Guatemala

Introduction

The Republic of Guatemala is in Central America south of Mexico, bordering the Pacific to the west, and the Caribbean to the east. Guatemala means `Land of the Trees` in the Mayan-Toltec language. It also is bordered by Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. It has a population of over 13 million It is split into 22 departments subdivided into 332 municipal areas. Most of the population are Ladino or Mestiso which is a mixture of Spanish and Amerindian. Although the official language is Spanish, there are 21 distinct Mayan languages and other Amerindian languages in rural areas.

Geography

The country is about the size of England, and is mostly mountainous with the exceptions of the large lowlands of Peten in the north, and the southern coast. The larger cities like Guatemala City, Escuintla and Quetzaltenango are in the south of the country. The climate varies from hot tropical, to more temperate in the highlands and drier in the east. The largest lake is the popular Lago de Izabal, one of 5 lakes in the country. There are also 60 lagoons and 100 rivers, which form part of 252 recorded wetlands.Other locations of interest include the remote Mayan village of Nebaj in the Chuchumatanes mountains, and the enchanting highland lake, Lago de Atitlán.

Guatemala City

The largest city has a population oof 3 million made up of a cosmopolitan mix of Mestizos, Spanish, Europeans, Chinese and Koreans, Jewish, Peruvian and Colombian. It is divided into 22 zones with their own roads and unique address system which perhaps appears very structured. The centre of the city is Zone One with many of the historic buildings of significance like the Cathedral, Congress, Library, Plaza de la Constitucion. This was the site of the original ancient Mayan city of Kaminlaljuyu dating back to 1200 BC. Many of the ancient ruins have been protected and constitute important archeological sites.

Economy

Guatemala is still a poor country by american standards with 50% of the population below the povery line, and a GDP of $5k per capita. The main components of GDP are the service sector at 59% and agriculture at 22% but all the industrial sector is only 19%. The country has certain natural resources like gold, silver, cobalt, nickel and zinc. However 40% of exports are agricultural produce like coffee, sugar, bananas and vegetables. Certainly the ending of the long civil war provided a boost to outside investment. Tourism is also now flourishing, but the largest source of income from outside is the revenue sent back to family from Guatemalans working in the USA and other countries.