Regional Geography
of [Guatemala/Central America]
Outline
- Physical Characteristics
- Relative location
- Landscape and Physical
Environment
- Weather and climate
- Human Characteristics
- Population, Density and
Age/Sex characteristics
- Language and religion
- Cultural/ethnic groups
- Economic Characteristics
- Major economic
activities
- Imports and Exports
- GNP and GNP per capita
- References
Physical
Characteristics
Relative
Location
Located just south of Mexico, in
the Central American region, lies Guatemala. Guatemala is one of the most
unique countries in Central America. According to the World Atlas website,
“Guatemala covers around 107,159 square kilometers of land and 1,730 square
kilometers of water” giving it a total area of around 108,889 square kilometers.
The neighboring countries of Guatemala are Belize, El Salvador, Honduras and
Mexico and has coastlines on the North Pacific Ocean and The Caribbean Sea.
Below is the location of the Central American region on a map showing Guatemala
and the surrounding countries.
Landscape
and Physical Environment
Guatemala has many different
environments and habitats due to the rage in elevation across the country.
According to an article written by the author of Moon Guatemala titled The
Terrain and Geography of Guatemala, there “are 14 distinct ecosystems found at
elevations varying from sea level to higher than 4200 meters”. Guatemala is
defined by two distinct coastlines and a mountainous rage through the center of
the country which is heavy in volcanic activity. Below is an image of an
elevation map of the country of Guatemala where the Highlands are distinct and
running West to East in the southern portion of Guatemala.
Weather
and Climate
Due to the wide differences in
elevation across the country of Guatemala, there are many different weather and
climate systems. According to the book Moon Guatemala “As elsewhere in
Guatemala, the determinant of climate is the altitude”. In other words, the
weather in the highlands tend to be cooler and damper than the coastal regions
and in lower elevated regions of the country. Below is a map of Guatemala
depicting all of the different koppen climate types in the country of
Guatemala.
Human
Characteristics
Population,
Density and Age/Sex characteristics
According to the World Population
Data Sheet 2019, the population in Guatemala was around 17.6 million; many of
the cities contain a large portion of the population in Guatemala. This same
source also tells the reader that the average life expectancy at birth for a
male is sixty nine years of age. For females in this region, the average life
expectancy at birth is around seventy six years of age and the average
household has around 4.8 people.
Language
and Religion
According to the book The Rough
Guide to Guatemala “Its’s estimated that around forty percent of the population
now belongs to one of several dozen US-based Protestant churches”. Some regions
of the country continue to practice the ancient practices of the Mayan religion
mainly in the indigenous highland villages of Guatemala. According to The Rough
Guide to Guatemala, the ending of the Civil conflicts in the region has led to
an increase in interest in Mayan spiritualism amongst the younger more educated
population. The surrounding countries in the central American region are
dominated by Christian based religions. According to the image below, religion
is also a very important aspect of life in the Central American region in
comparison to much of the world.
Cultural/ethnic
groups
Guatemala is a region of Central
America which has long struggled for economic and governmental improvements.
This region of the world has struggled with civil conflict for decades due to
the vast inequality of wealth distribution amongst the indigenous people.
According to the book World Regional Geography: Global Patterns, local lives
“Frustrated with governments unresponsive to their extreme plight, indigenous people
and other rural people in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador began
organizing protest movements in the 1970’s” (pg.183). Despite their protests
and efforts, the indigenous people did not see much improvement or assistance
from the people in positions of power.
Economic
Characteristics
Major
Economic Activities
As a growing economy, Guatemala is
invested in many economic sectors. According to Wikipedia Guatemala’s main
economic sectors are Manufacturing (20%), Commerce (18%), private services
(14%), and Agriculture (12%). Even though Guatemala is the third biggest
country in the central American region it has one of the worst inequalities of
wealth distribution. These vast differences in wealth have left a little over
half of the population living below the poverty line in 2011 according to the
International Fund for Agriculture.
Imports
and Exports
Guatemala imports and exports a
large amount of goods relative to its size. The main exports from Guatemala are
sugar, coffee, petroleum, apparel, bananas, multiple fruits and vegetables and
more. According to Wikipedia the main exports of Guatemala are fuels, machinery
and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, and
mineral products. According to Wikipedia in 2017 the value of Guatemala’s
imports were 17.11 billion dollars and around 11.2 billion in exports. The USA
is amongst some of the main import and export partners of Guatemala along with
the surrounding Central American countries like Honduras and Nicaragua.
GNP
and GNP per capita
According to Macrotrands.net the
GNP for Guatemala in 2018 was 76.01 Billion dollars which was a 10.72 percent
increase from the previous year. The same source tells us that in Guatemala the
GNP per capita in 2018 was 4,410$. Compared to the U.S GNP for 2018 which was
20,562.62 Billion with a per capita of 62,850. Comparing countries like this is
meant to illustrate size of economy even though these two countries have very
different population sizes. Guatemala has a relatively low GNP per capita
partially due to the percent of their population living in rural communities.
Below is a graph of the growth of the GNP in Guatemala from 1960-2018.
References
World
Regional Geography: Global Patterns, Local Lives
https://unomaha.instructure.com/files/2818751/download?download_frd=1
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/GTM/guatemala/gnp-gross-national-product
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Guatemala
Submitted by (Zach Boll) on (4/17/2020).