Introduction to Guatemala Spanning a mountainous slice of the narrow Central American isthmus, Guatemala is a country rich with natural, historical and cultural appeal. As the birthplace and heartland of the Maya, the country is in many ways defined by the legacy of this early civilization. Although the temples and rainforest cities of the ancient Maya have been abandoned for centuries, their traditions and religious rituals, mingled with Catholic practises, endure in the western highlands to form perhaps the most distinctive indigenous identity in the hemisphere.
Countering this is a powerful ladino society, urban and Western in its outlook, that has been shaped by Spanish colonial and European influences. Today, however, the nation's shopping malls, cinemas, televisions and dance floors devour mainstream Latin and North American popular culture. Nevertheless, you'll come across reminders of Guatemala's colonial past all over the country, nowhere more so than in the graceful former capital, Antigua.
Tikal is the most impressive of all the Maya sites, rivalling any ruin in Latin America
It's this outstanding cultural legacy, combined with Guatemala's natural beauty, that makes the country so compelling for the traveller. The temples of Tikal would be magnificent in any arena but set inside the jungles of the Reserva de la Biósfera Maya, with attendant toucans and howler monkeys, they are bewitching. Similarly, the genteel cobbled streets, Baroque church ruins and plazas of colonial Antigua gain an extra dimension from their proximity to the looming volcanoes that encircle the town. This architectural wealth is spread to a lesser degree throughout the country – almost every large village or town boasts a giant whitewashed colonial church and a classic Spanish-style plaza. Though most of the really dramatic Maya ruins lie deep in the jungles of Petén, interesting sites are scattered throughout the land, along the Pacific coast and in the foothills of the highlands.
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• The republic of Guatemala is situated at the northern end of the Central American isthmus, bordered by Mexico to the north and west, Belize to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the south and east. Its 108,890 square kilometres include 328km of Pacific coastline and 74km of Caribbean coast.
• Guatemala's population was estimated at 14.8 million by August 2005, with a growth rate of 2.6 percent per annum (the highest in the Western hemisphere). Eighty percent of Guatemaltecos live in the south of the country between the Mexican and Salvadorean borders; the northern and eastern departments are very thinly populated.
• Ethnically, the population is almost equally divided between indigenous Maya and ladinos (who are mainly of mixed race), although there are tiny numbers of black Garífuna (about 8000 in all), ethnic Chinese and non-Maya Xinca. Though Spanish is the official language, 23 other languages are spoken, including K'iche', Mam, Kaqchikel and Q'eqchi'.
• Tourism is the nation's main income earner, followed by coffee, sugar, clothing exports and bananas.
• About 63 percent of Guatemalans are nominally Roman Catholic – the lowest figure in Latin America – though many highland Maya practise a unique mix of religion that's heavily dependent on ancient religious ritual. Most others worship at US-based evangelical Protestant churches.
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Physically, Guatemala offers an astonishing range of landscapes, defined by extremes. In the south, the steamy Pacific coastal plain soars towards an awesome chain of volcanoes that mark the southern limit of the western highlands. North of these cones, a verdant landscape of pine-clad hills dotted with traditional villages and shimmering lakes forms the country's heartland and is home to the vast majority of Guatemala's indigenous population. Further east, towards the Caribbean coast, the terrain turns tropical, replete with banana plantations, coconut palms and mangrove swamps. Extensive cloudforests cloak the fecund Verapaz hills of central Guatemala, harbouring the elusive quetzal, Guatemala's national symbol. The vast rainforests of Petén occupy most of the country's north, and though these are increasingly threatened by loggers and settlers, they still are amongst the most extensive in Latin America. They're also home to wildlife including jaguars, tapirs, spider and howler monkeys, jabiru storks and scarlet macaws.
All of this exists against the nagging background of Guatemala's turbulent and bloody history. Over the years, the huge gulf between the rich and the poor, between indigenous and ladino culture, and the political left and right, has produced bitter conflict. With the signing of the 1996 peace accords between the government and the ex-guerrillas, Latin America's longest running civil war came to an end, though many of the country's deep-rooted inequalities remain. Land distribution continues to be woefully skewed in favour of agribusiness, while crime levels have soared in the absence of a functional justice system, leading to an increase in drug smuggling and gang violence. At the same time, the economy is still chronically weak, as income from the key coffee crop has plummeted and corruption remains endemic. Guatemala has very little industry, while poverty and malnutrition levels are some of the worst in the Americas.
Yet despite these problems, you'll find that most Guatemalans are extraordinarily courteous, and eager to help you catch the right bus or practise your Spanish. Guatemalans tend to be less extroverted than most Latin Americans and are quite formal and polite in social situations. Though decades of dictatorship and misgovernment have brought despair to many, somehow a sense of hopefulness endures that the country will one day turn the corner.
| Maya fiestas |
Guatemala's indigenous fiestas are some of the most compelling in Latin America: riotous, often deeply poignant and very drunken celebrations of Maya identity. Though there's often a central religious element, usually focusing on a patron saint's day, most tend to follow a familiar, tried-and-tested formula. Count on seeing a series of almost comical-looking, traditional costumed dances like the Dance of the Conquistadors, the performances charged with bitter historical sentiment and heavy symbolism. Obligatory barrages of eardrum-threatening firecrackers, wobbly fairground rides, endless marimba music and lashings of liquor complete the scene. The most spectacular events also include an additional element: the wild horse race at Todos Santos Cuchumatán, the kite-flying extravaganzas at Santiago Sacatépequez and Sumpango or the Palo Volador, a Maya-style bungy jump (see " Chichicastenango" and " Cubulco").
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