GUATEMALA

GUATEMALA

Republic of Guatemala

República de Guatemala

CAPITAL: Guatemala City.

FLAG: The national flag consists of a white vertical stripe between two blue vertical stripes with the coat of arms centered in the white band.

ANTHEM: Himno Nacional, beginning "Guatemala feliz" ("Happy Guatemala").

MONETARY UNIT: The quetzal (q) is a paper currency of 100 centavos. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, and 25 centavos, and notes of 50 centavos and 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 quetzales. q1 = $0.16521 (or $1 = q6.053). US notes are widely accepted.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard, but some imperial and old Spanish units are also used.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Epiphany, 6 January; Labor Day, 1 May; Anniversary of the Revolution of 1871, 30 June; Independence Day, 15 September; Columbus Day, 12 October; Revolution Day, 20 October; All Saints' Day, 1 November; Christmas, 25 December. Movable religious holidays include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.

TIME: 6 am = noon GMT.

LOCATION AND SIZE

Situated in Central America, Guatemala has an area of 108,890 square kilometers (42,043 square miles), slightly smaller than the state of Tennessee. It has a total boundary length of 2,087 kilometers (1,297 miles).

Guatemala's capital city, Guatemala City, is located in the southcentral part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

A tropical plain parallels the Pacific Ocean, and lowlands lie along the Caribbean coast. Between them, occupying nearly two-thirds of the country, are the Sierra Madre highlands. In the northwest, Guatemala occupies part of the peninsula of Yucatán (the Yucatán peninsula comprises southeast Mexico, parts of Guatemala and Honduras). In this region there is the lowland forest of Petén, once the home of the Mayas. The largest lakes are Izabal (Lago de Izabal), Petén Itzá (Lago Petén Itzá), and Atitlán (Lago de Atitlán).

GEOGRAPHIC PROFILE

Size ranking: 104 of 192

Highest elevation: 4,220 meters (13,845 feet) at Tajumulco Volcano

Lowest elevation: Sea level at the Pacific Ocean

Arable land: 12%

Permanent crops: 5%

Permanent pastures: 24%

Forests: 54%

Other: 5%

Average annual precipitation: 128.1 centimeters (50.4 inches)

Average temperature in January: 16.3°c (61.3°f)

Average temperature in July: 18.5°c (65.3°f)

Arable land: Land used for temporary crops, like meadows for mowing or pasture, gardens, and greenhouses. Permanent crops: Land cultivated with crops that occupy its use for long periods, such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, fruit and nut orchards, and vineyards. Permanent pastures: Land used permanently for forage crops. Forests: Land containing stands of trees. Other: Any land not specified, including built-on areas, roads, and barren land.

The measurements for precipitation and average temperature were taken at weather stations closest to the country's largest city. Precipitation and average temperature can vary significantly within a country, due to factors such as latitude, altitude, coastal proximity, and wind patterns.

CLIMATE

Because of its consistently temperate climate, Guatemala has been called the " Land of Eternal Spring." The average annual temperature ranges from 25°-30°c (77°-86°f) on the coast to 15°c (59°f) in the higher mountains.

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Flowers of the temperate zone are found in great numbers. Of special interest is the orchid family, which includes the white nun (monja blanca), the national flower. Native animals include the armadillo, bear, coyote, deer, fox, jaguar, monkey, puma, tapir, and manatee. The national bird is the highland quetzal, the symbol of love of liberty, which is said to die in captivity.

ENVIRONMENT

Guatemala's main environmental problems are deforestation--over 50% of the nation's forests have been destroyed since 1890--and consequent soil erosion. The nation's water supply is also at risk due to industrial and agricultural pollutants. As of 1994, ten animal species, ten bird species, and four types of reptiles were endangered.

HISTORY

The classical Mayan civilization, which began about ad 300, featured highly developed arts and sciences and extensive trade. It collapsed around ad 900 and disintegrated into a number of separate groups. Despite the Amerindians' resistance, they were conquered by the Spanish in 1523-24.

From 1524 until 1821, Guatemala was the center of government for a captaincy-general which extended from Yucatán peninsula to Panama. Spanish political and social institutions were added to Amerindian village life and customs, producing a hybrid culture.

In 1821, the captaincy-general won its independence from Spain and, along with present-day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, formed the United Provinces of Central America in 1824, which lasted until 1838-39. Guatemala proclaimed its independence in 1839.

In the 1950s, the government of president Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán took over the holdings of the United Fruit Co., a United States firm, as part of a land reform program. In the summer of 1954, Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas and an army of Guatemalan exiles, backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States, invaded Guatemala from Honduras and toppled the government. Castillo took over, restored the United States properties, and ruled by decree until 1957. General Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes, who became president in 1958, allowed Guatemala to be used as a training area for Cuban exiles in the abortive United States' invasion of the Bay of Pigs in April 1961.

Dr. Julio César Méndez Montenegro, elected in 1966, was the first civilian president since Árbenz and the last for 20 years. After several years of violence between the army and left-wing guerrilla forces, Guatemala returned to military rule with the election of Colonel Carlos Arana Osorio as president in 1970. Political violence by the military, the left, and right-wing death squads continued for over 20 years, with a succession of governments unable to contain it. In 1993, the military intervened and Ramior de León Carpio was appointed president on 5 June. De León, a human rights advocate, promised to bring to justice those responsible for the dismal state of human rights in Guatemala.

On 29 December 1996, under the government of Alvaro Arzu, the Guatemalan government signed a peace accord with the guerilla Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity. The agreement marked the end of Central America's longest-running guerilla war.

Hurricane Mitch struck Guatemala in late October 1998. The worst Atlantic storm in two decades, Mitch brought high winds (up to 180 miles per hour) and heavy rains that left death and destruction behind. According to the Guatemalan government, the hurricane left 258 Guatemalans dead, 150 missing, and thousands homeless. The storm also devastated agriculture and livestock. According to US embassy estimates, Mitch destroyed twenty to sixty percent of the corn, bean, coffee, and sugar crops; thirty percent of the cattle herd; and ninety-fiver percent of the banana crop.

MIGRATION

Because of persecution and civil war, Amerindians began emigrating across the Mexican border in 1981. Under the International Conference on Central American Refugees, 18,000 Guatemalans returned during 1989-94. An additional 9,500 returned in 1995 and 3,974 in 1996. As of mid-1997, there were still 40,000 Guatemalan refugees in Mexico and Belize.

ARMED FORCES

In 1995 the armed forces numbered 42,000 in the army, 1,500 in the navy, and 700 in the air force. Defense expenditures amounted to $140 million in 1995.

GOVERNMENT

In theory, Guatemala is a republic. The president is elected by direct vote for a five-year term and may not be reelected. Each district elects at least two deputies to the single-chamber National Congress. In 1994 there were 80 seats in the interim congress. Guatemala is divided into 22 departments, plus Guatemala City.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Courts include the 9-member Supreme Court, 10 courts of appeals, 33 civil courts of first instance, and 10 penal courts. As of July 1994, a new criminal code gave more emphasis to due process protection.

POLITICAL PARTIES

The main political parties during the elections of November 1995 and January 1996 were the National Advancement Party (Partido de Avanzada Nacional--PAN), the Guatemalan Republican Front (Frente Republicano Guatemalteco--FRG), the Christian Democrats (Union del Centro Nacional Democracía Cristiana Partido Social Democrata--DCG), and the New Guatemalan Democratic Front (Frente Democratico Nueva Guatemala--FDNG).

TOURISM AND RECREATION

Tourism has rebounded since Guatemala's return to civilian rule in 1986. In 1991, a record 513,620 foreign visitors entered the country; 406,595 from the Americas and 93,630 from Europe. There were 23,022 rooms with an 83.5% occupancy rate. Tourist expenditure in 1993 increased to $275 million. Guatemala's main tourist attractions are Mayan ruins, such as Tikal; colonial churches in Guatemala City, Antigua Guatemala, and other towns and villages; and the colorful markets and fiestas.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social security provides maternity benefits, general medical insurance, and pensions for the disabled, aged, widows, and minors. Despite legal equality, women are paid significantly less than their male counterparts.

An estimated 100,000 people died during the civil war, and 40,000 more disappeared. An amnesty law was passed in late 1996 so that those responsible for human rights violations in the past are unlikely to be punished.

ETHNIC GROUPS

Guatemala has a larger proportion of Amerindians in its total population than any other country in Central America. This population is estimated to be about 44% of the national total. Persons of mixed Amerindian and European ancestry, known as ladinos in Guatemala, constitute about 56% of the national total. There are small numbers of blacks and mulattoes in the Caribbean lowlands.

LANGUAGES

Spanish is the official and commercial language. Amerindians speak some 28 dialects in five main language groups: Quiché, Mam, Pocomam, and Chol--all of the Mayan language family--and Carib.

RELIGIONS

Roman Catholicism is the most common religion (70%). In 1986, an estimated 25% of the population combined Christian beliefs with traditional Amerindian rites. About 5,000 follow tribal religions exclusively. There were about 800 Jews in Guatemala in 1990.

Protestant churches were estimated to have fewer than 500,000 followers in 1980, but rapidly growing fundamentalist groups increased the number of Protestants to some 30% in 1991, most of whom are Pentecostals.

TRANSPORTATION

In 1995, the total length of Guatemala's road system was 12,033 kilometers (7,477 miles), of which 25% was paved. In 1995, about 102,000 passenger cars and 96,800 commercial vehicles were registered. Guatemala Railways operates 90% of the 870 kilometers (541 miles) of narrow-gauge railway.

Puerto Barrios and Livingston on the Caribbean coast are Guatemala's chief ports; the Pacific coast ports are Champerico and San José. In 1995, Guatemala had no registered cargo ships. Aurora Airport at Guatemala City, the first air terminal in Central America, serves aircraft of all sizes, including jumbo jets.

FAMOUS GUATEMALANS

Well-known twentieth-century Guatemalan political personalities are Colonel Jácobo Árbenz Guzmán (1913-71), president during 1951-54, and General Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes (1896-1982), president during 1958-63. The novelist Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974) was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1967.

EDUCATION

In 1995, the adult illiteracy rate was estimated at 44% (males, 37.5%; females, 51.4%). Elementary education is free and compulsory for six years. In 1991 there were 9,362 primary schools with 1.3 million pupils and 36,757 teachers. The general secondary schools had 294,907 pupils. The University of San Carlos of Guatemala, in Guatemala City, is the most important center of higher learning.

HEALTH

Only 40% of the population has access to health care services. Among the chief causes of death are heart disease, intestinal parasites, bronchitis, influenza, and tuberculosis. Malnutrition, alcoholism, and inadequate sanitation and housing also pose serious health problems. The average life expectancy is 66 years.

HOUSING

Many of the nation's urban housing units and most of its rural dwellings are poorly built and lack electricity and drinkable water. In 1983, only 48% of the urban population and 28% of the rural population had sewer service.

POPULATION

The total population was estimated at 12 million in 1998. The projected population for 2005 is 14.4 million. The capital and largest city, Guatemala City, had a 1995 estimated population of 2.2 million.

MEDIA

In 1995 there were 91 AM radio stations, and 25 television stations. In 1995 there were an estimated 645,000 radios and 510,000 television sets. In 1995 there were 231,100 telephones.

The leading daily newspapers published in Guatemala City (with 1995 circulations) are Prensa Libre (120,000); El Gráfico (65,000); and Siglo Veintiuno (62,000).

AGRICULTURE

The principal cash crops are coffee, sugar, bananas, and cotton, followed by hemp, essential oils, and cocoa. Cash crop output in 1995 included 12.5 million tons of sugarcane, 210,000 tons of coffee, 12,000 tons of cotton, and 535,000 tons of bananas. Production of crops for domestic consumption included 1.4 million tons of corn and 109,000 tons of dry beans, along with rice, wheat, and fruits and vegetables.

DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

The wool industry in the western highlands supplies the famed Guatemalan weavers. In 1995, there were 1.7 million head of cattle, 889,000 hogs, 440,000 sheep, and 116,000 horses.

ENERGY AND POWER

In 1994, total electricity production reached 3.1 billion kilowatt hours. Guatemala's main petroleum resources lie in the north and around the Gulf of Honduras, where much exploration has taken place. Production averaged 8,300 barrels per day in 1994.

FISHING

Guatemalan waters are rich in fish, including shrimp, snapper, and tuna. The total catch in 1994 was 11,596 tons.

FORESTRY

The forests in the northwest region yield cabinet woods, timber, extracts, oils, gums, and dyes. Mahogany, cedar, and balsam are important export products, as is chicle for chewing gum. Although 14.1 million cubic meters (18.5 million cubic yards) of roundwood were cut in 1995, 94% was burned for fuel.

MINING

The principal commercial minerals are antimony, gold, iron ore, and lead. Nickel deposits in the area of Lake Izabal (Lago de Izabal) had an annual production capacity of 9,000 tons in 1994. In 1994, about 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of gold was produced.

ECONOMY

Since the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, the economy of Guatemala has depended on the export of one or two agricultural products. In the 1980s, the chief exports in order of value were coffee, bananas, sugar, and cotton. During 1991-95 the Guatemalan economy--the largest in Central America--grew at a healthy pace of about 3.5-5% per year. In 1996, the growth rate decreased to 3%.

INCOME

In 1995, Guatemala's gross national product (GNP) was $14.2 billion at current prices, or about $1,470 per person.

INDUSTRY

Industry represents about 20% of the domestic economy. Most manufacturing is devoted to light assembly and food processing operations. Products include food, clothing and textiles, construction materials, tires, and pharmaceuticals.

LABOR

Most of Guatemala's Amerindian population engages in subsistence agriculture and self-employed handicraft activity. In 1994, the Guatemalan labor force was estimated at 3.2 million. Unemployment in 1994 was estimated at about 5%, but underemployment was around 30-40%.

FOREIGN TRADE

Main export items include coffee, sugar, cardamom, bananas, and other non-traditional vegetables, and textiles and apparel. Primary imports are fuels and lubricants, industrial machinery, motor vehicles, and iron and steel. Guatemala's leading trading partners are the United States, followed by the countries of the Central American were the United States, Mexico, Japan, and Germany.