the mineral industry of central america 2001 3 1 industries belize costa rica el salvador guatemala honduras nicaragua and panama by pablo velasco is made up long tapering isthmus that forms a bridge between north south it has an area about 521 500 square kilometers km 2 201 300 miles includes countries in region had estimated population approximately 36 5 million its combined gross domestic product gdp was to be 143 6 billion at purchasing power parity per capita 900 us intelligence agency 2002a g s economy based primarily on agriculture food processing merchandising small but diverse mining operations produced variety metals industrial minerals fuels sector continued limited antimony gold lead silver zinc production steel activity centered included cement limestone
