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 2009 est.)

2.066% (2009 est.)

27.98 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

5.11 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

-2.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

3.47 children born/woman (2009 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 are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Constitutional Court or Corte de Constitucionalidad is Guatemala's highest court (five judges are elected for concurrent five-year terms); Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (13 members 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 [Eduardo SUGER]; Democracy Front or FRENTE [Alfonso CABRERA]; Democratic Union or UD [Manuel CONDE Orellana]; Encounter for Guatemala or EG [Nineth MONTENGRO]; Grand National Alliance or GANA [Alfredo VILLA]; Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity or URNG [Hector NUILA]; Guatemalan Republican Front or FRG [Efrain RIOS Montt]; National Advancement Party or PAN [Juan Guillermo GUTIERREZ]; National Unity for Hope or UNE [Juan Jose ALFARO Lemus]; Nationalist Change Union or UCN [Mario ESTRADA]; Patriot Party or PP [Ret. Gen. Otto PEREZ Molina]; Unionista Party or PU [Fritz GARCIA-GALLONT]

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; 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, RG, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, 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) 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 and a pair of crossed swords and framed by a wreath

Guatemala is the most populous of the Central American countries with a GDP per capita roughly one-half that of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. The agricultural sector accounts for about one-tenth of GDP, two-fifths of exports, and half of the labor force. Coffee, sugar, and bananas are the main products, with sugar exports benefiting from increased global demand for ethanol. The 1996 signing of peace accords, which ended 36 years of civil war, removed a major obstacle to foreign investment, and Guatemala since then has pursued important reforms and macroeconomic stabilization. The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) entered into force in July 2006 and has since spurred increased investment in the export sector, but concerns over security, the lack of skilled workers and poor infrastructure continued to hamper foreign participation. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line. Other ongoing challenges include increasing government revenues, negotiating further assistance from international donors, curtailing drug trafficking and rampant crime, and narrowing the trade deficit. 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. Economic growth will slow in 2009 as export demand from US and other Central American markets drop and foreign investment slows amid the global slowdown.

$68.02 billion (2008 est.)

$65.53 billion (2007)

$62 billion (2006)

$36.28 billion (2008 est.)

3.8% (2008 est.)

5.7% (2007 est.)

5.3% (2006 est.)

$5,200 (2008 est.)

$5,100 (2007 est.)

$5,000 (2006 est.)

4.054 million (2008 est.)

3.2% (2005 est.)

56.2% (2004 est.)

55.1 (2007)

20.3% of GDP (2008 est.)

23.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

12.2% (2008 est.)

6.8% (2007 est.)

NA% (31 December 2008)

12.84% (31 December 2007)

$6.106 billion (31 December 2008)

$6.227 billion (31 December 2007)

$9.7 billion (31 December 2008)

$8.928 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

3.5% (2008 est.)

7.643 billion kWh (2006 est.)

6.617 billion kWh (2006 est.)

131.9 million kWh (2007 est.)

8.11 million kWh (2007 est.)

15,820 bbl/day (2007 est.)

74,230 bbl/day (2006 est.)

15,560 bbl/day (2006 est.)

72,960 bbl/day (2006 est.)

83.07 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

2.96 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$-3.316 billion (2008 est.)

$8.028 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

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

US 42.2%, El Salvador 9.6%, Honduras 8.6%, Mexico 6.5%, Costa Rica 4.5% (2007)

$15.42 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

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

US 34.9%, Mexico 9.9%, China 6.8%, El Salvador 4.6%, Costa Rica 4.1% (2007)

$4.229 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$6.337 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

quetzales (GTQ) per US dollar - 7.5895 (2008 est.), 7.6833 (2007), 7.6026 (2006), 7.6339 (2005), 7.9465 (2004)

1.355 million (2006)

10.15 million (2007)

AM 130, FM 487, shortwave 15 (2000)

26 (plus 27 repeaters) (1997)

.gt

124,095 (2008)

1.32 million (2006)

374 (2008)

oil 480 km (2008)

990 km

Puerto Quetzal, Santo Tomas de Castilla

Army, Navy (includes Marines), Air Force

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 (2008)

0.4% of GDP (2006)

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