The Central American nation with the highest prison population rate was El Salvador, with over 1,000 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Panama with 522 prisoners. The lowest prison population rate of the region was found in Guatemala, with 123 prisoners per 100,000 people.

In 2023, it was estimated that approximately 664 million people lived in Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil is the most populated country in the region, with an estimated 216.4 million inhabitants in that year, followed by Mexico with more than 128.5 million.

As of 2023, Guatemala was the most populated country in Central America with over 17.5 million inhabitants. Honduras followed in second with over 10 million. In contrast, Belize was the least populated with less than half a million inhabitants.

We examined the relationship between continental-level genetic ancestry and racial and ethnic identity in an admixed population in New Mexico with the goal of increasing our understanding of how racial and ethnic identity influence genetic substructure in admixed populations. Our sample consists of 98 New Mexicans who self-identified as Hispanic or Latino (NM-HL) and who further categorized themselves by race and ethnic subgroup membership. The genetic data consist of 270 newly-published autosomal microsatellites from the NM-HL sample and previously published data from 57 globally distributed populations, including 13 admixed samples from Central and South America. For these data, we 1) summarized the major axes of genetic variation using principal component analyses, 2) performed tests of Hardy Weinberg equilibrium, 3) compared empirical genetic ancestry distributions to those predicted under a model of admixture that lacked substructure, 4) tested the hypotheses that individuals in each sample had 100%, 0%, and the sample-mean percentage of African, European, and Native American ancestry. We found that most NM-HL identify themselves and their parents as belonging to one of two groups, conforming to a region-specific narrative that distinguishes recent immigrants from Mexico from individuals whose families have resided in New Mexico for generations and who emphasize their Spanish heritage. The “Spanish” group had significantly lower Native American ancestry and higher European ancestry than the “Mexican” group. Positive FIS values, PCA plots, and heterogeneous ancestry distributions suggest that most Central and South America admixed samples also contain substructure, and that this substructure may be related to variation in social identity. Genetic substructure appears to be common in admixed populations in the Americas and may confound attempts to identify disease-causing genes and to understand the social causes of variation in health outcomes and social inequality.

In 2021, El Salvador had the highest population density in Central America, with over 300 people per square kilometer. The second place was Guatemala, slightly over half the density in El Salvador. In 2022, Guatemala ranked as the most populated country in the region, with over 18 million inhabitants.

In 2024, approximately 22.81 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the fifth most populated in the world. The homonymous state of São Paulo was also the most populous federal entity in the country. The second place for the region was Mexico City with 22.51 million inhabitants.

Brazil's cities

Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 12.4 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.8 million inhabitants. It also contains a number of smaller, but well known cities such as Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and many others, which report between 2 and 3 million inhabitants each. As a result, the country's population is primarily urban, with nearly 85 percent of inhabitants living in cities.

Mexico City

Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks fifth in the ranking of most populated cities in the world. Founded over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521 after the Spanish conquest as the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the city still stands as one of the most important in Latin America. Nevertheless, the preeminent economic, political, and cultural position of Mexico City has not prevented the metropolis from suffering the problems affecting the rest of the country, namely, inequality and violence. Only in 2021, the city registered a crime incidence of 45,336 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 32 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.

Abstract

Multiple causes for displacement, all too often underpinned by violence and persecution, has led to over 800,000 Central Americans fleeing their homes, beginning in 2013. Year after year, there has been an increase in individuals fleeing. This was marked initially by especially large numbers of unaccompanied children, then joined in around 2018 with dramatic increases in families units fleeing Central America. Families are forced to flee together as violent threats and persecution by criminal groups in communities extend beyond individuals to entire family units.

Given these shifting dynamics in human mobility in these countries, UNHCR and UNICEF, through the Interdisciplinary Development Consultants, CID Gallup, decided to undertake this study with the aim of understanding and giving visibility to the forced displacement of families that flee northern Central America. In addition, the study also seeks to shed light on the current trends, protection risks and factors associated to the forced displacement and migration of unaccompanied and separated children.

For this purpose, Gallup conducted 3,104 surveys, complemented by focus group sessions segmented according to the geography of displacement in the region: country of origin, of transit and of asylum. Additionally, interviews were undertaken with families who were part of large mixed movement "caravans" that left Honduras at the beginning of 2020.

Analysis unit

Household

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A significant sample was taken of each profile interviewed for a total of 3,104 surveys conducted in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. The content of each survey was focused on the following profiles:

Families and children and adolescents at risk of displacement in countries of origin: a total of 789 surveys were carried out with families identified from a non-probabilistic sampling. The surveys were taken in areas with the highest criminality and violence rates in countries of origin (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala), which were also areas with a prior history of forced displacement identified through previous studies. The survey questions focused on risks faced by families in their places of origin, including those that would compel them to flee, particularly those related to violence and poverty.

Families and children and adolescents in transit: a total of 836 surveys were carried out with families identified from a non-probabilistic sampling. The surveys were taken at locations where persons in transit were typically found in Guatemala and Mexico, such as Casas de Migrantes. For the quantitative component, data of unaccompanied children and adolescents was gatheredin Casa Nuestras Raices in Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango. This segment of the population was surveyed on the risks they faced during transit as well as the causes of displacement from their countries of origin.

Families and children and adolescents in country of destination: through non-probabilistic sampling methods, 453 people were surveyed, the majority of whom were recognized as refugees or asylum seekers in Mexico. Several interviews were facilitated by the UNHCR Office in Mexico in areas with this population profile: Casa del Migrante Monsenor-Oluta Veracruz, Scalabrinianas Mision con Migrantes y Refugiados, State DIF, Municipal DIF, among others. The survey questions for this population focused on the asylum procedure and their living conditions in the country.

Deported families and children and adolescents: non-probability cluster sampling. Interviews were conducted with 1,026 families that had been detained and deported during the 12 months prior to the survey. Locations included the Guatemalan Air Force base, outside of the Center for the Comprehensive Assistance to Migrants (CAIM for its acronym in Spanish) and outside of the following locations in Honduras: Center for the Assistance of Migrant Children and Families in Belen, and Center for the Assistance to the Returned Migrant (CAMR) and CAMR-OMOA.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire contains the following sections: household characteristics, individual characteristics, details on deportation, risks, transit, settled households.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Central America remains concentrated among MARPs, primarily in and around networks of men who have sex with men (MSM). Throughout the region, the HIV prevalence among MSM is approximately 10% (UNAIDS 2009). Sexual transmission accounts for the vast majority of HIV infections in the region. Other populations with a notable burden of infection include transgender populations (Trans), male and female sex workers (SW) and their clients, and certain mobile and ethnic groups (e.g., migrants, uniformed services, individuals of Afro-Caribbean descent). Social stigma, however, has kept many of these epidemics hidden and unacknowledged (UNAIDS 2010). In 2010, PSI/PASMO, together with partners IPPF/WHR, Cicatelli Associates and Milk'an Cookies, was awarded a grant from USAID to implement the HIV Combination Prevention Program for MARPs in Central America and Mexico (2010-15) beginning on October 1, 2010. The program uses a combination prevention approach, which comprises a mixture of behavioral, structural and biomedical interventions and is based on scientifically-derived evidence and ownership of communities. The program's approach has been developed with guidance from the U.S. Government's Partnership Framewo rk Document to Support Implementation of the Central American Regional HIV/AIDS Response (March 2010) and embodies several key principles from that document, including using evidence-based approaches to decision making, prioritizing interventions targeting MARPs, involving MARPs more actively in programming, considering gender, increasing local capacity to mount an effective response, increase coordination among stakeholders and implementing agencies, and sharing best practices widely and actively (PSI/PASMO). Over the period 2010-15, the program seeks to achieve the following results: Result 1: Reduced prevalence of high-risk behaviors among MARPs and PLHIV. Result 2: Increased effective interventions implemented to decrease hostility in social environments that foment and tolerate homophobia and stigma and discrimination attitudes related to sexual orientation, occupation or status. Result 3: Increased access by MARPs to a minimum package of essential prevention and health services , that includes but is not limited to access to condoms, VCT services and STI diagnosis and treatment, emphasizing in the involvement of private health providers. Result 4: Strategic information obtained through the research and monitoring process, being used to design or modify prevention activities. As part of Results 2 and 3, the Program aims not only to increase access by MARPs to essential health services but also to ensure that these populations receive high-quality care, free of stigma and discrimination, beginning with private-sector facilities participating in the Program. In program monitoring and evaluation, including in the area of HIV/STI/AIDS health service provision, mystery clients have been used to identify and monitor areas for improvement (Center for Population Studies, Zimbabwe 2003; Family Health International 2007; Sarma and Oliveras 2011). Mystery clients provide a way to gather information about the service delivery process while minimizing bias that could result from potential modification of provider behavior when direct observation of patient-provider interaction is used (Pathfinder International 2006). In addition, this method allows program staff to capture the perspective and voice of the client, which is an important component of ensuring quality of care, particularly when serving vulnerable and hidden populations, whose perspectives are often unsolicited or unacknowledged. As such, beginning in the second year of the HIV Combination Prevention Program (2011-12), the Program team proposes to evaluate the quality of service provision at participating facilities on an annual basis employing mystery clients. Participating facilities include i) clinics of IPPF/WHR Member Associations in six countries in Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama) and ii) other private-sector facilities that offer VCT services (e.g., laboratories). The annual assessment will be used to identify areas for improvement in service provision to MARPs at each participating facility and the results will be used as a basis for discussion with and to make recommendations to facility managers and providers regarding potential changes.

MexFly_ALLPATHS_assemblyALLPATHS assembly used for mapping ddRAD reads.2081_SNPs_vcf2081 SNPs data file, vcf format2081_SNPs.vcf2081_SNPs_str2081 SNPs datafile in structure format2081_SNPs.str2081_SNPs_noRearingIndividuals_str2081 SNPs datafile in structure format, with rearing individuals removed2081_SNPs_noRearingIndividuals.str28_SNPs_str28 SNPs datafile (diagnostic panel) in structure format, including 40 real-world test specimens28_SNPs.str

In the Tropical Eastern Pacific dolphinfish (TEP) Corypahena hippurus is part of commercial, recreational, and artisanal fisheries and is also caught incidentally by the tuna purse-seine and longline fisheries. Defining the existence of differenced populations in exploited species for being considered independent management units is crucial for conservation plans. However, there is a great uncertainty about the species population genetic structure across the TEP. To investigate it and to identify possible management units for conservation purposes this study was carried out, based on two SNPs datasets of 3867 and 3220 SNPs for young of the year (YOY) and adult individuals, respectively, obtained through NGS protocols. Sampling covered the species’ range distribution in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and was structured into YOY and adult individuals in order to discard the effects of migrating individuals into sampled locations. Our results revealed slight but significant differences among locations occupying the latitudinal limits of the species distribution at transitional areas between tropical and subtropical waters. These areas are characterized by strong seasonal variations in sea surface temperature and limit the prevalence of populations in these extremes. Genetic differences also seem to be related to spatial separation of locations as the northernmost (Los Cabos) and southernmost (Peru) locations including a set of oceanic samples, showed the highest levels of genetic differentiation. Whereas were detected barriers to gene flow among spatially separated locations for YOY individuals probably related to site fidelity, clear limitations to gene flow between Mexico and Central America locations were observed probably related to oceanic circulation in the area. Design management strategies in countries where the dolphinfish is explored is of primary interest to preserve genetic resources. It is necessary to define the existence of genetic differences of populations for species that are highly dependent on environmental factors limiting its distributional range as is the case of the dolphinfish.

In Central America and Mexico, approximately 19 million people were estimated to be undernourished in 2020. The number of population whose habitual food intake is insufficient to maintain an active and healthy life in this region increased from 2017, when 14.4 million Central Americans and Mexicans suffered from undernourishment.

As of September 2021, roughly 56 percent of Mexicans surveyed agreed (stronly agree and somewhat agree) with the authorities blocking entry and deporting migrants from Central America. Only 14.4 percent of the population stronly disagreed with such politics of the government. According to the same survey, nearly 40 percent of Mexicans had a negative opinion on the immigrants from Central America.

Prior to the arrival of European explorers in the Americas in 1492, it is estimated that the population of the continent was around sixty million people. Over the next two centuries, most scholars agree that the indigenous population fell to just ten percent of its pre-colonization level, primarily due to the Old World diseases (namely smallpox) brought to the New World by Europeans and African slaves, as well as through violence and famine.

Distribution

It is thought that the most densely populated region of the Americas was in the fertile Mexican valley, home to over one third of the entire continent, including several Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Aztec empire. While the mid-estimate shows a population of over 21 million before European arrival, one estimate suggests that there were just 730,000 people of indigenous descent in Mexico in 1620, just one hundred years after Cortes' arrival. Estimates also suggest that the Andes, home to the Incas, was the second most-populous region in the Americas, while North America (in this case, the region north of the Rio Grande river) may have been the most sparsely populated region. There is some contention as to the size of the pre-Columbian populations in the Caribbean, as the mass genocides, forced relocation, and pandemics that followed in the early stages of Spanish colonization make it difficult to predict these numbers.

Varying estimates Estimating the indigenous populations of the Americas has proven to be a challenge and point of contention for modern historians. Totals from reputable sources range from 8.4 million people to 112.55 million, and while both of these totals were published in the 1930s and 1960s respectively, their continued citation proves the ambiguity surrounding this topic. European settlers' records from the 15th to 17th centuries have also created challenges, due to their unrealistic population predictions and inaccurate methodologies (for example, many early settlers only counted the number of warriors in each civilization). Nonetheless, most modern historians use figures close to those given in the "Middle estimate" shown here, with similar distributions by region.

In Mexico, the public opinion on Central American immigrants was polarized as of September 2021. While 36 percent of respondents claimed to have a positive view (very good or good) of the immigrants from Central America, 39.9 percent of the population had a negative opinion (bad or very bad) about them.

The share of population in Central America (including Mexico) whose habitual food intake is insufficient to maintain an active and healthy life was estimated at 8.9 percent between 2018 and 2020. The Central American country with the highest prevalence of undernourishment in this period was Nicaragua, with 19.3 percent. Overall, in the Latin America and Caribbean region, the subregion with the highest undernourishment prevalence was the Caribbean.

The share of population in Mexico whose habitual food intake is insufficient to maintain an active and healthy life was estimated at 3.1 percent between 2021 and 2023. In comparison to the share prevalence between 2004 and 2006, there was a one percentage point decrease.The undernourishment prevalence rate in Mexico was one of the lowest among Central American countries.

In 2020, there were over 126.9 males per 100 females from Cuba residing in Mexico, ranking as the main Latin American and Caribbean country of origin among immigrants in the Central American nation. Argentina ranked as the second most country with men citizens among regional immigrants with 117.8.

In 2023, California had the highest Hispanic population in the United States, with over 15.76 million people claiming Hispanic heritage. Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois rounded out the top five states for Hispanic residents in that year. History of Hispanic people Hispanic people are those whose heritage stems from a former Spanish colony. The Spanish Empire colonized most of Central and Latin America in the 15th century, which began when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492. The Spanish Empire expanded its territory throughout Central America and South America, but the colonization of the United States did not include the Northeastern part of the United States. Despite the number of Hispanic people living in the United States having increased, the median income of Hispanic households has fluctuated slightly since 1990. Hispanic population in the United States Hispanic people are the second-largest ethnic group in the United States, making Spanish the second most common language spoken in the country. In 2021, about one-fifth of Hispanic households in the United States made between 50,000 to 74,999 U.S. dollars. The unemployment rate of Hispanic Americans has fluctuated significantly since 1990, but has been on the decline since 2010, with the exception of 2020 and 2021, due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The share of population in Central America (including Mexico) whose habitual food intake is insufficient to maintain an active and healthy life was estimated at 6.1 percent in 2018. The prevalence of undernourishment in the region declined between 2005 and 2016, and it has remained steady at 6.1 percent since 2016.

As of January 2024, more than 80 percent of South Americans had access to the internet, whereas the same could be said for 70.2 percent of the Caribbean population. Mobile devices represented the largest shares of internet access across Latin America throughout 2023.