Guatemala Maps

Guatemala is a country located in Central America, bordered by Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The total area of Guatemala is 108,889 square kilometers (42,042 square miles), holding a population of 17.2 million people, making Guatemala the most populated country in Central America. The largest city, also the capital, is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, which is also known as Guatemala City. This is also the most populated city in Central America. Guatemala is a representative democracy, and the current president is Alejandro Giammattei.

The landscape of Guatemala is mountainous with many hilly valleys, as well as numerous desert patches here and there. Guatemala is also home to 37 volcanoes. However, of these 37, only four are active, and they are as follows: Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego, and Tacaná. All major cities and regions in Guatemala are located in the highlands and Pacific coastal regions. The highest point within Guatemala is the Tajumulco Volcano, with an altitude of 13,845 feet (or 4,220 meters). Guatemala is also home to many rivers that drain into numerous lakes and oceans. The two most important lakes are the Polochic and Dulce River. Guatemala is home to several natural disasters. Because of its location between both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, it is immediately a target to several hurricanes. The most recent of these hurricanes would be Hurricane Eta, which impacted Guatemala in November 2020, and left over 100 dead or missing. The highlands of Guatemala lie across the Motagua Fault, which is located between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. Because of this, several major earthquakes have been detected there, such as the earthquake with a 7.5 magnitude that occurred on February 4th, 1976, killing over 25,000 people. Guatemala is also located very close to the Cocos Plate sinking beneath the Caribbean Plate, which causes volcanic activity.

The current population estimate for Guatemala is 17,247,849. In 1900, Guatemala had a recorded population of 885,000. This shows that Guatemala experienced the fastest population growth in the Western Hemisphere during the 20th century. The population of Guatemala is extremely young. In fact, Guatemala is demographically one of the youngest countries in the Western Hemisphere. The proportion of the population aged under 15 was 41.5%, 54.1% aged between 15 and 65, and 4.4% being 65 and older. The five largest cities in Guatemala are Guatemala City, Mixco, Villa Nueva, Cobán, and Quetzaltenango.

Guatemala is home to the largest economy in Central America with a GDP of US $5,200. However, Guatemala faces numerous social issues and is actually one of the poorest countries within Latin America. Income distribution is very uneven, and in 2009 it was estimated that 54.0% of the Guatemala population was living in poverty. Some of the country’s main exports are organic coffee, sugar, textiles, bananas, and fresh vegetables. Mines within Guatemala produce gold, silver, zinc, cobalt, and nickel. The service sector comprises 63% of the GDP, followed by the industry sector at 23.8% and agriculture at 13.2%.