Marcia Nieder, age 10, of Richmond, Va., for her question;

What are the countries of Central America?

Central America is the strip of land by which North and South America ,join hands. It is about 1.,200 miles long and varies in width from 30 to 300 miles. Its area is about 220,000 square miles, less than the area of California and Oregon. This small strip of land, bordered by the Atlantic and the Pacific, is home to almost nine million people. And the people of Central America belong to seven different countries.

There are six republics. They are Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The seventh small country is a colony, the British Colony of Honduras.

Central America lies entirely within tropical latitudes. For that reason, the region exports all kinds of goods that grow only in tropical climates. It sends us coffee, bananas, sugar, chocolate and chicle, the wonderful stuff from which we make chewing gum.