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> Guatemala has the most unequal land distribution in the Western Hemisphere, with large landholders who comprise only 2% of the population possessing 70% of the productive lands. > Attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala increased between 2004 and 2005. In 2005, El Movimiento Nacional por los Derechos Humanos documented 224 attacks against human rights defenders, in comparison with 122 attacks in 2004. > On March 30, 2006, the 11th anniversary of the signing of the indigenous accord, tens of thousands of workers, farmers and indigenous people marched in Guatemala City to demand the strengthening of indigenous rights, restriction of open pit mining licenses, and funds for the Ministry of Agriculture to purchase land for redistribution. | |
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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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