226
100 km
100 miles
0
0
MEXICO
HONDURAS
El Salvador
BELIZE
PACIFIC
OCEAN
Caribbean
Sea
Si
er
ra
(^)
Mad
re
Motagu
a^
Lago
Usu Petén Itzá
ma
cin
ta
Lago de
Izabal
Cobán
Mazatenango
Antigua Guatemala
Zacapa
EscuintlaJutiapa
Chimaltenango Jalapa
Totonicapán
Puerto Barrios
San José
GUATEMALA CITY
3000m/9843ft
2000m/6562ft
1000m/3281ft
500m/1640ft
200m/656ft
Sea Level
Guatemala
NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA
FACTFILE
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Guatemala
DATE OF FORMATION: 1838
CAPITAL: Guatemala City
POPULATION: 14 million
TOTAL AREA: 42,042 sq. miles
(108,890 sq. km)
DENSITY: 335 people per sq. mile
LANGUAGES: Quiché, Mam, Cakchiquel,
Kekchí, Spanish*
RELIGIONS: Roman Catholic 65%,
Protestant 33%, other 2%
ETHNIC MIX: Amerindian 60%, Mestizo 30%,
other 10%
GOVERNMENT: Presidential system
CURRENCY: Quetzal = 100 centavos
The largest and most populous nation on the Central
American isthmus, Guatemala returned to civilian rule
in 1986 after 32 years of violent and repressive military rule.
GEOGRAPHY
Narrow Pacific coastal plain. Central
highlands with volcanoes. Short coast on
the Caribbean Sea. Tropical rainforests in
the north.
CLIMATE
Tropical: hot and humid in coastal
regions and north. More temperate in
central highlands.
PEOPLE & SOCIETY
Amerindians, concentrated in the
highlands, form a majority. Power, wealth,
and land are controlled by ladinos
(Westernized Amerindians and mestizos).
Catholicism is predominant, mixed with
Amerindian beliefs. A third of the
population lives on less than $2 a day.
Literacy levels are low.
THE ECONOMY
Coffee, sugar, and bananas are top
exports. Tourism. Damage from natural
disasters. Marked wealth inequalities
inhibit domestic market.
INSIGHT: Guatemala, which means
“land of trees,” was the center of the
ancient Mayan civilization
