Guatemala

Official name República de Guatemala (Republic of Guatemala)
Form of government republic with one legislative house (Congress of the Republic [158])
Head of state and government President: Otto Pérez Molina
Capital Guatemala City
Official language Spanish
Official religion none
Monetary unit quetzal (Q)
Population (2013 est.) 15,528,000COLLAPSE
Total area (sq mi) 42,042
Total area (sq km) 108,889
Urban-rural population Urban: (2011) 49.8%
Rural: (2011) 50.2%
Life expectancy at birth Male: (2012) 69.3 years
Female: (2012) 73.1 years
Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate Male: (2010) 80.6%
Female: (2010) 70.3%
GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2012) 3,120

About Guatemala

The Maya 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 200,000 people dead and had created, by some estimates, some 1 million refugees. In January 2012, Guatemala assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2012-13 term.

Guatemala, country of Central America. The dominance of an Indian culture within its interior uplands distinguishes Guatemala from its Central American neighbours. The origin of the name Guatemala is Indian, but its derivation and meaning are undetermined. Some hold that the original form was Quauhtemallan (indicating an Aztec rather than a Mayan origin), meaning “land of trees,” and others hold that it is derived from Guhatezmalha, meaning “mountain of vomiting water”— referring no doubt to such volcanic eruptions as the one that destroyed Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (modern-day Antigua Guatemala), the first permanent Spanish capital of the region’s captaincy general. The country’s contemporary capital, Guatemala City, is a major metropolitan centre; Quetzaltenango in the western highlands is the nucleus of the Indian population.

After gaining independence from Spain in the 1820s, Guatemala had a long history of government by authoritarian rule and military regimes until it came under democratic rule in 1985. Starting in 1954, Guatemala’s governments faced formidable guerrilla opposition that sparked civil war that lasted for 36 years until peace accords were signed in 1996. The struggles of Guatemala’s Indians during the war years were illuminated when Rigoberta Menchú, a Quiché Maya and an advocate for indigenous people throughout Latin America, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.

A slow political and economic recovery continued into the early 21st century. Elections have been held regularly since 1996, but, because there are many political parties, which tend to be small and short-lived, convergence on political solutions has been rare. Fear of a military return to power has preoccupied voters in the first years of the 21st century.

Land of Guatemala
People of Guatemala
Economy of Guatemala
Government and Society of Guatemala
Culture Life of Guatemala
History of Guatemala

Disclaimer

This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].

Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.