Several conquistadores traveled to Central America in the early 16th century, but they made no settlements. One such conquistador was Rodrigo de Bastidas, who established Spain’s claim to Central America in 1501. The first stable Spanish settlement in Central America was established in 1510, when Vasco Núñez de Balboa and his crew settled near what is now the Colombia-Panama border.
When was Central America colonized?
Is Central America a continent?
Central America is not a continent. Continents are large landmasses embedded in major tectonic plates, which are sections of Earth’s rigid outer layer that overlie a partially molten layer and move relative to one another. Central America is embedded in a tectonic plate, but both the landmass and the plate are much smaller than those of the continents it bridges, North America and South America, so it is not considered to be a continent.
