Guatemala
Guatemala (officially Republic of Guatemala) is a country in Central America, with its capital at Guatemala City, and is home to roughly 18.4M people.
Spanish is the official language; the currency in circulation is Guatemalan quetzal (Q); people from here are called Guatemalan.
- »Guatemala has more than thirty volcanoes, several of them active.
- »Over twenty Mayan languages are spoken alongside Spanish.
Guatemala touches four neighbours: Belize to the northeast, El Salvador to the southeast, Honduras to the east and Mexico to the northwest. Directions run from one centre to the other.
Guatemala City became capital in 1776 after earthquakes destroyed Antigua Guatemala, which had itself replaced an earlier capital destroyed by a volcanic mudflow.
108,505 km² (41,894 sq mi), 104th largest of 198 countries and territories on file, almost exactly the size of Cuba.
Population 18,406,359, 70th of 198 on file. That averages 170 per km² (439 per sq mi).
The resplendent quetzal on the coat of arms is the national bird and a symbol of liberty, it is said not to survive in captivity. The scroll bears the date of Central American independence.