Guatemala

• tropical;
• hot, humid in lowlands;
• cooler in highlands

agricultural land:

41.2%;

• arable land 14.2%;
• permanent crops 8.8%;
• permanent pasture 18.2%

forest:

33.6%

other:

25.2% (2011 est.)

• the vast majority of the populace resides in the southern half of the country, particularly in the mountainous regions;
• more than half of the population lives in rural areas

• deforestation in the Peten rainforest;
• soil erosion;
• water pollution

party to:

Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Guatemalan(s)

adjective:

Guatemalan

• the vast majority of the populace resides in the southern half of the country, particularly in the mountainous regions;
• more than half of the population lives in rural areas

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.91 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.91 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.87 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

total number:

929,852

percentage:

21%

note: data represent children ages 5-17 (2006 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Guatemala

conventional short form:

Guatemala

local long form:

Republica de Guatemala

local short form:

Guatemala

etymology:

name derives from the Mayan word meaning "land of trees"

name:

Guatemala City

geographic coordinates:

14 37 N, 90 31 W

time difference:

UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 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

• several previous;
• latest adopted 31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986;
• suspended, reinstated, and amended in 1994 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years with no absences of six consecutive months or longer or absences totaling more than a year

• 18 years of age;
• universal;
• note - active duty members of the armed forces and police by law cannot vote and are restricted to their barracks on election day

chief of state:

• President Jimmy Ernesto MORALES Cabrera (since 14 January 2016);
• Vice President Jafeth CABRERA Franco (since 14 January 2016);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Jimmy Ernesto MORALES Cabrera (since 14 January 2016); Vice President Jafeth CABRERA Franco (since 14 January 2016)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 4-year term (not eligible for consecutive terms);
• election last held in 2 rounds on 6 September and 25 October 2015 (next to be held in September 2019)

election results:

• Jimmy Ernesto MORALES Cabrera (FNC) elected president;
• percent of vote in first round - Jimmy Ernesto MORALES Cabrera (FNC) 23.8%, Sandra TORRES (UNE) 19.8%, Manuel BALDIZON (LIDER) 19.6%;
• percent of vote in second round - Jimmy Ernesto MORALES Cabrera (FNC) 67.4%, Sandra TORRES (UNE) 32.6%

description:

unicameral Congress of the Republic or Congreso de la Republica (158 seats; 127 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies within each of the country's 22 departments by simple majority vote and 31 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 6 September 2015 (next to be held in September 2019)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - LIDER 19.10%, UNE 14.83%, TODOS 9.74%, PP 9.43%, FCN 8.75%, EG 6.24%, PU 5.69%, UCN 5.43%, Winaq-URNG-MAIZ 4.32%, Convergence 3.84%, VIVA 3.66%, PAN 3.42, FUERZA 2.07%, other 3.48%;
• seats by party - LIDER 44, UNE 36, TODOS 18, PP 17, FCN 11, EG 7, UCN 6, PU 5, Winaq-URNG-MAIZ 3, Convergence 3, VIVA 3, PAN 3, FUERZA 2

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (consists of 13 magistrates including the court president and organized into 3 chambers);
• note - the court president also supervises trial judges countrywide;
• Constitutional Court or Corte de Constitucionalidad (consists of 5 judges and 5 alternates)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court magistrates elected by the Congress of the Republic from candidates proposed by the Postulation Committee, an independent body of deans of the country's university law schools, representatives of the country's law associations, and representatives of the Courts of Appeal;
• magistrates elected for concurrent, renewable 5-year terms;
• Constitutional Court judges - 1 elected by the Congress of the Republic, 1 by the Supreme Court, 1 by the president of the republic, 1 by the (public) University of San Carlos, and 1 by the lawyers bar association;
• judges elected for concurrent, renewable 5-year terms;
• the presidency of the court rotates among the magistrates for a single 1-year term

subordinate courts:

numerous first instance and appellate courts

• Commitment, Renewal, and Order or CREO [Roberto GONZALEZ Diaz-Duran]
• Convergence
• Democratic Union or UD [Edwin Armando MARTINEZ Herrera]
• Encounter for Guatemala or EG [Nineth MONTENEGRO Cottom]
• Everyone Together for Guatemala or TODOS [Felipe ALEJOS]
• FUERZA [Maurico REDFORD]
• Grand National Alliance or GANA [Jaime Antonio MARTINEZ Lohayza]
• Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity or Winaq-URNG [Angel SANCHEZ Viesca]
• Institutional Republican Party (formerly the Guatemalan Republican Front) or PRI [Luis Fernando PEREZ]
• National Advancement Party or PAN [Juan GUTIERREZ Strauss]
• National Unity for Hope or UNE [Sandra TORRES]
• Nationalist Change Union or UCN [Mario ESTRADA]
• National Convergence Front or FCN [Edgar Justino OVALLE Maldonado]
• New National Alternative or ANN [Pablo MONSANTO]
• Patriot Party or PP [Ingrid Roxana BALDETTI Elias]
• Renewed Democratic Liberty or LIDER [Manuel BALDIZON]
• Unionista Party or PU [Alvaro ARZU Irigoyen]
• Victoria (Victory) [Amilcar RIVERA]
• Vision with Values or VIVA [Harold CABALLEROS] (part of a coalition with EG during the last legislative election)

• Alliance Against Impunity or AI (includes among others Center for Legal Action on Human Rights (CALDH), Family and Friends of the Disappeared of Guatemala (FAMDEGUA))
• Civic and Political Convergence of Women
• Committee for Campesino Unity or CUC
• Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations or CACIF
• Foundation for the Development of Guatemala or FUNDESA
• Guatemala Visible
• Mutual Support Group or GAM
• Movimiento PRO-Justicia
• National Union of Agriculture Workers or UNAGRO

chief of mission:

Ambassador Todd D. ROBINSON (since 10 October 2014)

embassy:

7-01 Avenida Reforma, Zone 10, Guatemala City

mailing address:

DPO AA 34024

telephone:

[502] 2326-4000

FAX:

[502] 2326-4654

• 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) representing liberty 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 signifying Guatemala's willingness to defend itself and a pair of crossed swords representing honor and framed by a laurel wreath symbolizing victory;
• the blue bands represent the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea;
• the white band denotes peace and purity

name:

"Himno Nacional de Guatemala" (National Anthem of Guatemala)

lyrics/music:

Jose Joaquin PALMA/Rafael Alvarez OVALLE

note: adopted 1897, modified lyrics adopted 1934; Cuban poet Jose Joaquin PALMA anonymously submitted lyrics to a public contest calling for a national anthem; his authorship was not discovered until 1911

agriculture:

31.2%

industry:

14.4%

services:

54.4% (2014 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.3%

highest 10%:

42.4% (2006)

general assessment:

fairly modern network centered in the city of Guatemala

domestic:

• state-owned telecommunications company privatized in the late 1990s opened the way for competition;
• fixed-line teledensity roughly 10 per 100 persons;
• fixed-line investments are being concentrated on improving rural connectivity;
• mobile-cellular teledensity about 120 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 502;
• landing point for both the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the SAM-1 fiber-optic submarine cable system that, together, provide connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US;
• connected to Central American Microwave System;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2015)

• 4 privately owned national terrestrial TV channels dominate TV broadcasting;
• multi-channel satellite and cable services are available;
• 1 government-owned radio station and hundreds of privately owned radio stations (2007)

number of registered air carriers:

3; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 8

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

93,129

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

455,520 mt-km (2015)

total:

800 km

narrow gauge:

800 km 0.914-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 96

total:

17,332 km

paved:

7,483 km

unpaved:

9,849 km (includes 4,795 km of rural roads) (2015)

country comparison to the world: 130

• all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 50 are eligible for military service;
• in practice, most of the force is volunteer, however, a selective draft system is employed, resulting in a small portion of 17-21 year-olds conscripted;
• conscript service obligation varies from 1 to 2 years;
• women can serve as officers (2013)

• annual ministerial meetings under the Organization of American States-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and the Caribbean Sea;
• Guatemala persists in its territorial claim to half of Belize, but agrees to Line of Adjacency to keep Guatemalan squatters out of Belize's forested interior;
• both countries agreed in April 2012 to hold simultaneous referenda, scheduled for 6 October 2013, to decide whether to refer the dispute to the ICJ for binding resolution, but this vote was suspended indefinitely;
• Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the US

• major transit country for cocaine and heroin;
• in 2005, cultivated 100 hectares of opium poppy after reemerging as a potential source of opium in 2004;
• potential production of less than 1 metric ton of pure heroin;
• marijuana cultivation for mostly domestic consumption;
• proximity to Mexico makes Guatemala a major staging area for drugs (particularly for cocaine);
• money laundering is a serious problem;
• corruption is a major problem