Guatemala is a country in Central America, just south of Mexico, a land of volcanoes, rainforests, and highland lakes. It was a heartland of the ancient Maya civilisation, whose ruined cities still rise from the jungle, and it retains one of the largest indigenous populations in the Americas, with a vivid living Maya culture. The most populous country in Central America, it carries both a magnificent ancient heritage and the scars of a long and brutal civil war.
Guatemala lay at the heart of the Maya world, whose city-states, including the great Tikal, flourished for centuries with advanced writing, mathematics, and astronomy before declining well before European contact. In the sixteenth century the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado conquered the region, which became part of the Spanish Empire. Guatemala gained independence in 1821 and was briefly the centre of a federation of Central American states before becoming a separate republic, long dominated by coffee planters and powerful elites.
Guatemala is a mountainous, volcanic country, with a chain of volcanoes, some still active, running through its southern highlands, where most of the population lives in a temperate climate. To the north lies the lowland region of the Peten, covered in tropical rainforest and dotted with Maya ruins, while narrow coastal plains border both the Pacific and, at one corner, the Caribbean. The highlands hold beautiful lakes, including Lake Atitlan, set among the volcanoes.
The flag of Guatemala has three vertical bands, sky blue on the outer edges and white in the centre, with the national coat of arms in the middle. The blue and white are shared with the other nations of the former Central American federation, often interpreted as the two oceans that border the region and the sky, with white for peace and purity. The coat of arms features the resplendent quetzal, the national bird and a symbol of liberty, perched above a scroll and crossed rifles and swords.
Guatemala was historically Roman Catholic, brought by Spanish colonisation, but it has seen one of the most dramatic growths of evangelical Protestantism in Latin America, and the two now divide the Christian population. Among the indigenous Maya, traditional beliefs and rituals endure, often blended with Catholic practice in a distinctive spirituality that honours both saints and ancestral and natural forces. This mix of faiths is a vivid feature of Guatemalan life.
Guatemalan cuisine is rooted in the ancient foods of the Maya, above all corn, which is made into the tortillas and tamales that accompany nearly every meal, along with beans. A celebrated national dish is pepian, a rich, spiced stew of meat thickened with toasted seeds, one of several complex stews at the heart of the cuisine. Chilies, squash, and tropical fruits feature widely, and the country grows some of the world's finest coffee.
Agriculture is a pillar of Guatemala's economy and the livelihood of much of its rural population. Coffee, grown on the volcanic highland slopes, is a major export and renowned for its quality, alongside sugar and bananas. Guatemala is also the world's leading exporter of cardamom, a fragrant spice grown for markets in the Middle East and beyond. Corn and beans remain the staple crops of countless smallholder and indigenous farmers across the country.
The Maya civilisation, whose monuments are among the wonders of the Americas, and the Spanish conquest define Guatemala's deep history. Its modern history was scarred by a civil war that lasted from 1960 to 1996, a long conflict in which the indigenous Maya population suffered terribly, including episodes recognised as genocide. The 1996 peace accords ended the fighting, and the country has since worked, amid continuing challenges, to address that painful legacy.
Guatemala has a population of around 18 million people, the most populous country in Central America, and among the most indigenous: a large share are Maya, belonging to many distinct groups speaking over twenty Mayan languages, alongside a mestizo, or Ladino, population. Spanish is the official language. The population is concentrated in the highlands and around the capital, Guatemala City, and the country's vibrant indigenous cultures, with their textiles and traditions, are famous across the world.
