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Did You Know?
> Attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala have doubled over the last five years. NISGUA's teams of on-the-ground international human rights monitors work to deter violence in communities, courtrooms and at public events. > Former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled during the bloodiest period of the war, currently holds a seat in the Guatemalan Congress. He is wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity. > The Xalalá hydro-electric dam is rejected by 90% of the local population because it would displace thousands of indigenous people and damage farmlands and forests. > Almost 400 mining concessions have been granted to transnational gold, silver, nickel, and zinc companies in Guatemala, posing severe threats to rural communities' social and environmental well-being. | |
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Guatemala Basics
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Guatemala at a Glance
Source: CIA World Fact-book, January 2006; State Department, August 2004
Geography
Area: 108,780 sq. km. (42,000 sq. mi.); about the size of Tennessee.
Cities: Capital--Guatemala City (metro area pop. 2.5 million).
Other major cities--Quetzaltenango, Escuintla, Huehuetenango, Coban
Terrain: Mountainous, with fertile coastal plain.
Climate: Temperate in highlands; tropical on coasts.
People
Population: 14,280,596 (July 2004 est.) Annual population growth rate:
2.6%.
Ethnic groups: Mestizo (mixed Spanish-Indian), Indigenous.
Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, traditional Mayan.
Languages: Spanish, 24 Indigenous languages (principally K’iche,
Kaqchikel, Q'eqchi, Mam).
Education: Years compulsory--6. Attendance--41%. Literacy--55.6%.
Work force (50% of the population engages in some form of agriculture,
often at the subsistence level outside the monetized economy)
Infant mortality rate: total – 36.91 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population – 65.19 years
Government
Type: Constitutional Democratic Republic.
Constitution: May 1985; amended November1994.
Independence: September 15, 1821.
Branches: Executive--president (4-year term). Legislative--unicameral
158 member Congress (4-year term). Judicial--13-member Supreme Court
of Justice (5-year term).
Subdivisions: 22 departments (appointed governors); 331 municipalities
with elected mayors and city councils.
Major political parties: Great National Alliance (GANA--a coalition
of three parties), Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), National Advancement
Party (PAN), National Unity for Hope (UNE), New Nation Alliance (ANN),
Unionists (PU).
Suffrage: Universal for adults 18 and over. A variety of procedural
obstacles have historically reduced participation by poor, rural, and
indigenous people.
Economy
GDP (2005 est.): $62.78 billion PPP
Annual growth rate (2005 est.): 3.1%.
Per capita GDP (2005 est.): $4,300 PPP.
External Debt (2005 est.): $5.503 billion
Natural resources: Oil, timber, nickel, rare woods, chicle.
Agriculture (22% of GDP): -Exports: coffee, sugar, bananas, cardamom,
vegetables, flowers and plants, timber, rice, rubber.
Manufacturing (13% of GDP): - clothing and textiles, construction materials,
pharmaceuticals.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gt.html
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