Pre-Trip Information

The population of Guatemala is close to 14 million. Most of the country's population is rural, though urbanization is accelerating.

 

About half of Guatemalans are of indigenous ancestry.  They are the indigenous descendants of the historic Maya civilization and are sub-divided in the ethno-linguistic groups that include the K'iche, Kaqchikel, Mam, and Q'eqchi.   There are also other non-Mayan indigenous people who are part of this segment of the population.  Westernized Mayan and mestizos are culturally known as "ladinos" in Guatemala.  The rest of the population -- indeed, the other half -- are mestizos made of mixed European and indigenous ancestry, as well as some European descendants. 

The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, however, many members of the indigenous community have incorporated traditional forms of worship. Protestantism and traditional Maya religions are practiced by an estimated 30 percent of the population.

 

Though the official language is Spanish, it is not universally understood among the indigenous population. The peace accords signed in December 1996, following th e decades of civil strife, provide for the translation of some official documents and voting materials into several indigenous languages.  These indigenous languages include: 23 officially recognized  languages, such as those spoken by the K'iche, Kaqchikel, Mam, Q'eqchi, Garifuna, and Xinca.


Human Development

 

The population of Guatemala has a life expectancy at birth of 69.69 years years, according to recent estimates. The infant mortality rate of 29.77 deaths/1,000 live births, according to recent estimates. In terms of literacy, according to recent estimates, 69.1  percent of the population, age 15 and over, can read and write.  This number obfuscates some degree of gender variance, since 75.4 percent of males are literate while 63.3 percent of females are literate.  

 

Note that 5.7 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures in this country; 3.2 percent of GDP is spent on education.

 

Guatemala's indigenous population has been plagued by political repression and violence for most of its history. As noted in the "Political Conditions" of this review, racism, oppression, and other hardships have been endured by the country's indigenous people, most especially in the bloody years of civil war.

Ethnicity and socio-economics also appear to be related in Guatemala, with the indigenous population being disproportionately impoverished, as compared with the rest of the population.  A recent report by the United Nations mission in Guatemala warned that  difficult living conditions, as a result of crime, poverty and racism,  are still present today.  As well, a 2006 report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) referenced the fact that the Ladino population of Guatemala earned more than double the monthly income of indigenous people.  The UNDP also warned that Guatemala would have to resolve its "historically racist attitudes" towards indignous people, or risk social and political instability.   

One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Guatemala in the medium human development category, at 116th place.

Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.