Answer:
Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador
Did the Maya of Central America build their civilization in the hot, tropical lowlands or in the cooler highlands?
Both regions were home to the ancient Mayan civilization, albeit the relative prominence and control of each region fluctuated depending on the historical era under consideration. The highlands of what is now south-western Guatemala were the original home of Proto-Mayan speakers. Over the years, these highland people moved onto the Yucatan peninsula, which is rather flat, as well as some regions of western Honduras and El Salvador. A breakaway group settled down close to the shore of the current Veracruz state in Mexico. The highland and lowland regions eventually evolved separate, yet related, civilizations that traded, as well as occasionally engaged in rivalry, all within the larger context of a shared language and ethnoreligious past. In addition to producing maize, the lowland city states were also noted for growing beans, amaranth, manioc, cacao, cotton for light cloth, and sisal for heavy cloth and rope. As it is now, the lowlands were typically hot and humid all year long, with significant rainfall in the southern lowlands and increasingly less rain as one traveled north. As a result, communities in the north mostly relied on cenotes for freshwater for agriculture and domestic use. The highlands, on the other hand, are made up of rocky mountains that maintain a colder climate all year round as well as distinctive vegetation. The mountains to the south had the benefit of rich volcanic soil that still supports agriculture today, despite the fact that the topography may have been steeper and rainfall may not have been as plentiful as in the lowlands. In exchange for goods like obsidian, jade, and other valuable metals like cinnabar and hematite found in the highlands, the lowlands would trade the aforementioned products as well as salt and stingray spines. There is still a noticeable difference between highland and lowland Maya culture, which is represented in everything from food and attire to language, even after Spanish conquest and colonization.