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
PEOPLE
Population: 9,266,018 (July 1991), growth rate 2.5% (1991)
Birth rate: 35 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 58 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 66 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 4.8 children born/woman (1991)
Ethnic divisions: Ladino (mestizo--mixed Indian and European
ancestry) 56%, Indian 44%
Religion: predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant,
traditional Mayan
Language: 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.)
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;
Alliance for '90 led by Rios MONTT, consisting of three
parties--Democratic Institutional Party (PID), Oscar RIVAS;
Nationalist United Front (FUN), Gabriel GIRON;
Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), Berna ROLANDO Mendez
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
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%;
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 41, DCG 28, MAS 18, PAN 12, Alliance for '90
11, MLN 4, PR 1, PSD/AP-5 1
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
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)
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 Miami 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
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy is based on agriculture, which accounts for
26% of GDP, employs about 60% of the labor force, and supplies two-thirds
of exports. Manufacturing accounts for about 15% of GDP and 12% of the
labor force. In 1990 the economy grew by 3.5%, the fourth consecutive
year of mild growth. Government economic policies, however, were erratic
in 1990--an election year--and inflation shot up to 60%, the highest
level in modern times.
GDP: $11.1 billion, per capita $1,180; real growth rate 3.5%
(1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 60% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: 13%, with 30-40% underemployment (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $1.05 billion; expenditures $1.3 billion,
including capital expenditures of $270 million (1989 est.)
Agriculture: accounts for 26% of GDP; most important sector of
economy and contributes two-thirds to 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 engaged in aerial
eradication of 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
(1970-88), $7.8 billion
Airports: 430 total, 381 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; stations--91 AM, no FM, 25 TV, 15 shortwave;
connection into Central American Microwave System; 1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,097,234; 1,372,623 fit for
military service; 110,949 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $113 million, 1% of GDP (1990)
