|
| World Fact Book
| Mark H. Solsman
| Documentation Training and Publications, Center for Academic Computing
| mhs108@psu.edu  10/19/93
I
 
_@_Guatemala Geography
 
Total area:
    108,890 km2
Land area:
    108,430 km2
Comparative area:
    slightly smaller than Tennessee
Land boundaries:
    1,687 km; Belize 266 km, El Salvador 203 km, Honduras 256 km, Mexico 962 km
Coastline:
    400 km
Maritime claims:
  Continental shelf:
    not specific
  Exclusive economic zone:
    200 nm
  Territorial sea:
    12 nm
Disputes:
    claims Belize, but boundary negotiations to resolve the dispute have begun
Climate:
    tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands
Terrain:
    mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau
    (Peten)
Natural resources:
    crude oil, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle
Land use:
    arable land 12%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 12%; forest and
    woodland 40%; other 32%; includes irrigated 1%
Environment:
    numerous volcanoes in mountains, with frequent violent earthquakes;
    Caribbean coast subject to hurricanes and other tropical storms;
    deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
Note:
    no natural harbors on west coast
 
:Guatemala People
 
Population:
    9,784,275 (July 1992), growth rate 2.4% (1992)
Birth rate:
    34 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
    8 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
    -2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
    56 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
    61 years male, 66 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
    4.6 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
    noun - Guatemalan(s); adjective - Guatemalan
Ethnic divisions:
    Ladino (mestizo - mixed Indian and European ancestry) 56%, Indian 44%
Religions:
    predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant, traditional Mayan
Languages:
    Spanish, but over 40% of the population speaks an Indian language as a
    primary tongue (18 Indian dialects, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi)
Literacy:
    55% (male 63%, female 47%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
    2,500,000; agriculture 60%, services 13%, manufacturing 12%, commerce 7%,
    construction 4%, transport 3%, utilities 0.8%, mining 0.4% (1985)
Organized labor:
    8% of labor force (1988 est.)
 
:Guatemala Government
 
Long-form name:
    Republic of Guatemala
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)
Constitution:
    31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986
Legal system:
    civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted
    compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
    Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Executive branch:
    president, vice president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
    unicameral Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica)
Judicial branch:
    Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)
Leaders:
  Chief of State and Head of Government:
    President Jorge SERRANO Elias (since 14 January 1991); Vice President
    Gustavo ESPINA Salguero (since 14 January 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
    National Centrist Union (UCN), Jorge CARPIO Nicolle; Solidarity Action
    Movement (MAS), Jorge SERRANO Elias; 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 SOLARZANO Martinez; Popular Alliance 5 (AP-5),
    Max ORLANDO Molina; Revolutionary Party (PR), Carlos CHAVARRIA; National
    Authentic Center (CAN), Hector MAYORA Dawe; Democratic Institutional Party
    (PID), Oscar RIVAS; Nationalist United Front (FUN), Gabriel GIRON;
    Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), Efrain RIOS Montt
Suffrage:
    universal at age 18
Elections:
  Congress:
    last held on 11 November 1990 (next to be held 11 November 1995); results -
    UCN 25.6%, MAS 24.3%, DCG 17. 5%, PAN 17.3%, MLN 4.8%, PSD/AP-5 3.6%, PR
    2.1%; seats - (116 total) UCN 38, DCG 27, MAS 18, PAN 12, Pro - Rios Montt
    10, MLN 4, PR 1, PSD/AP-5 1, independent 5
  President:
    runoff held on 11 January 1991 (next to be held 11 November 1995); results -
    Jorge SERRANO Elias (MAS) 68.1%, Jorge CARPIO Nicolle (UCN) 31.9%
Communists:
    Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT); main radical left guerrilla groups - Guerrilla
    Army of the Poor (EGP), Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms
    (ORPA), Rebel Armed Forces (FAR), and PGT dissidents
 
:Guatemala Government
 
Other political or pressure groups:
    Federated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACIF), Mutual Support Group
    (GAM), Unity for Popular and Labor Action (UASP), Agrarian Owners Group
    (UNAGRO), Committee for Campesino Unity (CUC)
Member of:
    BCIE, CACM, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
    ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU,
    LAES, LAIA, LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL,
    WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation:
    Ambassador Juan Jose CASO-FANJUL; Chancery at 2220 R Street NW, Washington,
    DC 20008; telephone (202) 745-4952 through 4954; there are Guatemalan
    Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New
    York, and San Francisco
  US:
    Ambassador Thomas F. STROOCK; Embassy at 7-01 Avenida de la Reforma, Zone
    10, Guatemala City (mailing address is APO AA 34024); telephone [502] (2)
    31-15-41
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
 
:Guatemala Economy
 
Overview:
    The economy is based on family and corporate agriculture, which accounts for
    26% of GDP, employs about 60% of the labor force, and supplies two-thirds of
    exports. Manufacturing, predominantly in private hands, accounts for about
    18% 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. Inflation
    at 40% in 1990-91 was more than double the 1987-89 level.
GDP:
    exchange rate conversion - $11.7 billion, per capita $1,260; real growth
    rate 3% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    40% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
    6.7%, with 30-40% underemployment (1989 est.)
Budget:
    revenues $1.05 billion; expenditures $1.3 billion, including capital
    expenditures of $270 million (1989 est.)
Exports:
    $1.16 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
  commodities:
    coffee 26%, sugar 13%, bananas 7%, beef 2%
  partners:
    US 39%, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Germany, Honduras
Imports:
    $1.66 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
  commodities:
    fuel and petroleum products, machinery, grain, fertilizers, motor vehicles
  partners:
    US 40%, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan, Germany
External debt:
    $2.6 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production:
    growth rate NA; accounts for 18% of GDP
Electricity:
    802,600 kW capacity; 2,461 million kWh produced, 266 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
    sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals,
    rubber, tourism
Agriculture:
    accounts for 26% of GDP; most important sector of economy and contributes
    two-thirds of export earnings; principal crops - sugarcane, corn, bananas,
    coffee, beans, cardamom; livestock - cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens; food
    importer
Illicit drugs:
    illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug
    trade; the government has an active eradication program for cannabis and
    opium poppy; transit country for cocaine shipments
Economic aid:
    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:
    quetzal (plural - quetzales); 1 quetzal (Q) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
    free market quetzales (Q) per US$1 - 5.0854 (January 1992), 5.0289 (1991),
    2.8161 (1989), 2.6196 (1988), 2.500 (1987); note - black-market rate 2.800
    (May 1989)
Fiscal year:
    calendar year
 
:Guatemala Communications
 
Railroads:
    884 km 0.914-meter gauge, single track; 782 km government owned, 102 km
    privately owned
Highways:
    26,429 km total; 2,868 km paved, 11,421 km gravel, and 12,140 unimproved
Inland waterways:
    260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water
    season
Pipelines:
    crude oil 275 km
Ports:
    Puerto Barrios, Puerto Quetzal, Santo Tomas de Castilla
Merchant marine:
    1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,129 GRT/6,450 DWT
Civil air:
    8 major transport aircraft
Airports:
    448 total, 400 usable; 11 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways
    over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 19 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
    fairly modern network centered in Guatemala [city]; 97,670 telephones;
    broadcast stations - 91 AM, no FM, 25 TV, 15 shortwave; connection into
    Central American Microwave System; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
 
:Guatemala Defense Forces
 
Branches:
    Army, Navy, Air Force
Manpower availability:
    males 15-49, 2,169,073; 1,420,116 fit for military service; 107,239 reach
    military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures:
    exchange rate conversion - $113 million, 1% of GDP (1990)
 
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