Location:
This is a country situated in Central America and has as neighbors, Mexico in the north-west side, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and Caribbean Sea in east and Pacific Ocean in south.
Area/Surface:
108.900 km²
Population:
14.000.000 people
Capital:
Guatemala City 4.100.000 people
Currency:
Quetzal
Languages spoken:
Spanish and Maya dialects
Religion:
Roman-Catholic
Government form:
Republic, Democracy
Time zone:
-6 hours Greenwich time
Cars:
GT
Calling code:
+502
Guatemala
Relief, climate, tourism, name, fauna and flora of Guatemala:
Guatemala is a country with a mountainous relief, because two parts from three of the country’s territory is covered with two mountain chains with peaks over 3.000 m height. It’s also a volcanic relief, causing many earthquakes and a big part of the volcanoes are still active. Even if the country has a tropical and wet climate, the temperatures are varied. To the ocean the temperatures are around the value of 30º C, comparative with the mountain area where the elevation is over 1.800 m and the temperatures are between 10-16º C.
The tourism is an important activity of the country, because it is visited by more than 800.000 people annually. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com) The northern plain territories with a low altitude named El Peten are covered with tropical forests home for the biggest predacious from the Central America, the jaguar. Unfortunately the transportation forms are very poor and the access is difficult in the area. The Central American country obtained its independence from Spain in 1821, but in the 20th century a civil war begun and lasted for 36 years. The name comes from the Tlascaltecan soldiers of the Spanish explorer Pedro de Alvaro who named the country: Nahuatl Cuauhtemallan meaning place of many trees. Visit Guatemala!
Old Mayan ruins at Tikal historical site in Guatemala
