Guatemala

Three vertical bands of light blue, white, and light blue with a coat of arms in the center ; the coat of arms has a green and red quetzal  (sacred Mayan bird) and a scroll with the words “Libertad 15 de septiembre de 1821" on crossed rifles and crossed swords both framed by a green wreath.

 

 

 

Official name: República de Guatemala; etymology: Guatemala > Goathemala (Mayan for “land of many trees)

Capital: Guatemala

National bird: Quetzal

Government: constitutional democratic republic

Independence day: 15 de septiembre 1821

President: President Alvaro Colom Caballeros (4 year term)

Legislature: Congreso de la República (unicameral)

Political parties: 14; president’s party: GANA (alliance of small parties)

Life expectancy: men, 68; women, 72

Literacy: 70%

Money: Quetzal (8.2 / $1.0 US)

Internet code: .gt

Internet users: 450,000 (2004); 800,000 (2007)

Population:

13,500,000 (2010)

Birth rate: 5 times the death rate

Below poverty line: 75%

Mestizo: 60% (called “ladino” in Guatemala)

K'iche 9.1%,  (“quiché” in Spanish)

Kaqchikel 8.4%,

Mam 7.9%,

Q'eqchi 6.3%

Other Mayan 8.6%

Other 0.1%

Languages:

     Spanish 60%,

Amerindian languages 40%:

23 Amerindian languages (Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, Xinca)

Religions:

     Roman Catholic: 75%

     Evangelical Protestant: 20%

     Indigenous Mayan beliefs: 5%

 

 

History:

 

2,000 B.C.E. – 1,000 C.E.

                             Maya civilization in Guatemala and surrounding regions centering on Petén Itzá.

1,000                    Collapse of Mayan empire for unknown reasons.

1485 (c.)-1541     Pedro de Alvarado.

1524                     Conquest of Guatemala by Pedro de Alvarado; Hernán Cortés.

1521 – 1821         Spanish colony of Capitanía General de Goatemala (southern Mexico to Costa Rica)

1523 – 1527         Alvarado led the Spanish conquest of Guatemala over the Mayan inhabitants with 120 horsemen, 300 Spanish soldiers, and hundreds of native Mexican fighters from Cholula and Tlaxcala. (For a Renaissance painting of Alvarado, see: => Wikipedia.)

1525 - 1541         Alvarado was governor of Guatemala under the authorization of king Carlos I(V) of Spain. He was name Adelantado de La Florida and Knight of Santiago (1527).

1541                     Alvarado, one of the most brutal of all Spanish conquistadors, died when he was crushing during a mudslide from the Antigua volcano Agua (agua means water; see: => Antigua #6). He was first buried in Mexico, but at the end of the 16th century his remains were reinterred in Catedral de Santiago in Antigua (see image embedded in : = Antigua #5).

1543 – 1773         Capital settled at Antigua until earthquake destroyed it. The city was first named Santiago de los Caballeros (St. James of the Knights). In the same year, construction of Antigua's Catedral de Santiago was begun.

1697                     Final defeat of the last unconquered Mayas at Lake Petén Itzá (see upper center on map above) or, alternatively, final victory (?) of the Spanish colonial forces.

1773                     Capital moved to Guatemala

1821                     Guatemalan independence (accompanying Mexican independence)

1822 – 1840         Guatemala part of Central American confederation

1840                     Guatemala separates from confederation; Guatemala claims Belize

1899 – 1974         Miguel Angel Asturias (Guatemala’s greatest writer)

1925                     Asturias translated the Popol Vuh into Spanish

1931 – 1944         Jorge Ubico, dictador

                             United Fruit Company controls 42% of Guatemalan land

1946                     El señor presidente (novel by Miguel Angel Asturias). For pasages from this novel, see: => El señor presidente.

1949                     Hombres de maíz (early novel by Asturias in style of realismo mágico)

1951 – 1954         Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán (1913 – 1971): first president under universal suffrage; overthrown by CIA golpe de estado

1960 – 1996         Guerrilla war:  100,000 dead; 1,000,000 refugees; period of death squads

1982 – 1983         Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, dictator

1985                     Current constitution adopted

1991                     Guatemala recognizes Belize independence

1992                     Rigoberta Menchú wins Nobel Peace Prize (indigenous human rights activist)

1996                     Peace agreement ending the conflict (100,000 dead, 1 million refugees)

2004                     Oscar Berger Perdomo elected president.

2008                     Álvaro Colom Caballeros elected president.

2010                     (May) First Tropical storm of 2010 hurricante season (Agatha) causes more than 150 deaths and a giant sinkhole in downtown Guatemala City; Reuters’ photo:

 

 

 

Geography:

     Size of Tennessee

     Borders with: Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, México

                 Climate: hot, humid near coasts; cooler in mountains; tropical rain forest at Petén

                 Highest peak: Volcán Tajomulco (4,200 m.)

                 Natural resources: petroleum, wood, fish, coffee, sugar, bananas

                 Natural hazards: earthquakes and hurricanes

 

Literature:

Popol Vuh (sacred book of the Mayas)

Anales de los Kakchiqueles (Kakchiquel book)

Chilam Balam (Mayan book)

Rigoberta Menchú

Miguel Angel Asturias El señor presidente (novel); Hombres de maíz (early novel in style of realismo mágico, 1949)