Place:Guatemala

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NameGuatemala
Alt namesGT00source: NIMA, GEOnet Names Server (1998-2000) accessed 01/20/99
Republic of Guatemalasource: Wikipedia
República de Guatemalasource: Britannica Book of the Year (1992) p 610; Britannica Book of the Year (1993) p 618
TypeCountry
Coordinates15.5°N 90.25°W
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Honduras; to the southeast by El Salvador and to the south by the Pacific Ocean. With an estimated population of around million, it is the most populous country in Central America and is the 11th most populous country in the Americas. Guatemala is a representative democracy; its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America.

The core of the Maya civilization, which extended across Mesoamerica, was historically based in the territory of modern Guatemala. In the 16th century, most of this area was conquered by the Spanish and claimed as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence in 1821 from Spain and Mexico. In 1823 Guatemala became part of the Federal Republic of Central America, which dissolved by 1841.

From the mid- to late 19th century, Guatemala suffered chronic instability and civil strife. Beginning in the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United Fruit Company and the United States government. In 1944, the authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution that led to sweeping social and economic reforms. A U.S.-backed military coup in 1954 ended the revolution and installed a dictatorship.

From 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a bloody civil war fought between the US-backed government and leftist rebels, including genocidal massacres of the Maya population perpetrated by the military. Since a United Nations–negotiated peace accord, Guatemala has achieved both economic growth and successful democratic elections, although its people experience high rates of poverty and crime, drug cartels, and instability. , Guatemala ranks 31st of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in terms of the Human Development Index. Although Guatemala is rich in export goods, around a quarter of the population lived in precarious conditions (2022). The food crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine had added another 700,000 people to the number. According to the National Institute for Food Security (Sesan), 4.6 million of Guatemala's 17.4 million people are at risk of food insecurity.

Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes many endemic species and contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.

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How places in Guatemala are organized

All places in Guatemala

Further information on historical place organization in Guatemala

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Guatemala. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.