Best Countries

Important facts

Capital: Guatemala (See more on SIMPLYYELLOWPAGES.COM)

Official language: Spanish

Currency: Quetzal

Continent: Central North America

The land of eternal spring

Between Mayan ruins, rainforests and black sand beaches. Guatemala offers many attractions for those who go on the trip.

Location

According to Countryaah, Guatemala is in Central America. The state borders Mexico and Belize to the north and Honduras and El Salvador to the south.

Region

The country is very interesting for tourists due to its diversity of landscapes. In the north there are Mayan sites in the middle of rainforests, the highlands are characterized by volcanoes, which are up to 4000 meters high, the Pacific coast is known for its dark sandy beaches and on the Caribbean coast is the beautiful lake Lado de Izabal.

Useful information

The official language is, as in most countries of the region Spanish. You should at least have basic knowledge, otherwise long communication problems can arise.

Do not stow any valuable items in your backpack during a bus trip, as large items of luggage are attached to the roof racks. In addition to buses, the country is also served by a rail network.

Currency

Currency (sub-unit)

Quetzal (100 Centavos)

ISO 4217 code

GTQ / 320

Geography

Continent: North America

Region: medium

Geo coordinates: N 15 ° 47 ‘0.5 ” W -90 ° -13’ -50.7″

Highest mountain: Volcan Tajumulco (4,211 m)

Total area: 108,890 km²

Mainland: 108,430 km²

National border: 1,687 km

Coastline: 400 km

Politics

Dependency: Spain until 1821

UN member since: 1945

Other political affiliation: Organization of American States

Form of government: Presidential Republic

Houses of Parliament: unikameral

Party system: Multi-party system

State building: decentralized

Political culture: Subject culture

Particularities: overall weak state institutions; lack of rule of law; widespread corruption; strong social division between Ladinos and indígenas, as well as urban and rural residents, also large poverty gap; politically motivated violence and high murder rate

Economy

Export goods: Coffee, cotton, sugar

BSP: $ 28,661,000,000

GDP: $ 27,123,000,000

GDP purchasing power parity: $ 57 billion

Economic growth: 3.7%

Inflation rate: 11%

Unemployment: 7.2%

State budget revenue: $ 3702000000

State budget expenditure: $ 4294967295

National debt: 27.2%

Export: $ 4,382,000,000

Import: $ 8.546 billion

Foreign debt: $ 5,744,000,000

Gold and currency reserves: $ 3,927,000,000

Electricity consumption: 6,706 million KWh

Gas reserves: 3,087 million m³

Oil reserves: 263 million m³

Oil production: 22,900 million m³

Oil consumption: 74,000 million m³

Cultivation area: 19.02%

Bovine: 2,690,000 pieces

Pigs: 730,000 pieces

Fishing: 15,400 t

Demographic data

Residents: 12,293,600

Residents in cities: 6,741,000

Minorities: 40% indigenous peoples

Average age: 18.9 years

0-14 years: 41.1%

15-64 years: 55.5%

> 65 years: 3.4%

Population growth: 2.27%

Birth rate: 29.88 / 1,000 residents

Death rate: 5.2 / 1,000 residents

Migration: -1.94 / 1,000 residents

Ratio men / women: 0.99

Fertility: 3.82 children / woman

Infant mortality: 30.44 ‰

Life expectancy men: 67.65 years

Life expectancy women: 71.18 years

Country codes and abbreviations

ISO 3166 Alpha 2: GT

ISO 3166 Alpha 3: GTM

ISO 3166 numeric: 320

Top Level Domain: gt

IOC country code: GUA

UN / LOCODE: GT

Source: Abbreviationfinder

Communication

Telephone connections: 1,190,000

Cell Phones: 2,730,000

Radios: 1,350,000

TV: 804,000

Computer: 254,000

Internet users: 1,110,000

Transportation

Railway lines: 886 km

Paved roads: 5,496 km

of which expressways: 101 km

Cars: 699,000

Pipelines: 480

Health

Number of doctors: 12,290

Daily food intake: 2,340 kcal / resident

HIV- infected people: 93,000

education

Illiteracy: 25%

History

Foundation: 900

Last sovereign since: 1821

Religion

Main religious group: Christians

Crime

Prison inmates: 8,900

Military

Armed forces (troop strength): 31,000

Defense Spending: $ 163.4 million

GETTING THERE

Arriving by plane

Flights are operated by Avianca (AV), Lufthansa (LH) (Internet: www.lufthansa.de), Austrian Airlines (OS) (Internet: www.aua.com) and Swiss International (LX) (Internet: www.swiss.com) in cooperation with other airlines, Aeromexico (AM) (Internet: www.aeromexico.com), American Airlines (AA) (Internet: www.aa.com) , Iberia (IB) and United Airlines (UA) (Internet: www.united.com). Iberia (Internet:www.iberia.de) flies directly from Madrid to Guatemala City. United Airlines (UA) flies from Zurich and Geneva via Washington-Dulles to Guatemala City.

Departure fee

US $ 30.

Arrival by car

The Panamericana runs from Mexico through Guatemala and El Salvador to South America. Additional connections exist from Cancun, San Cristobal Las Casas and Tapachula (all Mexico). Other highways lead from El Salvador and Honduras to Guatemala. Caution should be exercised due to possible robberies, criminal roadblocks and car theft, especially on the southern side of Lake Atitlan and the Panajachel-Guatemala road. Long- distance bus: There are bus connections with Ticabus (Internet: www.ticabus.com) from Guatemala to the neighboring states. You have to expect long waiting times at border crossings. Advance booking is required.

Arriving by train

There is currently no rail traffic.

Arrival by ship

International cruise lines including Norwegian Cruise Line (Internet: www.ncl.de), Holland America Line (Internet: www.hollandamerica.com), Radisson Seven Seas (Internet: www.rssc.com), Silversea Cruises (Internet: www.silversea .com) travel from North America, the Far East and Europe to Santo Tomás de Castilla and Puerto Quetzal.

ON THE GO

Traveling by plane

With more than 380 runways, the airplane is the most reliable means of transportation. Avianca (AV) offers scheduled flights to several cities. There are also private charter planes.

On the way by car / bus

The road network covers approximately 13,000 km, but only 3,117 km are paved and weatherproof. Many roads have a surface covering of volcanic ash that softens during the rainy season. There are several major roads, including expressways that connect Guatemala City to the major cities and ports on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Due to the activity of criminal gangs, special caution is required (for more information see Travel – International). Bus: Long-distance buses are inexpensive, but often overcrowded. Rental car:Various international companies offer their services. Prices are low, insurance is charged extra. You can also rent motorbikes. Inadequate road signs make orientation difficult. Taxi: There are standard fares in cities, but they are sometimes quite high. Taxis can also be hired by the hour. Licensed taxis can be recognized by license plates that begin with an “A” and the number on the doors. There are usually only taxi ranks in front of larger hotels. Taxis can either be pre-booked by phone or hailed in the street. Documents: A driver’s license for Guatemala will be issued upon presentation of the national driver’s license.

Traveling in the city

Guatemala City and other larger cities have a limited but inexpensive bus network.