The term Mesoamerica refers to a part of the region that today we call Central America which was populated by various ancient civilizations. The region stretched from the highlands of central and southern Mexico to the lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula the highlands of Guatemala to Belize on the Carribean coast and down to parts of Honduras El Salvador and Costa Rica. Civilizations evolved in Mesoamerica for 2750 years starting from about 1500 BC.