The Mayan civilization flourished in Guatemala and surrounding regions during the first millennium A.D. After almost three centuries as a Spanish colony, Guatemala won its independence in 1821. During the second half of the 20th century, it experienced a variety of military and civilian governments, as well as a 36-year guerrilla war. In 1996, the government signed a peace agreement formally ending the conflict, which had left more than 100,000 people dead and had created, by some estimates, some 1 million refugees.

Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Mexico, and bordering the Gulf of Honduras (Caribbean Sea) between Honduras and Belize

15 30 N, 90 15 W

Central America and the Caribbean

slightly smaller than Tennessee

400 km

tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands

mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau

petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle, hydropower

1,300 sq km (2003)

111.3 cu km (2000)

numerous volcanoes in mountains, with occasional violent earthquakes; Caribbean coast extremely susceptible to hurricanes and other tropical storms

deforestation in the Peten rainforest; soil erosion; water pollution

no natural harbors on west coast

13,276,517 (July 2010 est.)

2.066% (2010 est.)

27.98 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

5.11 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-2.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

3.36 children born/woman (2010 est.)

0.8% (2007 est.)

59,000 (2007 est.)

3,900 (2007 est.)

Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish - in local Spanish called Ladino) and European 59.4%, K'iche 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 7.9%, Q'eqchi 6.3%, other Mayan 8.6%, indigenous non-Mayan 0.2%, other 0.1% (2001 census)

Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous Mayan beliefs

Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)

2.6% of GDP (2006)

constitutional democratic republic

22 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, El Progreso, Escuintla, Guatemala, Huehuetenango, Izabal, Jalapa, Jutiapa, Peten, Quetzaltenango, Quiche, Retalhuleu, Sacatepequez, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Solola, Suchitepequez, Totonicapan, Zacapa

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986; suspended 25 May 1993; reinstated 5 June 1993; amended November 1993

civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal; note - active duty members of the armed forces may not vote and are restricted to their barracks on election day

unicameral Congress of the Republic or Congreso de la Republica (158 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Constitutional Court or Corte de Constitucionalidad is Guatemala's highest court (five judges are elected by Congress for concurrent five-year terms); Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (13 members are elected by Congress to serve concurrent five-year terms and elect a president of the Court each year from among their number; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice also supervises trial judges around the country, who are named to five-year terms)

Center of Social Action or CASA [Feliz Adolfo RUANO de Leon]; Democracy Front or FRENTE [Alfonso CABRERA]; Democratic Union or UD [Edwin Armando MARTINEZ Herrera]; Encounter for Guatemala or EG [Nineth MONTENGRO]; Grand National Alliance or GANA [Jaime Antonio MARTINEZ Lohayza]; Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity or URNG [Hector Alfredo NUILA Ericastilla]; Guatemalan Republican Front or FRG [Efrain RIOS Montt]; Independent Bloc Guatemala or BG [Macario Efrain OLIVA Muralles]; Independent Democratic Freedom Renewed or LIDER [Roberto Ricardo VILLATE Villatoro]; National Advancement Party or PAN [Carlos YAT Sierra]; National Unity for Hope or UNE [Roberto KESTLER Velasquez]; Nationalist Change Union or UCN [Cesar Leonel SOTO Arango]; Patriot Party or PP [Ingrid Roxana BALDETTI Elias]; Unionista Party or PU [Pablo Manuel DURATE Saenz de Tejada]

Agrarian Owners Group or UNAGRO; Alliance Against Impunity or AAI; Committee for Campesino Unity or CUC; Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations or CACIF; International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala or CICIG; Mutual Support Group or GAM

BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, PetroCaribe, RG, SICA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three equal vertical bands of light blue (hoist side), white, and light blue, with the coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms includes a green and red quetzal (the national bird) representing liberty and a scroll bearing the inscription LIBERTAD 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1821 (the original date of independence from Spain) all superimposed on a pair of crossed rifles signifying Guatemala's willingness to defend itself and a pair of crossed swords representing honor and framed by a laurel wreath symbolizing victory; the blue bands stand for the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and the sea and sky; the white band denotes peace and purity

Guatemala is the most populous of the Central American countries with a GDP per capita roughly one-half that of the average for Latin America and the Caribbean. The agricultural sector accounts for nearly 15% of GDP and half of the labor force; key agricultural exports include coffee, sugar, and bananas. The 1996 peace accords, which ended 36 years of civil war, removed a major obstacle to foreign investment, and since then Guatemala has pursued important reforms and macroeconomic stabilization. The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) entered into force in July 2006 spurring increased investment and diversification of exports, with the largest increases in ethanol and non-traditional agricultural exports. While CAFTA has helped improve the investment climate, concerns over security, the lack of skilled workers and poor infrastructure continue to hamper foreign direct investment. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with the richest decile comprising over 40% of Guatemala's overall consumption. More than half of the population is below the national poverty line and 15% lives in extreme poverty. Poverty among indigenous groups, which make up 38% of the population, averages 76% and extreme poverty rises to 28%. 43% of children under five are chronically malnourished, one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world. President COLOM entered into office with the promise to increase education, healthcare, and rural development, and in April 2008 he inaugurated a conditional cash transfer program, modeled after programs in Brazil and Mexico, that provide financial incentives for poor families to keep their children in school and get regular health check-ups. Given Guatemala's large expatriate community in the United States, it is the top remittance recipient in Central America, with inflows serving as a primary source of foreign income equivalent to nearly two-thirds of exports. The economy contracted in 2009 as export demand from US and other Central American markets fell and foreign investment slowed amid the global recession. The economy will likely recover gradually in 2010 and return to more normal growth rates by 2012.

$67.87 billion (2009 est.)

$67.47 billion (2008 est.)

$65.31 billion (2007 est.)

$37.3 billion (2009 est.)

0.6% (2009 est.)

3.3% (2008 est.)

6.3% (2007 est.)

$5,100 (2009 est.)

$5,200 (2008 est.)

$5,100 (2007 est.)

4.157 million (2009 est.)

3.2% (2005 est.)

56.2% (2004 est.)

55.1 (2007)

55.8 (1998)

15.1% of GDP (2009 est.)

27.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

25.6% of GDP (2008 est.)

1.9% (2009 est.)

11.4% (2008 est.)

NA%

13.39% (31 December 2008)

12.84% (31 December 2007)

$6.106 billion (31 December 2008)

$5.876 billion (31 December 2007)

$9.7 billion (31 December 2008)

$8.903 billion (31 December 2007)

$14.82 billion (31 December 2008)

$13.96 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA

sugarcane, corn, bananas, coffee, beans, cardamom; cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens

sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals, rubber, tourism

-1% (2009 est.)

8.425 billion kWh (2007 est.)

7.115 billion kWh (2007 est.)

131.9 million kWh (2007 est.)

8.11 million kWh (2007 est.)

13,530 bbl/day (2009 est.)

79,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

21,850 bbl/day (2007 est.)

72,440 bbl/day (2007 est.)

83.07 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

2.96 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

-$620 million (2009 est.)

-$1.844 billion (2008 est.)

$7.333 billion (2009 est.)

$7.847 billion (2008 est.)

coffee, sugar, petroleum, apparel, bananas, fruits and vegetables, cardamom

US 40.41%, El Salvador 11.2%, Honduras 8.48%, Mexico 5.86% (2009)

$10.63 billion (2009 est.)

$13.42 billion (2008 est.)

fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity

US 36.46%, Mexico 10.49%, China 5.88%, El Salvador 5.14% (2009)

$4.973 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$4.471 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$7.489 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$6.5 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

quetzales (GTQ) per US dollar - 8.1613 (2009), 7.5895 (2008), 7.6833 (2007), 7.6026 (2006), 7.6339 (2005)

1.449 million (2008)

14.949 million (2008)

4 privately-owned national terrestrial TV channels dominate TV broadcasting; multi-channel satellite and cable services are available; 1 government-owned radio station and hundreds of privately-owned radio stations (2007)

.gt

196,870 (2010)

1.96 million (2008)

372 (2010)

oil 480 km (2009)

990 km

Puerto Quetzal, Santo Tomas de Castilla

National Army of Guatemala (Ejercito Nacional de Guatemala, ENG), Guatemalan Navy (Marina Nacional, includes Marines), Guatemalan Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Guatemalteca, FAG) (2009)

all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 50 are liable for military service; conscript service obligation varies from 12 to 24 months; women can serve as officers (2009)

0.4% of GDP (2009)

annual ministerial meetings under the OAS-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and the Caribbean Sea; the Line of Adjacency created under the 2002 Differendum serves in lieu of the contiguous international boundary to control squatting in the sparsely inhabited rain forests of Belize's border region; Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States

major transit country for cocaine and heroin; in 2005, cultivated 100 hectares of opium poppy after reemerging as a potential source of opium in 2004; potential production of less than 1 metric ton of pure heroin; marijuana cultivation for mostly domestic consumption; proximity to Mexico makes Guatemala a major staging area for drugs (particularly for cocaine); money laundering is a serious problem; corruption is a major problem