Guatemala was freed of Spanish colonial rule in the early 1821. During the second half of the twentieth century, it experiences a variety of military and civilian governments as well as a thirty-six year guerrilla war. In 1996,t he government signed a peace agreement formally ending the conflict, which had led to the death of more than 100,000 people and had created over 1,000,000 refugees. Needless to say, Guatemala is not one of the close knit, family oriented society some Mexican countries tend to be.
Geography.
Guatemala is located southeast Mexico, or middle America. Between Honduras and Belize, it borders the Caribbean Sea to the north east; the southwest portion of the country is bordered by El Salvador, Mexico and the North Pacific Ocean. Coastlines total to 400 km and land borders total at 1,687 km, however there are no natural harbors on the west coast. Size wise, Guatemala is slightly smaller than the state of Tennessee. A tropic land sounds like heaven, on the contrary Guatemala has several climate tribulations. Guatemala is mostly mountainous (many of the mountains contain active volcanoes), susceptible to hurricanes, tropical storms, and the occasional violent earthquake. .
*Total Land Area: 108,430 km.
*Geographical Coordinates: 15 30 N, 90 15 W.
*Lowest Elevation Point: Pacific Ocean 0 m.
*Highest Elevation Point: Volcan Tajumulco 4,211 m.
People.
As of July 2002 the population of Guatemala was 13,314,079, with a growth rate of 2.57%. That makes the birth rate 34 births and 6 deaths to every 1,000 people. Infant deaths are mildly common as well; there are 44 stillborns infant deaths for every 1,000 successful live births. The sex ratio at birth is 1.05 to 1.00. In other words, for every twenty women that are born, twenty-one men are born. The population is comprised for three age groups. Guatemalans from ages 0-14 make up 41.8%, ages 15-64 comprise 54.5%, and 65+ are the remaining 3.
