![[Country map of Guatemala]](gt.gif)
Location: Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Honduras and Belize and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Mexico
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total area: 108,890 sq km
land area: 108,430 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Tennessee
Land boundaries: total 1,687 km, Belize 266 km, El Salvador 203 km, Honduras 256 km, Mexico 962 km
Coastline: 400 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: border with Belize in dispute; talks to resolve the dispute are stalled
Climate: tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau (Peten)
Natural resources: petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle
Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 12%
forest and woodland: 40%
other: 32%
Irrigated land: 780 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
natural hazards: numerous volcanoes in mountains, with frequent violent earthquakes;
Caribbean coast subject to hurricanes and other tropical storms
international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed,
but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea
Note: no natural harbors on west coast
Population: 10,998,602 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (female 2,324,041; male 2,424,686)
15-64 years: 53% (female 2,939,170; male 2,934,334)
65 years and over: 4% (female 198,807; male 177,564) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.53% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 34.65 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 7.33 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: -2.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 52.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.85 years
male: 62.27 years
female: 67.56 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.63 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Guatemalan(s)
adjective: Guatemalan
Ethnic divisions: Mestizo - mixed Amerindian-Spanish ancestry (in local Spanish called Ladino) 56%, Amerindian or predominently Amerindian 44%
Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, traditional Mayan
Languages: Spanish 60%, Indian language 40% (23 Indian dialects, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 55%
male: 63%
female: 47%
Labor force: 3.2 million (1994 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 60%, services 13%, manufacturing 12%, commerce 7%, construction
4%, transport 3%, utilities 0.7%, mining 0.3% (1985)
Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Guatemala
conventional short form: Guatemala
local long form: Republica de Guatemala
local short form: Guatemala
Digraph: GT
Type: republic
Capital: Guatemala
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
note: suspended 25 May 1993 by President SERRANO; reinstated 5 June 1993
following ouster of president
Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government: President Ramiro DE LEON Carpio (since 6 June 1993); Vice President
Arturo HERBRUGER (since 18 June 1993); election runoff held on 11 January
1991 (next to be held November 1995); results - Jorge SERRANO Elias (MAS)
68.1%, Jorge CARPIO Nicolle (UCN) 31.9%
note: President SERRANO resigned on 1 June 1993 shortly after dissolving
Congress and the judiciary; on 6 June 1993, Ramiro DE LEON Carpio was chosen
as the new president by a vote of Congress; he will finish off the remainder
of SERRANO's term which expires 14 January 1996
cabinet: Council of Ministers; named by the president
Legislative branch: unicameral
Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica): by agreement of 11 November 1993, a special election was held on 14
August 1994 to select 80 new congressmen (next election to be held in November
1995 for full four year terms); results - percent of vote by party; FRG
40%, PAN 31.25%, DCG 15%, UCN 10%, MLN 2.5%, UD 1.25%; seats - (80 total)
FRG 32, PAN 25, DCG 12, UCN 8, MLN 2, UD 1
note: on 11 November 1993 the congress approved a procedure that would reduce
its membership from 116 seats to 80; the procedure provided for a special
election in mid-1994 to elect an interim congress of 80 members to serve
until replaced in a general election in November 1995; the plan was approved
in a general referendum in January 1994 and the special election was held
on 14 August 1994
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia); additionally the Court of Constitutionality is presided over by the President of the Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: National Centrist Union (UCN), (vacant); Solidarity Action Movement (MAS), Oliverio GARCIA Rodas; Christian Democratic Party (DCG), Alfonso CABRERA Hidalgo; National Advancement Party (PAN), Alvaro ARZU Irigoyen; National Liberation Movement (MLN), Mario SANDOVAL Alarcon; Social Democratic Party (PSD), Mario SOLORZANO Martinez; Revolutionary Party (PR), Carlos CHAVARRIA Perez; Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), Efrain RIOS Montt; Democratic Union (UD)
Other political or pressure groups: Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations (CACIF); Mutual Support Group (GAM); Agrarian Owners Group (UNAGRO); Committee for Campesino Unity (CUC); leftist guerrilla movement known as Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union (URNG) has four main factions - Guerrilla army of the Poor (EGP); Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA); Rebel Armed Forces (FAR); Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT/O)
Member of: BCIE, CACM, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Edmond MULET
chancery: 2220 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 745-4952 through 4954
FAX: [1] (202) 745-1908
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Marilyn McAFEE
embassy: 7-01 Avenida de la Reforma, Zone 10, Guatemala City
mailing address: APO AA 34024
telephone: [502] (2) 311541
FAX: [502] (2) 318885
Flag: three equal vertical bands of light blue (hoist side), white, and light blue with the coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms includes a green and red quetzal (the national bird) and a scroll bearing the inscription LIBERTAD 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1821 (the original date of independence from Spain) all superimposed on a pair of crossed rifles and a pair of crossed swords and framed by a wreath
Overview: The economy is based on family and corporate agriculture, which accounts for 25% of GDP, employs about 60% of the labor force, and supplies two-thirds of exports. Manufacturing, predominantly in private hands, accounts for about 15% of GDP and 12% of the labor force. In both 1990 and 1991, the economy grew by 3%, the fourth and fifth consecutive years of mild growth. In 1992 growth picked up to almost 5% as government policies favoring competition and foreign trade and investment took stronger hold. In 1993-94, despite political unrest, this momentum continued, foreign investment held up, and annual growth was 4%.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $33 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: 4% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $3,080 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.9%; underemployment 30%-40% (1994 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $604 million (1990)
expenditures: $808 million, including capital expenditures of $134 million (1990)
Exports: $1.38 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: coffee, sugar, bananas, cardamon, beef
partners: US 30%, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Germany, Honduras
Imports: $2.6 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
commodities: fuel and petroleum products, machinery, grain, fertilizers, motor vehicles
partners: US 44%, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan, Germany
External debt: $2.2 billion ( 1992 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 1.9% (1991 est.); accounts for 18% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 700,000 kW
production: 2.3 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 211 kWh (1993)
Industries: sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals, rubber, tourism
Agriculture: accounts for 25% of GDP; most important sector of economy; contributes two-thirds of export earnings; principal crops - sugarcane, corn, bananas, coffee, beans, cardamom; livestock - cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens; food importer
Illicit drugs: transit country for cocaine shipments; illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade; the government has an active eradication program for cannabis and opium poppy
Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $1.1 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $7.92 billion
Currency: 1 quetzal (Q) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: free market quetzales (Q) per US$1 - 5.7372 (January 1995), 5.7512 (1994), 5,6354 (1993), 5.1706 (1992), 5.0289 (1991), 4.4858 (1990); note - black-market rate 2.800 (May 1989)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads:
total: 1,019 km (102 km privately owned)
narrow gauge: 1,019 km 0.914-m gauge (single track)
Highways:
total: 26,429 km
paved: 2,868 km
unpaved: gravel 11,421 km; unimproved earth 12,140 km
Inland waterways: 260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season
Pipelines: crude oil 275 km
Ports: Champerico, Puerto Barrios, Puerto Quetzal, San Jose, Santo Tomas de Castilla
Merchant marine: none
Airports:
total: 528
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 5
with paved runways under 914 m: 360
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 12
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 146
Telephone system: 97,670 telephones; fairly modern network centered in the city of Guatemala
local: NA
intercity: NA
international: connection into Central American Microwave System; 1 INTELSAT (Atlantic
Ocean) earth station
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 91, FM 0, shortwave 15
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 25
televisions: NA
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 2,574,501; males fit for military service 1,683,028; males reach military age (18) annually 123,715 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $121 million, 1% of GDP (1993)