Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-12 (section)

==== 12.3.1.2 Exposure ====

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Of the 47 million Central Americans in 2015, 40% lived in rural areas, with Belize being the least urbanised (54% rural) and Costa Rica the most (21% rural) ( [[#CELADE--2019|CELADE, 2019]] ); 10.5 million lived in the Dry Corridor region, an area recently exposed to severe droughts that have resulted in 3.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance ( [[#FAO--2016a|FAO, 2016a]] ). Except in Belize and Panama, the majority of the countries’ populations—ranging from 56% in Honduras to 95% in El Salvador—were exposed to two or more risks derived from natural extreme events, affecting between 57% and 96% of the GDP of the countries ( [[#UNISDR%20and%20CEPREDENAC--2014|UNISDR and CEPREDENAC, 2014]] ). CA is one of the regions most exposed to climatic phenomena; with long coastlines and lowland areas, the region is repeatedly affected by drought, intense rains, cyclones and ENSO events ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#ECLAC--2015|ECLAC et al., 2015]] ).

Large urban centres are located on mountains or away from the shore, with the notable exceptions of Panama City, Belmopan and Managua, capital cities housing around 3 million people. Urban development in the capital cities and suburbs has almost tripled in the last 40 years, reaching population densities as high as 11,000 inhabitants/km 2 in Guatemala City and Tegucigalpa, with the spread of poor neighbourhoods in steep ravines and other marginal high-risk areas ( [[#Programa%20Estado%20de%20la%20Nación%20–%20Estado%20de%20la%20Región--2016|Programa Estado de la Nación – Estado de la Región, 2016]] ).

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