According to Countryaah website, Guatemala has around 17.2 million residents.
Ethnic composition
Around 60% of the population of Guatemala are descendants of the Maya, another 35% are mixed race, the rest of the population is of European or Asian descent or is one of the descendants of escaped African slaves (Garífunas) living on the Caribbean coast. In addition, around 4,000 Germans live there, making them the largest German colony in all of Central America.
Religious affiliation
About 60% are Catholic, Protestants are about 35%.
The members in the religious sects (such as Seven Days of Adventists or Jehovah’s Witnesses), which are spread by missionaries mainly from the USA, is increasing sharply.
National language
Spanish is the official language, but the majority of the population speaks one of the 24 indigenous languages (including Kekchí, Quiché). Due to the very high illiteracy rate of over 40%, Guatemala is a developing country.
Capital, other cities
The capital of Guatemala is Guatemala City (Ciudad de Guatemala) with a population of approx. 4.3 million. According to Abbreviation Finder, GTM stands for Guatemala in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.
Other cities are:
Mixco with around 297,000 residents
Villa Nueva with around 218,000 residents
Quetzaltenango with around 112,000 residents
Escuintla with around 69,000 residents
Amatitlán with around 62,000 residents
Chinautla with around 62,000 residents
Guatemala: geography
Area, land use and boundaries
Guatemala is located in Central America and covers a total area of 108,889 km². Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Guatemala.
Thereof:
ForestAround 53% of the country is forested.
Meadow, pasture landAround 10% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
Fields and fieldsAround 10% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing maize and bananas
The country has a common border with a total of four states:
Mexico with a length of around 962 km
Belize a length of around 266 km
El Salvador with a length of around 203 km
Honduras with a length of around 256 km.
Coastline
Guatemala has a coast to the Atlantic (260 km) and the Caribbean (140 km) with a total length of around 400 km.
Tidal range in Puerto Barrios
In Puerto Barrios the mean tidal range is around 1.50 m.
For detailed explanations of ebb and flow, see Tides, Ebb and Flow.
Compare
The world’s highest tidal range can be found in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, where it is up to 16 m, and at spring tide even over 20 m. The Bay of Fundy is located on the Atlantic between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which is called Nova Scotia in German and whose capital is Halifax.
On the German North Sea coast it varies between 1 m and 3 m. In the western Baltic Sea, on the other hand, the tidal range is only 0.3 m, while it is barely noticeable in the eastern Baltic Sea.
Longitude and latitude
Guatemala extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):
Δφ = from around 13 ° 47 ‘to 17 ° 47’ north latitude Δλ = from around 88 ° 14 ‘to 92 ° 11’ west longitude
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.
Legal time
For Guatemala, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there and a plus sign that it is later than after CET:
Δt (CET) = – 7 h
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.
The highest point of the sun in Guatemala City
Guatemala City is located at a north latitude of around φ = 14.5 ° and thus in the tropics.
Provided that the declination of the sun has a value of 14.5 ° N, and thus the image point of the sun is exactly above the city or the Island, the sun is perpendicular to the city. This happens exactly twice a year, roughly 56 days after March 21 and 56 days before September 21 (for details see position of the sun).
Attention
If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Guatemala City, the sun is not in the south at noon, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.
mountains
Tajomulco volcano
The highest mountain in the country is the Tajomulco volcano with a height of 4,220 m.
Other high mountains are:
Atitlán volcano with a height of 3,537m
Tuliman volcano with a height of 3,258 m
Agua volcano with a height of 3,765 m
Rivers
Río Motagua
The longest river in the country is the Río Motagua with a length of around 400 km.
Río Polochic
Another large river in the country is the Río Polochic with a length of around 240 km
Lakes
Lago Izabal
The country includes numerous smaller and larger lakes. The largest lake is Lago Izabal with an area of about 590 km².
Lago Atitlán
Another larger lake is Lago Atitlán with an area of around 128 km²
Pacific and Caribbean
Guatemala borders in the southwest of the country with a length of about 260 km on the Pacific Ocean and in the northeast on the Caribbean Sea – with a length of about 140 km.
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is also known as the Pacific, Pacific, or Great Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean in the world. It stretches between the Arctic, North, Central and South America as well as the Antarctic, Australia, Oceania and Asia. It has a gigantic area of 166.24 million km² (not including secondary seas) and therefore covers around 35% of the entire surface of the earth. The ocean, which is larger than all the continents combined, goes at its deepest point in the Mariana Trench down to 11,034 meters below sea level. km to the Pacific Ocean, the largest and deepest ocean in the world. It stretches between the Arctic, North, Central and South America as well as the Antarctic, Australia, Oceania and Asia. It has a gigantic area of 166.24 million km² (not including secondary seas) and therefore covers around 35% of the entire surface of the earth. The ocean that is bigger than all the continents combined
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a marginal sea of the Atlantic and lies between the islands of the Caribbean and the American continent. In the west, Mexico and other Central American states border the Caribbean. In the south of Colombia and Venezuela. The border in the east and north form the following islands or archipelagos starting from Venezuela in a semi-circle to the “actual” Atlantic: Trinidad and Tabago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba. The shortest distance from Cuba to Key West/USA is around 165 km.
The deepest point in the Caribbean is the Cayman Rift between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands with a depth of 7,680 m. Together with the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean forms the “American Mediterranean”.
