GUATEMALA

  • National name: República de Guatemala (GCA)
  • President: Jimmy Morales (2016)
  • Land area: 41,865 sq mi (108,430 sq km); total area: 42,042 sq mi (108,890 sq km)
  • Population (2013 est.): 14,373,472 (growth rate: 1.91%); birth rate: 25.99/1000; infant mortality rate: 24.32/1000; life expectancy: 71.46
  • Capital and largest city (2009 est.): Guatemala City, 1.075 million
  • Monetary unit: Quetzal
  • Telephone code: 502
  • Electricity: 120V, 60Hz; plugs/sockets Type A and B
  • Languages: Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)
  • Ethnicity/race: Mestizo (Ladino)—mixed Amerindian-Spanish ancestry—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)
  • Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous Mayan beliefs
  • National Holiday: Independence Day, September 15
  • Literacy rate: 71% (2003 est.)
  • Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2012 est.): $79.97 billion; per capita $5,300. Real growth rate: 3%. Inflation: 3.8%. Unemployment: 4.1% (2011 est.). Arable land: 13.22%. Agriculture: sugarcane, corn, bananas, coffee, beans, cardamom; cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens. Labor force: 5.571 million; agriculture 38%, industry 14%, services 48% (2011 est.). Industries:sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals, rubber, tourism. Natural resources: petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle, hydropower. Exports: $10.09 billion (2012 est.): coffee, sugar, petroleum, apparel, bananas, fruits and vegetables, cardamom. Imports: $15.84 billion (2012 est.): fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity. Major trading partners: U.S., El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, South Korea, China.
  • Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.626 million (2011); mobile cellular: 20.716 million (2011). Broadcast media: 4 privately-owned national terrestrial TV channels dominate TV broadcasting; multi-channel satellite and cable services are available; 1 government-owned radio station and hundreds of privately-owned radio stations (2007). Internet hosts:357,552 (2012). Internet users: 2.279 million (2009).
  • Transportation: Railways: total: 332 km (2008). Highways: total: 14,095 km; paved: 4,863 km (including 75 km of expressways); unpaved: 9,247 km (2000). Waterways: 990 km; note: 260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season (2012). Ports and harbors: Puerto Quetzal, Santo Tomas de Castilla. Airports: 291 (2012).
  • International disputes: annual ministerial meetings under the Organization of American States-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and the Caribbean Sea; Guatemala persists in its territorial claim to half of Belize, but agrees to Line of Adjacency to keep Guatemalan squatters out of Belize's forested interior; Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States.