Guatemala Population: 13,824,463
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| Background | |
| 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. |
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| Geography | |
| No natural harbors on west coast | |
| Location: | Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Mexico, and bordering the Gulf of Honduras (Caribbean Sea) between Honduras and Belize |
| Geographic coordinates: | 15 30 N, 90 15 W |
| Area: | total: 108,889 sq km land: 107,159 sq km water: 1,730 sq km Size comparison: slightly smaller than Tennessee |
| Land Boundaries: | total: 1,687 km border countries: Belize 266 km, El Salvador 203 km, Honduras 256 km, Mexico 962 km |
| Coastline: | 400 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Climate: | tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands |
| Terrain: | mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Volcan Tajumulco 4,211 m note: highest point in Central America |
| Natural resources: | petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle, hydropower |
| Land use: | arable land: 13.22% permanent crops: 5.6% other: 81.18% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 2,000 sq km (2008) |
| Natural hazards: | numerous volcanoes in mountains, with occasional violent earthquakes; Caribbean coast extremely susceptible to hurricanes and other tropical storms volcanism: Guatemala experiences significant volcanic activity in the Sierra Madre range; Santa Maria (elev. 3,772 m) has been deemed a "Decade Volcano" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Pacaya (elev. 2,552 m), which erupted in May 2010 causing an ashfall on Guatemala City and prompting evacuations, is one of the country's most active volcanoes; the volcano has frequently been in eruption since 1965; other historically active volcanoes include Acatenango, Almolonga, Atitlan, Fuego, and Tacana |
| Current Environment Issues: | deforestation in the Peten rainforest; soil erosion; water pollution |
| International Environment Agreements: | party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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| People | |
| Population: | 13,824,463 (July 2011 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 38.1% (male 2,678,340/female 2,582,472) 15-64 years: 58% (male 3,889,573/female 4,130,698) 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 252,108/female 291,272) (2011 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 20 years male: 19.4 years female: 20.7 years (2011 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 1.986% (2011 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 26.96 births/1,000 population (2011 est.) |
| Death rate: | 4.98 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -2.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2011 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 26.02 deaths/1,000 live births male: 28.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 70.88 years male: 69.03 years female: 72.83 years (2011 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 3.27 children born/woman (2011 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.8% (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 62,000 (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 2,600 (2009 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Guatemalan(s) adjective: Guatemalan |
| Ethnic groups: | 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) |
| Religions: | Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous Mayan beliefs |
| Languages: | Spanish (official) 60%, Amerindian languages 40% note: there are 23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 69.1% male: 75.4% female: 63.3% (2002 census) |
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| Government | |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Guatemala conventional short form: Guatemala local long form: Republica de Guatemala local short form: Guatemala |
| Government type: | constitutional democratic republic |
| Capital: | name: Guatemala City geographic coordinates: 14 37 N, 90 31 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions: | 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 |
| Independence: | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
| Constitution: | 31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986; suspended 25 May 1993; reinstated 5 June 1993; amended November 1993 |
| Legal system: | civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
| Suffrage: | 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 |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Alvaro COLOM Caballeros (since 14 January 2008); Vice President Jose Rafael ESPADA (since 14 January 2008); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Alvaro COLOM Caballeros (since 14 January 2008); Vice President Jose Rafael ESPADA (since 14 January 2008) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president (For more information visit the World Leaders website ) elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held on 9 September 2007; runoff held on 4 November 2007 (next to be held in September 2011) election results: Alvaro COLOM Caballeros elected president; percent of vote - Alvaro COLOM Caballeros 52.8%, Otto PEREZ Molina 47.2% |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral Congress of the Republic or Congreso de la Republica (158 seats; members elected through a party list proportional representation system) elections: last held on 9 September 2007 (next to be held in September 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - UNE 30.4%, GANA 23.4%, PP 18.9%, FRG 9.5%, PU 5.1%, other 12.7%; seats by party - UNE 48, GANA 37, PP 30, FRG 15, PU 8, CASA 5, EG 4, PAN 4, UCN 4, URNG 2, UD 1 |
| Judicial branch: | Constitutional Court or Corte de Constitucionalidad is Guatemala's highest court (five judges are elected by Congress for concurrent five-year terms); Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (13 members are elected by Congress to 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) |
| Political parties and leaders: | Center of Social Action or CASA [Feliz Adolfo RUANO de Leon]; Democracy Front or FRENTE [Alfonso CABRERA]; Democratic Union or UD [Edwin Armando MARTINEZ Herrera]; Encounter for Guatemala or EG [Nineth MONTENGRO]; Grand National Alliance or GANA [Jaime Antonio MARTINEZ Lohayza]; Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity or URNG [Hector Alfredo NUILA Ericastilla]; Guatemalan Republican Front or FRG [Luis Fernando PEREZ]; Independent Bloc Guatemala or BG [Macario Efrain OLIVA Muralles]; Independent Democratic Freedom Renewed or LIDER [Manuel BALDIZON]; National Advancement Party or PAN [Juan GUTIERREZ]; National Unity for Hope or UNE [Roberto KESTLER Velasquez]; Nationalist Change Union or UCN [Mario ESTRADA]; Patriot Party or PP [Ingrid Roxana BALDETTI Elias]; Unionista Party or PU [Alvaro ARZU Irigoyen] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | 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; International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala or CICIG; Mutual Support Group or GAM |
| International organization participation: | 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, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, PetroCaribe, RG, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNITAR, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Julio Armando MARTINI Herrera chancery: 2220 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 745-4952 FAX: [1] (202) 745-1908 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Providence, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Stephen G. MCFARLAND embassy: 7-01 Avenida Reforma, Zone 10, Guatemala City mailing address: APO AA 34024 telephone: [502] 2326-4000 FAX: [502] 2326-4654 |
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| Economy | |
| Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America with a GDP per capita roughly one-half that of the average for Latin America and the Caribbean. The agricultural sector accounts for nearly 15% of GDP and half of the labor force; key agricultural exports include coffee, sugar, and bananas. The 1996 peace accords, which ended 36 years of civil war, removed a major obstacle to foreign investment, and since then Guatemala has pursued important reforms and macroeconomic stabilization. The Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) entered into force in July 2006 spurring increased investment and diversification of exports, with the largest increases in ethanol and non-traditional agricultural exports. While CAFTA-DR has helped improve the investment climate, concerns over security, the lack of skilled workers and poor infrastructure continue to hamper foreign direct investment. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with the richest 10% of the population accounting for more than 40% of Guatemala's overall consumption. More than half of the population is below the national poverty line and 15% lives in extreme poverty. Poverty among indigenous groups, which make up 38% of the population, averages 76% and extreme poverty rises to 28%. 43% of children under five are chronically malnourished, one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world. President COLOM entered into office with the promise to increase education, healthcare, and rural development, and in April 2008 he inaugurated a conditional cash transfer program, modeled after programs in Brazil and Mexico, that provide financial incentives for poor families to keep their children in school and get regular health check-ups. 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 or one-tenth of GDP. Economic growth fell in 2009 as export demand from US and other Central American markets fell and foreign investment slowed amid the global recession, but the economy recovered gradually in 2010 and will likely return to more normal growth rates by 2012. President COLOM, in his last year in office, will likely face opposition to economic reform, particularly over a long-delayed tax reform and an IMF-recommended reform to strengthen the banking sector. | |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | GDP (purchasing power parity): $70.15 billion (2010 est.) $68.36 billion (2009 est.) $68 billion (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | GDP (official exchange rate): $41.47 billion (2010 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 2.6% (2010 est.) 0.5% (2009 est.) 3.3% (2008 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | GDP - per capita (PPP): $5,200 (2010 est.) $5,100 (2009 est.) $5,200 (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 13.2% industry: 23.8% services: 63% (2010 est.) |
| Labor force: | 4.146 million (2010 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 50% industry: 15% services: 35% (1999 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | 3.2% (2005 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | 56.2% (2004 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 1.3% highest 10%: 42.4% (2006) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 55.1 (2007) 55.8 (1998) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.9% (2010 est.) 1.9% (2009 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | Investment (gross fixed): 15.2% of GDP (2010 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $4.644 billion expenditures: $6.005 billion (2010 est.) |
| Public debt: | 29.7% of GDP (2010 est.) 28.2% of GDP (2009 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | sugarcane, corn, bananas, coffee, beans, cardamom; cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens |
| Industries: | sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals, rubber, tourism |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 3.2% (2010 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 8.395 billion kWh (2008 est.) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 7.108 billion kWh (2008 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 76 million kWh (2008 est.) |
| Electricity - imports: | 71 million kWh (2008 est.) |
| Oil - production: | 13,070 bbl/day (2010 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 71,000 bbl/day (2010 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | 15,300 bbl/day (2009 est.) |
| Oil - imports: | 78,550 bbl/day (2009 est.) |
| Oil - proved reserves: | 83.07 million bbl (1 January 2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2009 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2009 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2009 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 0 cu m (2009 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 2.96 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Current account balance: | -$878.3 million (2010 est.) -$51.8 million (2009 est.) |
| Exports: | $8.566 billion (2010 est.) $7.295 billion (2009 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | coffee, sugar, petroleum, apparel, bananas, fruits and vegetables, cardamom |
| Exports - partners: | US 36.8%, El Salvador 10.3%, Honduras 8.8%, Mexico 7.5% (2010) |
| Imports: | $12.86 billion (2010 est.) $10.64 billion (2009 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity |
| Imports - partners: | US 34.6%, Mexico 11.8%, China 7.9%, El Salvador 5.3% (2010) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $5.646 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $4.973 billion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $15.75 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $13.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares: | $NA |
| Exchange rates: | quetzales (GTQ) per US dollar - 8.0798 (2010) 8.1616 (2009) 7.5895 (2008) 7.6833 (2007) 7.6026 (2006) |
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| Communications | |
| Telephones in use: | 1.413 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 68 |
| Cellular Phones in use: | 17.308 million (2009) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: fairly modern network centered in the city of Guatemala domestic: state-owned telecommunications company privatized in the late 1990s opening the way for competition; fixed-line teledensity roughly 10 per 100 persons; fixed-line investments are being concentrated on improving rural connectivity; mobile-cellular teledensity exceeds 100 per 100 persons international: country code - 502; landing point for both the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the SAM-1 fiber optic submarine cable system that together provide connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; connected to Central American Microwave System; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2008) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | |
| Television broadcast stations: | |
| Internet country code: | .gt |
| Internet hosts: | 196,870 (2010) |
| Internet users: | 2.279 million (2009) |
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| Transportation | |
| Airports: | 372 (2010) country comparison to the world: 21 |
| Airports (paved runways): | total: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2010) |
| Airports (unpaved runways): | total: 359 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 84 under 914 m: 271 (2010) |
| Pipelines: | oil 480 km (2010) |
| Railways: | total: 332 km narrow gauge: 332 km 0.914-m gauge (2009) |
| Roadways: | total: 14,095 km paved: 4,863 km (includes 75 km of expressways) unpaved: 9,232 km (2001) |
| Waterways: | 990 km (260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season) (2010) |
| Ports and terminals: | Puerto Quetzal, Santo Tomas de Castilla |
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| Military | |
| Military branches: | National Army of Guatemala (Ejercito Nacional de Guatemala, ENG), Guatemalan Navy (Marina Nacional, includes Marines), Guatemalan Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Guatemalteca, FAG) (2009) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 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 (2009) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 3,165,870 females age 16-49: 3,371,217 (2010 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 2,590,843 females age 16-49: 2,926,544 (2010 est.) |
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