained by rivers that empty into the Pacific, including the Lempa in El Salvador, the Choluteca in Honduras, and the

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

in Nicaragua.

Climate

The climate of the highlands is tropical. Prevailing winds are generally from the east, and the eastern Caribbean-facing slopes and high mountains generally receive more rainfall than the western slopes and Pacific lowlands, which are in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

of the highlands.

Flora and fauna

The cooler and wetter climate of the mountains and plateaus supports pine–oak forests, and humid

cloud forests A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, ...

at higher elevations. The warmer intermontane valleys are covered in seasonally-dry forests.

References

{{reflist Geography of El Salvador Geography of Guatemala Geography of Honduras Geography of Nicaragua