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Guatemala

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Central & South American
Countries; Countries

   SOS Children works in Guatemala. For more information see SOS Children
   in Guatemala
             República de Guatemala
   Republic of Guatemala

   Flag of Guatemala Coat of arms of Guatemala
   Flag              Coat of arms
   Motto: El País de la Eterna Primavera
   (English: "The Land of Eternal Spring")
   Anthem: Himno Nacional de Guatemala
   Location of Guatemala
   Capital
   (and largest city)    Guatemala City
                         14°38′N 90°33′W
    Official languages   Spanish
   Government            Presidential republic
    - President          Óscar Berger
       Independence      From Spain
    - Date               September 15, 1821
                       Area
    - Total              108,890 km² ( 106th)
                         42,042 sq mi
    - Water (%)          0.4
                    Population
    - July 2005 estimate 12,800,000 ( 70th)
    - Density            134.6/km² ( 85th)
                         348.6/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)       2005 estimate
    - Total              $62.78 billion ( 71st)
    - Per capita         $4,155 ( 116th)
        HDI  (2004)      0.673 (medium) ( 117th)
         Currency        Quetzal ( GTQ)
         Time zone       ( UTC-6)
       Internet TLD      .gt
       Calling code      +502

   Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala (Spanish: República de
   Guatemala, IPA: [re'puβlika ðe ɰwate'mala]), is a country in Central
   America, in the south part of North America, bordering Mexico to the
   northwest, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean
   Sea to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast.

History

   From the 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD, the lowlands of Petén
   and Izabal regions were inhabited by several indigenous states of Mayan
   ethnicity. Many K'iche tribal groups were on the central highlands.

   The Spanish failed to conquer the Alta Verapaz area by force, but later
   succeeded through the Catholic Church. A few missionaries, most notably
   Fr. Bartolomé de las Casas, defended the native population from the
   cruelty of the Spanish army. The church, however, had a policy of
   burning Mayan texts, and almost all of the precolumbian manuscripts
   were lost. A few survived, however, including: " Popol Vuh", "Anales de
   los Kakchiqueles", and "Chilam Balam", books that were discovered and
   preserved by Spanish missionary friars. The name "Goathemala" was given
   by the Spanish conquistadors, and derives from indigenous words meaning
   "Land of many trees".

Colonial Period

   During the colonial period, Guatemala was a Captaincy General
   (Capitanía General de Goathemala) of Spain, and a part of New Spain
   (Mexico). It extended from the Soconusco region - now in southern
   Mexico (states of Chiapas, Tabasco) - to Costa Rica. This region was
   not as rich in minerals (gold and silver) as Mexico and Peru, and was
   therefore not considered to be as important. Its main products were
   sugarcane, cocoa, blue añil dye, red dye from cochineal insects, and
   precious woods used in artwork for churches and palaces in Spain.

   On September 15, 1821, Guatemala became independent. The new Guatemalan
   Republic included part of Soconusco region, and what are now the
   countries of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Its 1.5
   million inhabitants were concentrated in urban centers.

   In 1821, the province of El Salvador convinced the other Guatemalan
   provinces to join the Mexican Empire, an idea of Agustin Iturbide. But
   a year later Iturbide was forced to abdicate, his empire collapsed and
   Guatemala separated from Mexico, losing the regions of Chiapas and
   Soconusco.

   The Guatemalan provinces formed the United Provinces of Central
   America, also called the Central American Federation (Federacion de
   Estados Centroamericanos). The capital city remained Guatemala City,
   which is still today the most populous city in Central America.

   A politically unstable period followed, aggravated by the collapse of
   the world market for añil (indigo), the country's main export to
   Europe, due to the invention of synthetic dyes. This prompted each
   province to leave the Federation, from 1838 to 1840, beginning with
   Costa Rica, and Guatemala became an independent nation.

   Guatemala has long claimed all or part of the territory of neighboring
   Belize, formerly part of the Spanish colony, and later occupied by the
   United Kingdom. Guatemala recognized Belize's independence in 1991, but
   their territorial dispute is not resolved. Negotiations are currently
   underway under the auspices of the Organization of American States to
   conclude it. See: and the OAS page

Modern Period

   In October 1944, dictator Jorge Ubico was forced out by a student-led
   revolution. This led to the election of Jose Arévalo, the first
   democratically-elected president of Guatemala to complete exactly the
   term for which he was elected. His "Christian Socialist" policies,
   inspired by the U.S. New Deal, were criticized by landowners and the
   upper class as communist.

   This period was also the beginning of Cold War between the U.S. and the
   USSR which was to mark Guatemalan history. In 1954, Arévalo's
   freely-elected Guatemalan successor Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown by a
   small group of Guatemalans backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence
   Agency (CIA), after the government expropriated unused land owned by
   the United Fruit Company, a U.S.-based banana merchant. The CIA
   codename for the coup was Operation PBSUCCESS, its second successful
   overthrow of a foreign government. The subsequent military rule,
   beginning with dictator Carlos Castillo Armas, led to over 30 years of
   civil war that, from 1960, led to the death of an estimated 200,000
   Guatemalan civilians. Due to the military's use of rampant torture,
   disappearances, " scorched earth" warfare and many other brutal
   methods, the country became a pariah state internationally.

   From the 1950s to the 1990s (with a suspension of military aid between
   1977 and 1982), the US government directly supported Guatemala's army
   with training, weapons and money. The United States Army Special Forces
   (Green Berets) were sent to Guatemala to transform its army into a
   "modern counter-insurgency force" and made it the most powerful and
   sophisticated in Central America. CIA involvement included the training
   of 5,000 Cubans opposed to Fidel Castro and airstrips in its territory
   for what later became the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. In 1999,
   then US president Bill Clinton stated that the United States was wrong
   to have provided support to Guatemalan military forces that took part
   in the brutal civilian killings .

   In 1982, four Marxist groups formed the guerrilla organization
   Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG).

   In 1992, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Rigoberta Menchú, an
   indigenous human rights activist, for her efforts to bring
   international attention to the government-sponsored genocide against
   the indigenous population.

   The bloody 36-year war ended in 1996 with a peace accord between the
   guerrillas and the government of President Álvaro Arzú, negotiated by
   the United Nations. Both sides made major concessions. The army
   controlled urban centers, while URNG maintained a strong presence in
   the countryside. According to the U.N.-sponsored Truth Commission,
   government forces and paramilitaries were responsible for over 90% of
   the human rights violations during the war. During the first 10 years,
   the victims of the state-sponsored terror were primarily students,
   workers, professionals, and opposition figures of all political
   tendencies, but in the last years, they were thousands of mostly rural
   Mayan farmers and non-combatants. More than 450 Mayan villages were
   destroyed and over one million people became refugees. This is
   considered one of the worst ethnic cleansings in modern Latin America.
   In certain areas, such as Baja Verapaz, the Truth Commission considered
   that the Guatemalan state engaged in an intentional policy of genocide
   against particular ethnic groups.

   Since the peace accord, Guatemala has enjoyed successive democratic
   elections, most recently in 2003. However, corruption is still rampant
   at all levels of government, and political parties are numerous and
   unstable. A huge cache of National Police files discovered in December
   2005 revealed methods of public security officials to quell unrest of
   citizens during the Civil War .

Politics

   Politics of Guatemala takes place in a framework of a presidential
   representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guatemala
   is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform
   multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.
   Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of
   the Republic. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the
   legislature.

Administrative divisions

   The departments of Guatemala
   Enlarge
   The departments of Guatemala

   Guatemala is divided into 22 departments (departamentos) and
   sub-divided into about 332 municipalities (municipios).

   The departments include:
    1. Alta Verapaz
    2. Baja Verapaz
    3. Chimaltenango
    4. Chiquimula
    5. Petén
    6. El Progreso
    7. El Quiché
    8. Escuintla
    9. Guatemala
   10. Huehuetenango
   11. Izabal

                    12. Jalapa
                    13. Jutiapa
                    14. Quetzaltenango
                    15. Retalhuleu
                    16. Sacatepéquez
                    17. San Marcos
                    18. Santa Rosa
                    19. Sololá
                    20. Suchitepéquez
                    21. Totonicapán
                    22. Zacapa

   Guatemala is a heavily centralized state resembling France in that
   respect. Culture, transportation, communications, business, politics,
   clubbing, and most relevant urban activity takes place in Guatemala
   City which is the most modern city in Central America. This preeminence
   makes the office of mayor of Guatemala the second most powerful
   political position in the nation, after the presidency and is usually a
   stepping stone towards it, Berger was mayor before becoming president
   of Guatemala.

   Guatemala City is relatively large with about 2 million inhabitants
   within the city limits and more than 5 million within in the urban
   area. This is a significant percentage of the population (12 million).

   Throughout history Guatemala has undergone many changes. Some of these
   changes were minor, and some had great effects on the country. Since
   the development of modern civilization in Guatemala, it has dealt with
   a series of political issues. These issues, unique in various ways from
   other countries in the Central American region, have dealt with rulers
   of many different sorts. Guatemala is a beautifully political mass of
   land that is distinguished from the rest.

Geography

   Map of Guatemala
   Map of Guatemala

   Guatemala is mountainous, except for the south coastal area and the
   north vast lowlands of Peten department. Its climate is hot tropical –
   more temperate in the highlands, and drier in the easternmost
   departments.

   All major cities are in the southern half of the country. Major cities
   are the capital Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango and Escuintla. The
   largest lake Lago de Izabal is close to the Caribbean coast.

   Guatemala's location on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a
   target for hurricanes, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane
   Stan in 2005, which killed more than 1,500 people.

Economy

   The agricultural sector accounts for one quarter of GDP, two-thirds of
   exports, and half of the labor force. Coffee, sugar, and bananas are
   the main exports. Manufacturing and construction account for one-fifth
   of GDP. Also economically important are remittances, "remesas" in
   Spanish, from Guatemalans working in the U.S., largely on an illegal
   and temporary basis.

   The signing of the peace accords that ended the decades-long Civil War
   removed a major obstacle to foreign investment. In 1998, Hurricane
   Mitch caused relatively little damage to Guatemala compared to
   neighboring countries, especially Honduras.

   Remaining challenges include beefing up government revenues,
   negotiating further assistance from international donors, and
   increasing the efficiency and openness of both government and private
   financial operations.

   In 2005, despite massive street protests, Guatemala's congress ratified
   the Dominican Republic - Central American Free Trade Agreement
   (DR-CAFTA) between several Central American nations and the U.S..
   However, owing to the extensive damage and economic impacts caused by
   Hurricane Stan in October 2005, the government is evaluating how it
   will be possible to implement the mechanisms and stipulations of the
   DR-CAFTA by the starting date in February of 2006.

Demographics

   According to the CIA World Fact Book, Mestizos, known as Ladinos in
   Central America, (mixed Amerindian-Spanish, or pure Amerindian but
   Spanish-speaking) and people of European descent (primarily of Spanish,
   but also those of German, English, Italian, and Scandinavian descent)
   comprise 60% of the population while Amerindians comprise approximately
   40% ( 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%). Other ethnic groups
   include the Garifuna who are descended from African slaves and live
   mainly in Livingston and Puerto Barrios, and other blacks and mulattos
   which account for 1-2% of the population; Arabs of Lebanese and Syrian
   descent, and Asians, mostly of Chinese descent, compromise around 2% of
   the population. There is also a growing Korean community in Guatemala
   City and in nearby Mixco, currently numbering about 50,000.

   Though most of Guatemala's population is rural, urbanization is
   accelerating. Guatemala City (approx. 3 million residents) is expanding
   at a rapid rate, and Quetzaltenango, the second largest city (approx.
   300 thousand residents), is growing as well. Rural-to-urban migration
   is fueled by a combination of government neglect of the countryside,
   low farm gate prices, oppressive labor conditions on rural plantations,
   the high concentration of arable land in the hands of a few wealthy
   families, and the (often unrealistic) perception of higher wages in the
   city. Generally impoverished farmers move to the outskirts of the city
   in precarious dwellings on the slopes of ravines.

   The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism. Protestantism and
   traditional Mayan religions are practised by an estimated 33% and 1% of
   the population, respectively. It is common for traditional Mayan
   practices to be incorporated into Christian ceremonies and worship, a
   process known as syncretism.

   In 1900, Guatemala had a population of 885,000 . Over the course of the
   twentieth century the population of the country grew by a factor of
   fourteen, the fastest growth rate in the Western Hemisphere. The
   ever-increasing pattern of emigration to the United States has led to
   the growth of Guatemalan communities in California, Florida, Illinois,
   New York, Texas and elsewhere since the 1970s.

Language

   Although the official language is Spanish, it is not universally spoken
   among the indigenous population, or is often spoken as a second
   language; 21 distinct Mayan languages are still spoken, especially in
   rural areas, and Garifuna is spoken by a small number of people on the
   Caribbean coast. Xinca, a nearly-extinct non-mayan language, is also
   indigenous to Guatemala.

   The Peace Accords signed in December 1996 provide for the translation
   of some official documents and voting materials into several indigenous
   languages (see summary of main substantive accords), and mandate the
   provision of interpreters in legal cases for non Spanish speakers. The
   accord also sanctioned the teaching of bilingual education in Spanish
   and indigenous languages. It is very rare, however, for
   Spanish-speaking Guatemalans to learn or speak one or more of the
   nation's other languages.

Religion

   Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion during the colonial era,
   and remains the faith of about two-thirds of the population. However,
   Protestant denominations have increased markedly in recent decades,
   especially under the reign of dictator and evangelical pastor General
   Efraín Ríos Montt. Around one third of Guatemalans are Protestant -
   chiefly Evangelical and Pentecostal.

   The practice of traditional Mayan religion is increasing as a result of
   the cultural protections established in the peace accords. The
   government has instituted a policy of providing altars at every Mayan
   ruin found in the country so that traditional ceremonies may be
   performed there.

   There are also small communities of Jews (about 1200), Muslims (1200),
   and members of other faiths.

   The current Catholic leader of Guatemala is Mons. Rodolfo Quezada
   Toruño.

Education

   The government runs a number of public elementary and secondary-level
   schools. These schools are theoretically tuition-free, but the cost of
   uniforms, books, supplies, and transportation makes them less
   accessible to the lower classes. Many middle and upper-class children
   go to private schools. Some of these schools are: Colegio Americano de
   Guatemala (CAG), Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala (CIG). The country
   also has one public university ( Universidad de San Carlos de
   Guatemala), and 9 private ones (see List of universities in Guatemala).

Culture

   The Guatemala National Prize in Literature is a one-time only award
   that recognizes an individual writer's body of work. It has been given
   annually since 1988 by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Guatemala
   City is home to many of the nation’s libraries and museums, including
   the National Archives, the National Library, and the Museum of
   Archaeology and Ethnology, which has an extensive collection of Maya
   artifacts. The Colonial Museum, in Antigua Guatemala, has large
   exhibits of colonial artwork.
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