An Introduction to Guatemala
The area of the Republic of Guatemala was home to the Mayan civilisation in pre-Columbian times, characterised by great cities, pyramids and wide roads - the classic Mayan civilisation came to an abrupt end in about 900 AD, possibly due to repeated droughts. The country was later colonised by Spain, then independent from the 1820s. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Latin America
GOVERNMENT: Presidential constitutional republic
AREA: 108,889 sq km
POPULATION: 13,824,463 (2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages (23 officially recognized) 40%.
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Guatemala
Flow of capital
Guatemala also has 37 volcanoes, four of them active, and a history of natural disasters two of which have resulted in new capital cities: Ciudad Vieja was destroyed by volcanic mudflows in 1541 and Antigua Guatemala by earthquakes in 1773.
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The area of the Republic of Guatemala was home to the Mayan civilisation in pre-Columbian times, characterised by great cities, pyramids and wide roads - the classic Mayan civilisation came to an abrupt end in about 900 AD, possibly due to repeated droughts. The country was later colonised by Spain, then independent from the 1820s.
After periods of liberalisation and dictatorship in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Guatemala became embroiled in a 36-year civil war which only ended in 1996 - the war had raized 450 Mayan villages, resulted in some 200,000 deaths and displaced a million people. Since then, the country has witnessed both economic growth and successful democratic elections.
GDP: $74.0bn (2011 est); $4,875 per capita
Religions Roman Catholic (50-60%), Protestant (40%), indigenous Mayan beliefs (1%).
Currency: Guatemalan Quetzal. 7.9 GTQ = $US 1
Telephone Code: +502
Research Industry
Guatemala is the 64th largest research market in the world, and the 11th largest in Latin America. 40 percent of MR turnover comes from domestic clients and 60 percent from international.Although Guatemala's bloody, 36 year long civil war ended in 1996 removing some of the barriers to foreign investment and trade, it is still a very poor country. The GDP per capita is approx half that of the average for a Latin America or Caribbean country. Agriculture in Guatemala accounts for 13.3% of GDP and half of the labour force still work on the land. Nearly half of Guatemala's children under the age of five are chronically malnourished, one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world.
Guatemala has been a member of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Association (DR-CAFTA) sin'e 2006 which has caused diversification in industry and an increase in exports. However the country has serious security and infrastructure problems dating back to the civil war. So many Guatemalans left the country during this war to live in the US that their remittances home constitute the largest single source of foreign income (two thirds of exports and one tenth of GDP).
Major imports ($13.8bn in 2011) include fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity, mineral products, chemical products, plastic materials and products, mostly from the US (37% in 2011), Mexico(11%), China (7%) and CACM countries (Caribbean and Central American) (11%). Exports ($8.5bn in 2011) are mainly coffee, sugar, petroleum, apparel, bananas, fruits and vegetables, and cardamom and go to the US (38.5%), CACM (28%) and Mexico (5%).
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