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<\/a>The territory of modern Guatemala once formed the core of the Maya civilization<\/a>, which extended across Mesoamerica<\/a>. Most of the country was conquered by the Spanish<\/a> in the 16th century, becoming part of the viceroyalty of New Spain<\/a>. Guatemala attained independence in 1821 as part of the Federal Republic of Central America<\/a>, which dissolved by 1841.<\/p>\n From the mid- to late-19th century, Guatemala experienced chronic instability and civil strife. Beginning in the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United Fruit Company<\/a> and the United States government. In 1944, the authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico<\/a> was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution<\/a> that led to sweeping social and economic reforms. A U.S.-backed military coup<\/a> in 1954 ended the revolution and installed a dictatorship.<\/p>\n From 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a bloody civil war<\/a> fought between the US-backed government and leftist rebels, including genocidal massacres of the Maya population perpetrated by the military. Since a United Nations-negotiated peace accord, Guatemala has witnessed both economic growth and successful democratic elections, though it continues to struggle with high rates of poverty, crime, drug trade, and instability. As of 2014, Guatemala ranks 31st of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in terms of the Human Development Index.<\/a><\/p>\n Guatemala’s abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes many endemic species and contributes to Mesoamerica’s designation as a biodiversity hotspot.<\/p>\n The first evidence of human habitation in Guatemala dates back to 12,000 BC. Evidence, such as obsidian arrowheads found in various parts of the country, suggests a human presence as early as 18,000 BC. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunter-gatherers. Pollen samples from Pet\u00e9n<\/a> and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation had developed by 3500 BC. Sites dating back to 6500 BC have been found in the Quich\u00e9<\/a> region in the Highlands, and Sipacate<\/a> and Escuintla<\/a> on the central Pacific coast.<\/p>\n Archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the Preclassic period (2999 BC to 250 AD), the Classic period (250 to 900 AD), and the Postclassic period (900 to 1500 AD). Until recently, the Preclassic was regarded as a formative period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts, and few permanent buildings. However, this notion has been challenged by recent discoveries of monumental architecture from that period, such as an altar in La Blanca<\/a>, San Marcos<\/a>, from 1000 BC; ceremonial sites at Miraflores and Naranjo<\/a> from 801 BC; the earliest monumental masks; and the Mirador Basin<\/a> cities of Nakb\u00e9<\/a>, Xulnal, El Tintal<\/a>, Wakn\u00e1 and El Mirador<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Classic period of Mesoamerican civilization corresponds to the height of the Maya civilization, and is represented by countless sites throughout Guatemala, although the largest concentration is in Pet\u00e9n. This period is characterized by urbanisation, the emergence of independent city-states, and contact with other Mesoamerican cultures.<\/p>\n This lasted until approximately 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed<\/a>. The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the central lowlands or were killed off by a drought-induced famine. The cause of the collapse is debated, but the drought theory is gaining currency, supported by evidence such as lakebeds, ancient pollen, and others. A series of prolonged droughts, among other reasons such as overpopulation, in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya, who relied on regular rainfall. The Post-Classic period is represented by regional kingdoms, such as the Itza<\/a>, Kowoj<\/a>, Yalain<\/a> and Kejache<\/a> in Pet\u00e9n, and the Mam<\/a>, Ki’che<\/a>‘, Kackchiquel<\/a>, Chajoma<\/a>, Tz’utujil<\/a>, Poqomchi<\/a>‘, Q’eqchi<\/a>‘ and Ch’orti<\/a>‘ in the highlands. Their cities preserved many aspects of Maya culture. The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy, and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras, Guatemala, Northern El Salvador to as far north as central Mexico, more than 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to be the result of trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest.<\/p>\n After they arrived in the New World, the Spanish started several expeditions to Guatemala, beginning in 1519. Before long, Spanish contact resulted in an epidemic that devastated native populations. Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s<\/a>, who had led the Spanish conquest of Mexico<\/a>, granted a permit to Captains Gonzalo de Alvarado and his brother, Pedro de Alvarado<\/a>, to conquer this land. Alvarado at first allied himself with the Kaqchikel nation to fight against their traditional rivals the K’iche’ (Quich\u00e9) nation. Alvarado later turned against the Kaqchikel, and eventually brought the entire region under Spanish domination.<\/p>\n During the colonial period, Guatemala was an audiencia, a captaincy-general (Capitan\u00eda General de Guatemala) of Spain, and a part of New Spain (Mexico). The first capital, Villa de Santiago de Guatemala (now known as Tecpan Guatemala<\/a>), was founded on 25 July 1524 near Iximch\u00e9<\/a>, the Kaqchikel capital city. The capital was moved to Ciudad Vieja<\/a> on 22 November 1527, as a result of a Kaqchikel attack on Villa de Santiago de Guatemala.<\/p>\n On 11 September 1541, the new capital was flooded when the lagoon in the crater of the Agua Volcano<\/a> collapsed due to heavy rains and earthquakes; the capital was then moved 6 km (4 mi) to Antigua in the Panchoy Valley, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This city was destroyed by several earthquakes in 1773\u20131774. The King of Spain authorized moving the capital to its current location in the Ermita Valley, which is named after a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgen del Carmen. This new capital was founded on 2 January 1776.<\/p>\n On 15 September 1821, the Captaincy General of Guatemala, formed by Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras, officially proclaimed its independence from Spain. The Captaincy-general was dissolved two years later. This region was formally a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain throughout the colonial period, but as a practical matter had been administered separately. It was not until 1825 that Guatemala created its own flag.<\/p>\n In 1838 the liberal forces of Honduran leader Francisco Moraz\u00e1n<\/a> and of Guatemalan Jos\u00e9 Francisco Barrundia<\/a> invaded Guatemala and reached San Sur, where they executed Ch\u00faa Alvarez, father-in-law of Rafael Carrera<\/a>, then a military commander and later the first president of Guatemala. This action began a period of strife and war that lasted until the declaration of the Republic.<\/p>\n On 21 March 1847, Guatemala declared itself an independent republic and Carrera became its first president. During the first term as president, Carrera brought the country back from extreme conservatism to a traditional moderation; in 1848, the liberals were able to drive him from office, after the country had been in turmoil for several months. Carrera resigned of his own free will and left for M\u00e9xico. The new liberal regime allied itself with the Aycinena family and swiftly passed a law ordering Carrera’s execution if he returned to Guatemalan soil.<\/p>\n Carrera decided to return to Guatemala and did so, entering at Huehuetenango<\/a>, where he met with native leaders and told them that they must remain united to prevail; the leaders agreed and slowly the segregated native communities started developing a new Indian identity under Carrera’s leadership. Carrera would go on to become President again in 1851 by utilizing relationships with the native peoples. He formed a moderate government and became President for Life in 1854 which kept him in office until his death in 1865.<\/p>\n Vicente Cerna y Cerna<\/a> was president of Guatemala from 24 May 1865 to 29 June 1871. This government was described by Guatemalan writer Alfonso Enrique Barrientos\u00a0as:<\/p>\n A conservative and archaic government, badly organized and with worse intentions, was in charge of the country, centralizing all powers in Vicente Cerna, ambitious military man, who not happy with the general rank, had promoted himself to the Army Marshall rank, even though that rank did not exist and it does not exist in the Guatemalan military.<\/p>\n The Marshall called himself President of the Republic, but in reality he was the foreman of oppressed and savaged people, cowardly enough that they had not dared to tell the dictator to leave threatening him with a revolution.<\/p>\n Guatemala’s “Liberal Revolution” came in 1871 under the leadership of Justo Rufino Barrios<\/a>, who worked to modernize the country, improve trade, and introduce new crops and manufacturing. During this era coffee became an important crop for Guatemala. Barrios had ambitions of reuniting Central America and took the country to war in an unsuccessful attempt to attain it, losing his life on the battlefield in 1885 against forces in El Salvador.<\/p>\n Manuel Barillas<\/a> was president from 16 March 1886 to 15 March 1892.<\/p>\n Manuel Barillas was unique among liberal presidents of Guatemala between 1871 and 1944: he handed over power to his successor peacefully. When election time approached, he sent for the three Liberal candidates to ask them what their government plan would be. Happy with what he heard from general Reyna Barrios<\/a>, Barillas made sure that a huge column of Quetzaltenango and Totonicap\u00e1n indigenous people came down from the mountains to vote for him. Reyna was elected president.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Reina Barrios was President between 1892 and 1898. During Barrios’s first term in office, the power of the landowners over the rural peasantry increased. He oversaw the rebuilding of parts of Guatemala City on a grander scale, with wide, Parisian-style avenues. He oversaw Guatemala hosting the first “Exposici\u00f3n Centroamericana<\/a>” (“Central American Fair”) in 1897. During his second term, Barrios printed bonds to fund his ambitious plans, fueling monetary inflation and the rise of popular opposition to his regime.<\/p>\n His administration also worked on improving the roads, installing national and international telegraphs and introducing electricity to Guatemala City. Completing a transoceanic railway was a main objective of his government, with a goal to attract international investors at a time when the Panama Canal<\/a> was not yet built.<\/p>\n After the assassination of general Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Reina Barrios on 8 February 1898, the Guatemalan cabinet called an emergency meeting to appoint a new successor, but declined to invite Estrada Cabrera<\/a> to the meeting, even though he was the designated successor to the Presidency. There are two different descriptions of how Cabrera was able to become president. The first states that Cabrera entered the cabinet meeting “with pistol drawn” to assert his entitlement to the presidency, while the second states that he showed up unarmed to the meeting and demanded the presidency by virtue of being the designated successor.<\/p>\n The first civilian Guatemalan head of state in over 50 years, Estrada Cabrera overcame resistance to his regime by August 1898 and called for elections in September, which he won handily. In 1898 the Legislature convened for the election of President Estrada Cabrera, who triumphed.<\/p>\n One of Estrada Cabrera’s most famous and most bitter legacies was allowing the entry of the United Fruit Company (UFCO) into the Guatemalan economic and political arena. As a member of the Liberal Party, he sought to encourage development of the nation’s infrastructure of highways, railroads, and sea ports for the sake of expanding the export economy. By the time Estrada Cabrera assumed the presidency there had been repeated efforts to construct a railroad from the major port of Puerto Barrios to the capital, Guatemala City. Due to lack of funding exacerbated by the collapse of the internal coffee trade, the railway fell 100 kilometres (60 mi) short of its goal. Estrada Cabrera decided, without consulting the legislature or judiciary, that striking a deal with the UFCO was the only way to finish the railway. Cabrera signed a contract with UFCO’s Minor Cooper Keith<\/a> in 1904 that gave the company tax exemptions, land grants, and control of all railroads on the Atlantic side.<\/p>\n In 1906 Estrada faced serious revolts against his rule; the rebels were supported by the governments of some of the other Central American nations, but Estrada succeeded in putting them down. Elections were held by the people against the will of Estrada Cabrera and thus he had the president-elect murdered in retaliation. In 1907 Estrada narrowly survived an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded near his carriage. It has been suggested that the extreme despotic characteristics of Estrada did not emerge until after an attempt on his life in 1907.<\/p>\n Estrada Cabrera continued in power until forced to resign after new revolts in 1920. By that time his power had declined drastically and he was reliant upon the loyalty of a few generals. While the United States threatened intervention if he was removed through revolution, a bipartisan coalition came together to remove him from the presidency. He was removed from office after the national assembly charged that he was mentally incompetent, and appointed Carlos Herrera in his place on 8 April 1920.<\/p>\n The Great Depression began in 1929 and badly damaged the Guatemalan economy, causing a rise in unemployment, and leading to unrest among workers and laborers. Afraid of a popular revolt, the Guatemalan landed elite lent their support to Jorge Ubico<\/a>, who had become well known for “efficiency and cruelty” as a provincial governor. Ubico won the election that followed in 1931, in which he was the only candidate. After his election his policies quickly became authoritarian. The government became highly militarized; under his rule, every provincial governor was a general in the army.<\/p>\n Ubico continued his predecessor’s policy of making massive concessions to the United Fruit Company, often at a cost to Guatemala. He granted the company 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres) of public land in exchange for a promise to build a port, a promise he later waived. Since its entry into Guatemala, the United Fruit Company had expanded its land-holdings by displacing farmers and converting their farmland to banana plantations. This process accelerated under Ubico’s presidency, with the government doing nothing to stop it. The company received import duty and real estate tax exemptions from the government and controlled more land than any other individual or group. It also controlled the sole railroad in the country, the sole facilities capable of producing electricity, and the port facilities at Puerto Barrios on the Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n On 1 July 1944 Ubico was forced to resign from the presidency in response to a wave of protests and a general strike inspired by brutal labor conditions among plantation workers. His chosen replacement, General Juan Federico Ponce Vaides<\/a>, was forced out of office on 20 October 1944 by a coup d’\u00e9tat led by Major Francisco Javier Arana<\/a> and Captain Jacobo \u00c1rbenz Guzm\u00e1n<\/a>. About 100 people were killed in the coup. The country was then led by a military junta made up of Arana, \u00c1rbenz, and Jorge Toriello Garrido<\/a>.<\/p>\n The junta organized Guatemala’s first free election, which the philosophically conservative writer and teacher Juan Jos\u00e9 Ar\u00e9valo<\/a>, who wanted to turn the country into a liberal capitalist society won with a majority of 86%. His “Christian Socialist<\/a>” policies were inspired to a large extent by the U.S. New Deal<\/a> of President Franklin D. Roosevelt<\/a> during the Great Depression. Ar\u00e9valo built new health centers, increased funding for education, and drafted a more liberal labor law, while criminalizing unions in workplaces with less than 500 workers, and cracking down on communists. Although Ar\u00e9valo was popular among nationalists, he had enemies in the church and the military, and faced at least 25 coup attempts during his presidency.<\/p>\n Ar\u00e9valo was constitutionally prohibited from contesting the 1950 elections. The largely free and fair elections were won by Jacobo \u00c1rbenz Guzm\u00e1n, Ar\u00e9valo’s defense minister. \u00c1rbenz continued the moderate capitalist approach of Ar\u00e9valo. His most important policy was Decree 900<\/a>, a sweeping agrarian reform bill passed in 1952. Decree 900 transferred uncultivated land to landless peasants. Only 1,710 of the nearly 350,000 private land-holdings were affected by the law, which benefited approximately 500,000 individuals, or one-sixth of the population.<\/p>\n Despite their popularity within the country, the reforms of the Guatemalan Revolution were disliked by the United States government, which was predisposed by the Cold War to see it as communist, and the United Fruit Company (UFCO), whose hugely profitable business had been affected by the end to brutal labor practices. The attitude of the U.S. government was also influenced by a propaganda campaign carried out by the UFCO.<\/p>\n U.S. President Harry Truman<\/a> authorized Operation PBFORTUNE<\/a> to topple \u00c1rbenz in 1952, with the support of Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Garc\u00eda<\/a>, but the operation was aborted when too many details became public. Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/a> was elected U.S. President in 1952, promising to take a harder line against communism; the close links that his staff members John Foster Dulles<\/a> and Allen Dulles<\/a> had to the UFCO also predisposed him to act against \u00c1rbenz.<\/p>\n Eisenhower authorized the CIA to carry out Operation PBSUCCESS in August 1953. The CIA armed, funded, and trained a force of 480 men led by Carlos Castillo Armas<\/a>. The force invaded Guatemala on 18 June 1954, backed by a heavy campaign of psychological warfare, including bombings of Guatemala City and an anti-\u00c1rbenz radio station claiming to be genuine news. The invasion force fared poorly militarily, but the psychological warfare and the possibility of a U.S. invasion intimidated the Guatemalan army, which refused to fight. \u00c1rbenz resigned on 27 June.<\/p>\n From this point until 1996 Guatemala descended into violence and recurring military interventions and regimes. Rampant fear of Communism and unrelenting support of UCFO led the United States to train and arm the Guatemalan military until it was the premier and most advanced force in Central America. By the 1970s formal guerrilla organizations formed and the government response was to commit genocide against the native Mayan population who were seen as a support network for the guerrilla groups.<\/p>\n Further military coups and interventions would follow until a peace accord was reached in 1996.<\/p>\n The Guatemalan Civil War ended in 1996 with a peace accord between the guerrillas and the government, negotiated by the United Nations through intense brokerage by nations such as Norway and Spain. Both sides made major concessions. The guerrilla fighters disarmed and received land to work. According to the U.N.-sponsored truth commission (the Commission for Historical Clarification<\/a>), government forces and state-sponsored, CIA-trained paramilitaries were responsible for over 93% of the human rights violations during the war.<\/p>\n In the last few years, millions of documents related to crimes committed during the civil war have been found abandoned by the former Guatemalan police. The families of over 45,000 Guatemalan activists who disappeared during the civil war are now reviewing the documents, which have been digitized.<\/p>\n During the first ten years of the civil war, the victims of the state-sponsored terror were primarily students, workers, professionals, and opposition figures, but in the last years they were thousands of mostly rural Maya farmers and non-combatants. More than 450 Maya villages were destroyed and over 1 million people became refugees or displaced within Guatemala.<\/p>\n In 1995, the Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala began the Recovery of Historical Memory (REMHI) project,[137] known in Spanish as “El Proyecto de la Recuperaci\u00f3n de la Memoria Hist\u00f3rica”, to collect the facts and history of Guatemala’s long civil war and confront the truth of those years. On 24 April 1998, REMHI presented the results of its work in the report “Guatemala: Nunca M\u00e1s!”. This report summarized testimony and statements of thousands of witnesses and victims of repression during the Civil War. “The report laid the blame for 80 per cent of the atrocities at the door of the Guatemalan Army and its collaborators within the social and political elite.”<\/p>\n Catholic Bishop Juan Jos\u00e9 Gerardi Conedera worked on the Recovery of Historical Memory Project and two days after he announced the release of its report on victims of the Guatemalan Civil War, “Guatemala: Nunca M\u00e1s!”, in April 1998, Bishop Gerardi was attacked in his garage and beaten to death. In 2001, in the first trial in a civilian court of members of the military in Guatemalan history, three Army officers were convicted of his death and sentenced to 30 years in prison. A priest was convicted as an accomplice and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n According to the report, Recuperaci\u00f3n de la Memoria Hist\u00f3rica (REMHI), some 200,000 people died. More than one million people were forced to flee their homes and hundreds of villages were destroyed. The Historical Clarification Commission attributed more than 93% of all documented violations of human rights to Guatemala’s military government, and estimated that Maya Indians accounted for 83% of the victims. It concluded in 1999 that state actions constituted genocide.<\/p>\n In some areas such as Baja Verapaz<\/a>, the Truth Commission found that the Guatemalan state engaged in an intentional policy of genocide against particular ethnic groups in the Civil War. In 1999, U.S. president Bill Clinton<\/a> said that the United States had been wrong to have provided support to the Guatemalan military forces that took part in these brutal civilian killings.<\/p>\n Since the peace accords Guatemala has had both economic growth and successive democratic elections, most recently in 2015. In the 2015 elections, Jimmy Morales<\/a> of the National Convergence Front<\/a> won the presidency. He assumed office on 14 January 2016.<\/p>\n Extensive and exhaustive details are provided about all phases of Guatemalan history elsewhere.<\/a><\/p>\n Guatemala is mountainous with small patches of desert and sand dunes, all hilly valleys, except for the south coast and the vast northern lowlands of Pet\u00e9n<\/a> department. Two mountain chains enter Guatemala from west to east, dividing Guatemala into three major regions: the highlands, where the mountains are located; the Pacific coast, south of the mountains and the Pet\u00e9n region, north of the mountains.<\/p>\n All major cities are located in the highlands and Pacific coast regions; by comparison, Pet\u00e9n is sparsely populated. These three regions vary in climate, elevation, and landscape, providing dramatic contrasts between hot, humid tropical lowlands and colder, drier highland peaks. Volc\u00e1n Tajumulco<\/a>, at 4,220 metres (13,850 feet), is the highest point in the Central American countries.<\/p>\n The rivers are short and shallow in the Pacific drainage basin, larger and deeper in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico drainage basins. These rivers include the Polochic<\/a> and Dulce Rivers<\/a>, which drain into Lake Izabal<\/a>, the Motagua River<\/a>, the Sarst\u00fan<\/a>, which forms the boundary with Belize, and the Usumacinta River<\/a>, which forms the boundary between Pet\u00e9n and Chiapas<\/a>, Mexico.<\/p>\n Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America, with a GDP (PPP) per capita of US$5,200. However, Guatemala faces many social problems and is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. The income distribution is highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line and just over 400,000 (3.2%) unemployed. The CIA World Fact Book considers 54.0% of the population of Guatemala to be living in poverty in 2009.<\/p>\n In 2010, the Guatemalan economy grew by 3%, recovering gradually from the 2009 crisis, as a result of the falling demands from the United States and others Central American markets and the slowdown in foreign investment in the middle of the global recession.<\/p>\n Remittances from Guatemalans living in United States now constitute the largest single source of foreign income (two-thirds of exports and one tenth of GDP).<\/p>\n Some of Guatemala’s main exports are fruits, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, cloths and others. In the face of a rising demand for biofuels, the country is growing and exporting an increasing amount of raw materials for biofuel production, especially sugar cane and palm oil. Critics say that this development leads to higher prices for staple foods like corn, a major ingredient in the Guatemalan diet. As a consequence of the subsidization of US American corn, Guatemala imports nearly half of its corn from the United States that is using 40 percent of its crop harvest for biofuel production. In 2014, the government was considering ways to legalize poppy and marijuana production, hoping to tax production and use tax revenues to fund drug prevention programs and other social projects.<\/p>\n The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 63%, followed by the industry sector at 23.8% and the agriculture sector at 13.2% (2010 est.). Mines produce gold, silver, zinc, cobalt and nickel. The agricultural sector accounts for about two-fifths of exports, and half of the labor force. Organic coffee, sugar, textiles, fresh vegetables, and bananas are the country’s main exports.<\/p>\n The 1996 peace accords that ended the decades-long civil war removed a major obstacle to foreign investment. Tourism has become an increasing source of revenue for Guatemala thanks to the new foreign investment.<\/p>\n Tourism has become one of the main drivers of the economy, with tourism estimated at $1.8 billion to the economy in 2008. Guatemala receives around two million tourists annually. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of cruise ships visiting Guatemalan seaports, leading to higher tourist numbers. Tourist destinations include Mayan archaeological sites (e.g., Tikal in the Peten, Quirigu\u00e1 in Izabal, Iximche in Tecpan Chimaltenango and Guatemala City), natural attractions (e.g., Lake Atitlan and Semuc Champey) and historical sites such as the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala<\/a>, which is recognized as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site.<\/p>\n Chicken buses<\/a>, recycled and often colorfully painted former US school buses, are popular within cities and for short-distance trips. There are a number of Guatemalan bus and van transport companies that most travelers use to get from the airport in Guatemala City to Antigua, Lake Atitlan in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and Monterrico<\/a> on the Pacific coast.<\/p>\n Some first class bus operators (such as Litegua between Guatemala City<\/a> and Puerto Barrios<\/a>, Fuente del Norte between Guatemala City and Flores, and Monja Blanca to Cob\u00e1n<\/a>) run safe, modern air-conditioned buses for longer distances.<\/p>\n Guatemala has 14,095 km or roadways with 4,863 km (including 75 km of expressways) paved.<\/p>\n There are no active railroads in Guatemala.<\/p>\n There are 11 airports with paved runways but the most important airport by far is La Aurora International Airport<\/a> serving Guatemala City and multiple international destinations.<\/p>\n The flag of Guatemala, often referred to as “Pabell\u00f3n Nacional” (literally, “National Flag”) or “Azul y Blanco” (“Blue and White”) features two colors: Sky blue and white. The two Sky blue stripes represent the fact that Guatemala is a land located between two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean sea); and the sky over the country (see Guatemala’s national anthem). The white signifies peace and purity. The blue and white colors, like those of several other countries in the region, are based on the flag of the former Federal Republic of Central America.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the center of the flag is the Guatemalan coat of arms<\/a>. It includes the resplendent quetzal<\/a>, the national bird of Guatemala that symbolizes liberty; a parchment scroll bearing the date of Central America’s independence from Spain, 15 September 1821; crossed rifles, indicating Guatemala’s willingness to defend itself by force if need be; a bay laurel crown, the symbol for victory; and crossed swords, representing honor. The flag is one of only four national flags of UN member states to feature a firearm, the others being those of Mozambique<\/a>, Haiti<\/a>, and Bolivia<\/a>.<\/p>\nHistory:<\/h2>\n
Pre-Columbian:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Colonial Era (1519\u20131821):<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Independence and the 19th Century (1821\u20131847):<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Republic Under Carrera (1847\u20131865):<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Vicente Cerna y Cerna Regime (1865\u20131871):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Vicente-Cerna-y-Cerna.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Liberal Governments (1871\u20131898):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Manuel-Lisandro-Barillas-Berci\u00e1n-203x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Jos\u00e9-Mar\u00eda-Reina-Barrios-164x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Manuel Estrada Cabrera regime (1898\u20131920):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Manuel-Estrada-Cabrera-231x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Minor-Cooper-Keith-217x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Jorge Ubico Regime (1931\u20131944):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Jorge-Ubico-Casta\u00f1eda-232x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Guatemalan Revolution (1944\u20131954):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Jacobo-\u00c1rbenz-300x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Coup and Civil War (1954\u20131996):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Dwight-D.-Eisenhower-240x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Memorial-to-the-Victims-of-the-R\u00edo-Negro-Massacres-300x169.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>1996\u20132000:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Queqch\u00ed-People-Carrying-Remains-After-an-Exhumation-in-Cambayal-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Guatemalan-Soldiers-300x194.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Since 2000:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Guatemalan-President-Jimmy-Morales.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Topographic-Map-of-Guatemala.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Guatemala-Export-Map-300x234.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Banana-Boat-300x169.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Guatemalan-Chicken-Bus-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Guatemala:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Flag-of-Guatemala-300x188.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/06\/Respledent-Quetzel-200x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>