Economy of Guatemala
Guatemala is the most populous of the Central American countries with a GDP per capita roughly one-half that of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. The agricultural sector accounts for about one-fourth of GDP, two-fifths of exports, and half of the labor force. Coffee, sugar, and bananas are the main products, with sugar exports benefiting from increased global demand for ethanol. The 1996 signing of peace accords, which ended 36 years of civil war, removed a major obstacle to foreign investment, and Guatemala since then has pursued important reforms and macroeconomic stabilization. On 1 July 2006, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) entered into force between the US and Guatemala and has since spurred increased investment in the export sector. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with about 29% of the population below the poverty line. Other ongoing challenges include increasing government revenues, negotiating further assistance from international donors, upgrading both government and private financial operations, curtailing drug trafficking and rampant crime, and narrowing the trade deficit. Given Guatemala’s large expatriate community in the United States, it is the top remittance recipient in Central America, with inflows serving as a primary source of foreign income equivalent to nearly two-thirds of exports.
Culture
Guatemala City is home to many of the nation’s libraries and museums, including the National Archives, the National Library, and the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, which has an extensive collection of Maya artifacts. There are private museums, such as the Ixchel, which focuses on textiles, and the Popol Vuh, which focuses on Maya archaeology. Both museums are housed inside the Universidad Francisco Marroquín campus. Almost each of the 329 municipalities in the country has a small museum.
Volcán de Fuego
Volcán de Fuego, the most active volcano in Central America. Fuego eruption in 1773 caused an earthquake, which destroyed the city of Antigua Guatemala (about 20 km north-east of the Fuego). Since 1524 there has been 59 eruptions (last in 1979).
Guatemala – Guide with tips for your holiday
Guatemala has a tropical climate, depending on the altitude varies greatly. In the area between about 900 and 2 400 meters, where the highest population density prevails, the days are warm all year and the nights cool. The annual average temperature there is around 20 ° C. In the coastal regions, the climate is warmer and humid here prevail annual average temperatures from 25 to 30 ° C. The rainy season lasts from May to October. The rainfall is determined by the northeasterly trade. In the north, the average annual rainfall between 1 500 and 2 500 millimeters. In Guatemala City, in the south of the country, will be around 1 300 millimeter achieved.
The lowlands are mostly of species, evergreen tropical rainforest covered. Drier in some places but there are also extensive pine forests. In the mountainous regions exist in the lower altitudes predominantly oak forests, then about 2 100 meters in pine forests there. Throughout the country countless grow orchids.
Deer, monkeys and Pekaris are especially in the sparsely populated lowlands widespread. To a much smaller number are jaguars, tapirs and pumas on. In some rivers bump live crocodiles. The species diversity of birds is extremely large, there are 458 species (2000). Among the best-known examples include the cardinals and the quetzal – a bird with a bright, colorful plumage, while Guatemala is heraldic animal.
Guatemala has approximately 14.3 million inhabitants (2004). The percentage of Indian population is around 45 percent, the highest of all Central American countries. Among these include the indigenous Maya-Quiché, Mam, Cakchiquel and Kekchí. Mestizos (Ladinos) comprise some 30 percent of the whites about 5 percent of the population. Other groups are mulattos, blacks and Zambos.
The annual population growth is 2.61 percent (2004). The population density is 132 inhabitants per square kilometer. About 60 percent of the population live in the country (2002).
Guatemala (or Ciudad de Guatemala), the capital and largest city in the country, has about 1 million inhabitants. Other major cities are Quezaltenango (152 000 inhabitants), the center of a wheat producing region, Escuintla (115 000 inhabitants); Puerto Barrios (39 400 inhabitants), the main port on the Caribbean Sea, Mazatenango (43 300 inhabitants), and Antigua Guatemala (27 000 inhabitants ).
The official language is Spanish. In addition, there are 23 recognized Mayan languages. 80 percent of Guatemalans are Catholic, 19 percent Protestant. A minority of the population belongs to the Bahai religion. In addition, many hybrid forms between altindianischen traditions and Christianity developed.
Besides Christmas and Easter will also be New Year’s Day (January 1) is celebrated. The national holidays are Labor Day (May 1), the day the army (June 30), the Independence Day (September 15), Día de la Raza (Kolumbustag, October 12), the day of revolution (20 October) and All Saints’ Day (November 1). Each city celebrates its annual Feria (festival) in honor of the patron saints or. This is the largest local festival and therefore many of the most important holiday, especially in rural areas.
Pre-Columbian
The first evidence of human settlers in Guatemala goes back to at least 10,000 BC. There is some evidence that may put this date as early as 18,000 BC, such as obsidian arrow heads found in various parts of the country. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, but pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation was developed by 3500 BC. Archaic sites have been documented in Quiché in the Highlands and Sipacate, Escuintla on the central Pacific coast (6500 BC).
Archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into 3 periods: the Pre-Classic from 2000 BC to 250 AD, the Classic from 250 to 900 AD, and the Calistic from 900 to 1500 AD. Until recently, the Pre-Classic was regarded as a formative period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts, and few permanent buildings, but this notion has been challenged by recent discoveries of monumental architecture from that period, such as an altar in La Blanca, San Marcos, from 1000 BC; ceremonial sites at Miraflores and El Naranjo from 801 BC; the earliest monumental masks; and the Mirador Basin cities of Nakbé, Xulnal, Tintal, Wakná and El Mirador.
Colonial
After arriving in what was named the New World, the Spanish mounted several expeditions to Guatemala, beginning in 1518. Before long, Spanish contact resulted in an epidemic that devastated native populations. Hernán Cortés, who had led the Spanish conquest of Mexico, granted a permit to Captains Gonzalo de Alvarado and his brother, Pedro de Alvarado, to conquer this land. Alvarado at first allied himself with the Cakchiquel nation to fight against their traditional rivals the Quiché nation. Alvarado later turned against the Cakchiquels, and eventually held the entire region under Spanish domination.
During the colonial period, Guatemala was a Captaincy General (Capitanía General de Guatemala) of Spain, and a part of New Spain (Mexico).[citation needed] It extended from the modern Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas (including the then separate administration of Soconusco) to Costa Rica. This region was not as rich in minerals (gold and silver) as Mexico and Peru, and was therefore not considered to be as important. Its main products were sugarcane, cocoa, blue añil dye, red dye from cochineal insects, and precious woods used in artwork for churches and palaces in Spain.
The first Capital was named Tecpan Guatemala, founded in July 25, 1524 with the name of Villa de Santiago de Guatemala and was located near Iximché, the Cakchiquel’s capital city, It was moved to Ciudad Vieja on November 22, 1527, when the Cakchiquel attacked the city. On September 11, 1541 the city was flooded when the lagoon in the crater of the Agua Volcano collapsed due to heavy rains and earthquakes, and was moved 4 miles (6 km) to Antigua Guatemala, on the Panchoy Valley, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This City was destroyed by several earthquakes in 1773-1774, and the King of Spain, granted the authorization to move the Captaincy General, to the Ermita Valley, named after a Catholic church to the Virgen de El Carmen, in its current location, founded in January 2, 1776.
When to Go
The dry season ( verano ; November to April) is the most pleasant time, weather-wise, to be in Guatemala. Along with summer holidays, however, it’s also the busiest. The wet season ( invierno ; from May to October and until November/December in the north and the east) may restrict some activities and make some roads difficult. It can be worthwhile planning your trip for this time of year, particularly as you’ll be more likely to pick up accommodation bargains.
The height of the foreign tourist season is from Christmas to Easter. Things become acute around Christmas, New Year and Easter, and in many places you need to book ahead for rooms or transportation. A secondary high season lasts from June to August when throngs of North Americans and Europeans descend on Guatemala. If you’re planning to be in the area around Easter, try to make it for Semana Santa (Holy Week), the highlight of the country’s festival calendar.
Guatemala City
Guatemala City (in full, La Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción; locally known as Guatemala or Guate) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Guatemala. It is also the capital city of the local Guatemala Department and the largest city in Central America.
As of the 2006 census, the city had a population of 1,202,536.[1] The city is located at , in a mountain valley in the south central part of the country.
Guatemala
Guatemala (Spanish: República de Guatemala, Spanish pronunciation: [reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala]) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the northwest, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast.
A representative democracy, its capital is Guatemala City. The nation has been relatively stable since 1996 and has been in a state of continuous development and economic growth. Guatemala’s abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica’s designation as a biodiversity hotspot.
Guatemala Vacation 