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The music of Guatemala is diverse. Music is played all over the country, even in the remotest corners. Towns also have wind and percussion bands -week processions, as well as on other occasions. The Garifuna people of Afro-Caribbean descent, who are spread thinly on the northeastern Caribbean coast, have their own distinct varieties of popular and folk music. Cumbia, from the Colombian variety, is also very popular. Dozens of Rock bands have emerged in the last two decades, making rock music quite popular among young people.

Guatemala also has an almost five-century-old tradition of art music, spanning from the first liturgical chant and polyphony introduced in 1524 to contemporary art music. Much of the music composed in Guatemala from the 16th century to the 19th century has only recently been unearthed by scholars and is being revived by performers.

Folk music[link]

Marimba[link]

Guatemalan marimba band

The marimba's first documentary evidence of existence comes from an account of a performance in front of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala, present-day Antigua Guatemala, in 1680. Later, historian Juan Domingo Juarros mentioned and described it in his Compendium of the History of Guatemala. The instrument however may be probably much older, as an attempt at recreating an older West African instrument, and could have been introduced by Afro-Caribbean slaves as early as 1550. [1]. The arch marimba was probably the first, followed by a simple instrument with a diatonic row of wood bars played with mallets, with gourd resonators, placed on a wooden a stand. In 1894 came a major breakthrough, when Julián Paniagua Martínez and Sebastián Hurtado developed the chromatic marimba, by adding to the diatonic row of sound bars, comparable to the white keys of the piano, a second row equivalent to the black keys. By the early 20th century, wooden-box resonators had replaced the gourd resonators. Modern marimba bands include a smaller marimba for three players, a larger marimba for four players, plus a drum kit or other percussion and a string bass. Some bands have occasionally employed one or two saxophones, as well as one or two trumpets and a trombone. Much of the older repertoire of salon music was learned and adopted by the marimba bands, while a sizable amount of new dance pieces was newly composed for the marimba by such composers and marimba players as Domingo Bethancourt (1906–82), the Ovalle brothers, the Hurtado brothers, as well as the famous Mariano Valverde (1884–1956), Wotzbelí Aguilar (1897–1940) and Belarmino Molina (1879–1950), to name but a few. Singer Paco Pérez (1917–1951) was catapulted to fame with his waltz "Luna de Xelajú", one of best-known marimba pieces which is regarded by many Guatemalans as a sort of unofficial national anthem.

Art music[link]

The field of art music, also known as "classical music", includes various musical styles such as Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, 20th century music, and post-modern music. Guatemala was one of the first regions of the New World to be exposed to European music. The Spanish missionaries and clergy introduced Flemish and Spanish liturgical music during the early 16th century as part of the Roman Catholic rite. The first cathedral (1534) at the newly founded city of Santiago de Guatemala was endowed with a choir in charge of plainchant and Latin polyphony. Later in the century, three chapel masters from the Iberian peninsula enriched the cathedral's repertoire with their compositions: Hernando Franco (1532–85), Pedro Bermúdez (1558–1605), and Gaspar Fernández (1566–1629). Scholars have shown that musical activity in the missons of Huehuetenango, in the northwestern mountains of present-day Guatemala, was significant. Native musicians learned the art of polyphonic composition from the missionaries and also contributed a number of villancicos in Spanish and local Mayan languages to the repertory of matins and vespers music at their parrish churches.

The main composers during the late baroque and pre-classical period were Guatemalan-born chapel masters of the cathedral, Manuel José de Quirós (d. 1765) and Rafael Antonio Castellanos (d. 1791). The latter successfully introduced Guatemalan folk-music elements in his vocal works, especially his villancicos for Christmas, which often show traits of Afro-Caribbean and Mayan rhythms, melodies, and accompaniment styles. His 176 extant works reflect Castellanos' mastery of the style of his time, as well as an unusual originality based on plainchant models, baroque part-writing, and the frequent inclusion folk-music idioms. Several of Castellanos' disciples attained mastery of the villancico and the cantata, as is reflected by extant works by Pedro Antonio Rojas, Manuel Silvestre Pellegeros, Francisco Aragón, and Pedro Nolasco Estrada Aristondo. The successor of the latter as chapel master of the cathedral was Vicente Sáenz, who served in that capacity from 1804 to his death in 1841. The organist during his tenure was his son Benedicto Sáenz the elder, who prematurely died in 1831.

Among the composers of classical style the most important Guatemalan composer is José Eulalio Samayoa (1781-ca. 1866), the first musician in the New World to write symphonies besides a sizable amount of church music. His Seventh Symphony, dedicated to the victory of the Federal Army at Xiquilisco in present-day El Salvador, is a model of classical balance. His later Sinfonía Cívica and Sinfonía Histórica are kept in an early romantic idiom, with frequent programmatic episodes. José Escolástico Andrino, who worked in Guatemala City, Havana, and El Salvador during the first half of the 19th century, also composed several symphonies. The brilliant young musician Benedicto Sáenz, the younger (d. 1857) on the other hand wrote much church music, such as his Messa Solenne published in Paris by advice of the Italian composer, Saverio Mercadante . At the same time, Sáenz and his brother Anselmo were the first to introduce Italian opera to Guatemala from 1843 on, an enterprise that after initial failures would turn into a huge success, leading to the construction of the magnificent National Theatre, later called Teatro Colón.

The late 19th century is represented in Guatemala by several trends: the aforementioned introduction of opera, the training abroad of several highly talented pianist-composers, the influence of military band music, and the invention and development of the chromatic marimba.

Piano music was enormously furthered by scholarships for study in Italy and France awarded to several young talents. Thus, Luis Felipe Arias (1876–1908), Herculano Alvarado (1879–1921), Julián González, and Miguel Espinosa could present piano music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Franz Liszt never heard before in Guatemala. They had also considerable influence on younger composers such as Rafael Vásquez, Alfredo Wyld and Rafael A. Castillo, all of whom flourished during the first decades of the twentieth century.

A group of composers furthered and instructed by the Prussian conductor and bandmaster, Emil Dressner, came from the realm of military bands and salon music. Germán Alcántara (1856–1911), Rafael Álvarez Ovalle (1855–1946), Manuel Moraga (1833–96), Julián Paniagua Martínez (1856–1946) and Fabián Rodríguez (1862–1929) contributed a number of salon pieces, opera fantasies, and dances to the repertoire of bands and pianists.

Another important achievement was the invention and development of the chromatic marimba in the highland town of Quetzaltenango in 1894, by Julián Paniagua Martínez and the marimba builder, Sebastián Hurtado. This new development made it possible to play the fashionable dance and salon music on the marimbas, which previously had been restricted to the diatonic scale. As a result, Guatemalan light music achieved an enormous dissemination at home and abroad by countless marimba bands that were formed from the beginning of the twentieth century. Much of the music of that time is still alive in the memorized repertoire of present-day marimba groups.

By the end of the nineteenth and in the first part of the 20th century, several composers developed a keen interest in Mayan mythology and folk music, on which they based their scenic and concert compositions. Jesús Castillo (1877–1946) was the first musician to collect a sizable amount of folk tunes, which he later used in works such as his opera Quiché Vinak, as well as ouvertures and symphonic poems. His half brother Ricardo Castillo (1891–1966) studied in Paris, where he acquired impressionistic and neo-classical techniques. His piano music, as well as his orchestral output, reflects the fusion of his contemporary art with Mayan mythology such as legends and myths from the Popol Vuh. José Castañeda (1898–1983) also took keen interest in the Mayan past in his stage works such as the ballet La serpiente emplumada (The Feathered Snake), premiered in 1958, while his two symphonies his string quartets are much more experimental.

Composers from the next generation, some of them Ricardo Castillo's and José Castañeda's students who could also profit from the teachings of the Austrian composer, Franz Ippisch, continued to focus on the autochthonous Guatemalan cultures. In their stage, vocal, and instrumental works, they have shown an interest in Mayan and Garifuna cultural elements, which they have stylized in different ways. Among these, Joaquín Orellana (b. 1930) has developed idiophones and aerophones derived from the marimba and other folk instruments, which he uses in some of his aleatory compositions that deal with the social strife of present-day ethnic groups. Among his former students, the Gandarias brothers have focused on electronic process of folk-music and bird calls recorded on site, producing several discs. At the beginning of the new millennium, two multimedia works by contemporary composer Dieter Lehnhoff, Memorias de un día remoto (Memories of a Distant Day) and Rituales nocturnos (Night Rituals) have evoked the Mayan past in a more contemporary style, being conceived as the soundtrack to an imaginary film. The sojourn of the Garifuna to Central American shores on the other hand is the subject of Satuyé, his opera in progress. Among the younger composers, several have written works in a variety of post-modern styles, often returning to traditional or free tonality in their vocal and instrumental compositions.

In 1930 comes to air radio TGW, the Voice Guatemala, first station of long wave. Later, in 1946, begins the time of the national broadcasting. In that period, the transmitters produced dramatized pieces, arose programs from quality that could compete with the foreigners; the broadcasting reached their maximum development. The station has had an entertainment focus, featuring artist such as: Paco Pérez, Gustavo Adolfo Palma, Juan de Dios Quezada, Manolo Rosales, Jorge Mario Paredes and Ernesto Rosales.

Music life[link]

Present-day Guatemala boasts a number of performing organizations, such as orchestras, choirs, chamber ensembles, opera troupes, soloists and dozens of rock bands.

The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional was founded in after the 1944 Revolution, transforming from an earlier government orchestra called Orquesta Progresista. For several years it was directed by the notable violinist, Andrés Archila. In 1964 a permanent conductor was appointed Ricardo del Carmen, who was joined in the early 1970s by Jorge Sarmientos, another music director. In 1991, after both conductors retired, the orchestra decided to dispense with a permanent music director, working only with guest artists. As a result, many of the orchestra's concerts are conducted by some of its members, who are not necessarily trained in orchestral conducting. This orchestra is endowed with subsidy from the government to cover salaries and expenses. It has yearly seasons, one of which includes international guests; the other seasons are popular and didactic in nature.

The Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil was founded in 1970 by Manuel Alvarado Coronado. It was a youth orchestra, and its members were students at different schools in Guatemala City. Without financial support, it was forced to develop its activities with the aid of parents.

The Orquesta Millennium is an independent organization founded in 1993 by Dieter Lehnhoff and Cristina Altamira. Initially called Nueva Orquesta Filarmónica, it played its first concert seasons in the Auditorium of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, as well as other locations. It made its first CD La Sociedad Filarmónica in 1993, with premiere recordings of works by Guatemalan classical composers José Eulalio Samayoa, José Escolástico Andrino, and Benedicto Sáenz, the younger. In 1998 it was appointed official orchestra of the City of Guatemala, under the protection of the Mayor and City Council, with the name of Orquesta Metropolitana. In 2004 it separated from the City government, became independent again, and changed its name to Millennium Orchestra. The Orchestra has recorded the highly successful CDs Valses inolvidables de Guatemala and Melodías inolvidables de Guatemala, both of them with music by Guatemalan composers.

The Orquesta Clásica was founded in the early 1990s. It is a private orchestra, which plays at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín for their classical season. Since the death of its original leader in 2003, it has been conducted by guests. In September 2007 the university cancelled all of the remaining season concerts and withdrew its support.

The Orquesta Sinfónica Jesús Castillo, a youth orchestra, was established in 1997, after a series of workshops conducted by a group of Venezuelan instrumental teachers. Its members are students of the National Conservatory and other privates academies. Its first Musical Director was Igor Sarmientos 1997–2007. This orchestra had the partial support of the government to cover their expenses until 2007.

Among the choirs active in Guatemala, the oldest organization is the Coro Nacional, founded after the 1944 Revolution as Coro Guatemala. Over the decades, it has introduced many works by European composers, as well as numerous Guatemalan songs and choral compositions. It is the only choral group with government support, and offers several yearly concert sasons.

The university choirs are also very important, and gather in yearly traditional choral festivals. There are also independent, and amateur choral organizations. At the beginning of the new millennium, several choirs of children and young have sprouted, not only in Guatemala City, but also in towns and rural areas.

There are several chamber ensembles such as wind quintets, string quartets, brass choirs, and groups specializing in baroque performance practices. Among these, the Millennium Ensemble has raised much attention by their first performances of Renaissance, baroque, and classical works from colonial Guatemala, which they have presented at festivals and concerts in Europe, North- and South America. Since their first CD, released in 1992, up to their twelfth CD Joyas del Barroco in Guatemala (2006), they have revived numerous works of 18th century composers as Manuel José de Quirós, Rafael Antonio Castellanos, and Pedro Nolasco Estrada Aristondo, with mezzosoprano Cristina Altamira performing villancicos and cantatas for different occasions of the Catholic liturgical year.

Opera has also regained favour, with yearly performances at local festivals in Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala. Guatemalan Baritone Luis Girón May (b. 1953) has been influential in obtaining significant sponsorships for the staging of several operas by Verdi and Puccini. Foreign opera companies also visit the country on occasion, performing in the magnificent National Theatre in Guatemala City or on historical locations in Antigua Guatemala.

Modern popular music[link]

In recent decades, Guatemala has produced a variety of popular performers, such as pop vocalists, Guatemalan rock bands, heavy metal groups, big bands, tropical salsa and merengue bands, hip hop and reggaeton crews, disk-jockeys, trios, and mariachi bands. The best known popsinger/songwriter from Guatemala is Ricardo Arjona. One of the better-known pop-rock bands during the 1980s and 90s was the group Alux Nahual. While this group has been separated since 1998, their recordings are still favoured by a certain age group of Guatemalan city-dwellers. Notable vocalists from the 20th century include Luis Galich, Roberto Rey, Herman May, Tania Zea, Karim May, and Elizabeth^{[disambiguation needed ]}.

Alternative Music in the 90s[link]

Bands suchs as Bohemia Suburbana, Viernes verde, La Tona and E.x.t.i.n.c.i.o.n. were the cornerstone for the alternative rock movement of the 90s, during the time of the post-war in Guatemala. This bands still enjoy a level of succes, mostly because during that time FM Radio (stations suchs as Doble S then renamed Atmosfera, FM Fenix, Metroestereo, La Marca) represented a huge push for rock bands. However there were also underground movements during the 90s that went the opposite direction; with bands suchs as Pusher (metal), Fuerza X (hardcore), Domestic Fool (punk) among others setting new styles outside the mainstream movements. Recently there has been a documentary called "Alternativa" which documents the alternative and Garra Chapina movement from the 90s to this day.

Today, the musical scene in Guatemala is populated by diverse bands and vocalists. Online radio '[http://www.elcircodelrock.com www.elcircodelrock.com promotes the diverse talent nationally and abroad, but it is still directed to a 90s audience.

Underground Music in Guatemala[link]

During the year 2006, the last Rock station on FM disappeared from the airwaves and there was no longer support from the media. As a result several hundreds of musicians started developing musical styles on underground movements and selfproducing, and also because of the lack of support from the media, the bands started promoting on the internet on sites such as Myspace.com and Rockrepublik.net and targeted on smaller audiences in more specific music genres, this also had as a consequence an overpopulation of musical projects which are still (nowadays) looking for a way to bring a new face to music in Guatemala.

In 2010 there are several projects which have been transcending among the overpopulated underground movement: Dubvolution on reggae dub. Evilminded in electronic Music. Treateth, Virus Belico, Metal Requiem and Zarkasmo in Metal. Los Mojarras and Xb'alanke in instrumental music. and several other artists such as None at Last, Assabeth, Silent Poetry, Trinky, Madam Funtoo and pop sensation Woodser

Perhaps the best known bands are Bohemia Suburbana, La Tona, Viernes Verde, Viento en Contra, Malacates Trebol Shop and El Tambor de la Tribu, although there are many others. Notable popular singers include a new generation of pop stars such as Tuco Cardenas (whose music gender is actually folk), Magda Angélica, Shery, Carlos Catania, Tavo Barcenas, Giovanni Passarelli, Raul Aguirre and Carlos Peña, just to name a few.

In Metal music there are bands like Treateth, Virus Belico, Celula, Zarcasmo, Metal Requiem, E.X.T.I.N.C.I.O.N., TOBA, Astaroth, A Walking Legend and to many others.

• Chapinlandia: Marimba Music of Guatemala. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2007. SFW CD 40542. [2]
• Valses inolvidables de Guatemala. Guatemala: ADESCA, 2000. Orquesta Metropolitana Millennium, Dieter Lehnhoff. [3]
• Tesoros musicales de la Antigua Guatemala. Guatemala: Universidad Rafael Landívar, 2003. Orquesta Millennium, Dieter Lehnhoff.
• Melodías inolvidables de Guatemala. Guatemala: Universidad Rafael Landívar, Fundación Soros-Guatemala, 2007. Orquesta Millennium, Dieter Lehnhoff. [4]
• Shery: El amor es un fantasma. Guatemala, C.A.: Creatorium Music, 2008. Shery
• Catania, Carlos: Nariz de Santo. Guatemala, C.A.: Strip Records, 2007.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Music of Guatemala

• Giovanni Passarelli: Tu lugar. Guatemala, C.A.: Talismano Musica, 2006. Giovanni Passarelli

References[link]

• Lester Godínez. La marimba Guatemalteca. Guatemala City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2003.
• Dieter Lehnhoff. "Guatemala." Diccionario de la Música Española e Hispanoamericana, 10 vols., ed. Emilio Casares Rodicio. Madrid: Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, 2000, 6/1-11. ISBN 84-8048-303-2
• Dieter Lehnhoff. Creación musical en Guatemala. Guatemala City: Editorial Galería Guatemala, 2005. ISBN 99922-704-7-0 [5]
• [6]
• "Music of the Garifuna,"(article in RootsWorld) [7]

[CAMPOS FONSECA, Susan: “Historia compensatoria y Filosofía: Un caso centroamericano”, en BABAB, Nº33, verano, España, 2008, ISSN · 1575-9385. Disponible en: http://www.babab.com/no33/susan_campos.php]

• Rockrepublik.net [www.rockrepublik.net]

External links[link]

Latin American music portal

• El Circo del Rock
• Rock Republik
• Musica.com.gt
• El Ritmo de la Paz

Republic of Guatemala República de Guatemala (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "El País de la Eterna Primavera" "The Land of the Eternal Spring"[1]
Anthem: Himno Nacional de Guatemala National anthem of Guatemala
Capital (and largest city)		Guatemala City 14°38′N 90°30′W / 14.633°N 90.5°W / 14.633; -90.5
Official language(s)		Spanish
Ethnic groups (2001)		Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish - in local Spanish called Ladino) and European 59.4% K'iche 9.1% Kaqchikel 8.4% Mam 7.9% Q'eqchi 6.3% other Mayan 8.6% indigenous non-Mayan 0.2% other 0.1%
Demonym		Guatemalan
Government		Unitary presidential Constitutional republic
-	President	Otto Pérez Molina
-	Vice President	Roxana Baldetti
Legislature		Congress of the Republic
Independence
-	from Spain	15 September 1821
-	Restored	1 July 1823
-	Current constitution	31 May 1985
Area
-	Total	108,889 km2 (107th) 42,042 sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.4
Population
-	July 2011 estimate	13,824,463 (69th)
-	July 2007 census	12,728,111
-	Density	129/km2 (85th) 348.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$74.709 billion[2]
-	Per capita	$5,069[2]
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$46.897 billion[2]
-	Per capita	$3,182[2]
Gini (2007)		55.1 (high)
HDI (2011)		0.574[3] (medium) (131st)
Currency		Quetzal (GTQ)
Time zone		CST (UTC−6)
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		GT
Internet TLD		.gt
Calling code		+502

Guatemala (ⁱ/ˌɡwɑːtəˈmɑːlə/ GWAH-tə-MAH-lə), officially the Republic of Guatemala (Spanish: República de Guatemala [reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala]), is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its area is 108,890 km² (42,043 mi²) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.

A representative democracy, its capital is Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City. Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.^[4] The former Mayan civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization, which continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish. The Mayas live in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, the southern part of Mexico and northern parts of El Salvador.

Guatemala became independent from Spain in 1821, joining the Mexican Empire. After it became an independent country in its own right, it was ruled by a series of dictators, assisted by the United Fruit Company. The late 20th century saw Guatemala embroiled in a 36-year-long civil war. Following the war, Guatemala has witnessed both economic growth and successful democratic elections. In the most recent election, held in 2011, Otto Pérez Molina of the Patriotic Party, won the presidency.

Etymology[link]

The origin of the name "Guatemala" is unclear, but several theories exist. "Guatemala" is derived from "Goathemala," which means "the land of the trees" in the Maya-Toltec language.^[5] In Nahuatl, this word can be analyzed as kʷaw 'tree' + te:mal 'bunch' + tla:n 'place of', which is probably a translation of k'i:ʔ-če:ʔ 'K'iche' (Quiché), meaning 'forest', or literally 'many' + 'trees' (Campbell 1997:378). ^[6] Another theory is that it comes from the Nahuatl expression "Cuauhtitlan," meaning "between the trees". "Cuauhtitlan" was the name the Tlaxcaltecan soldiers who accompanied Pedro de Alvarado during the Spanish Conquest gave to this territory. Lastly, there is a theory that it is the Spanish corruption of a Nahoa word "coactmoct-lan," meaning "land of the feathered serpent."^[7]

History[link]

Pre-Columbian[link]

The first evidence of human settlers in Guatemala demonstrates a presence at least as early as 12,000 BC. Some evidence suggests a presence as early as 18,000 BC, such as obsidian arrow heads found in various parts of the country.^[8] There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, but pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation was developed by 3500 BC.^[9] Sites dating back to 6500 BC have been found in Quiché in the Highlands and Sipacate, Escuintla on the central Pacific coast.

Archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the pre-Classic period (2000 BC to 250 AD), the Classic period (250 to 900 AD), and the Calistic from 900 to 1500 AD.^[10] Until recently the Pre-Classic was regarded as a formative period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts, and few permanent buildings. However, this notion has been challenged by recent discoveries of monumental architecture from that period, such as an altar in La Blanca, San Marcos, from 1000 BC; ceremonial sites at Miraflores and El Naranjo from 801 BC; the earliest monumental masks; and the Mirador Basin cities of Nakbé, Xulnal, El Tintal, Wakná and El Mirador.

El Mirador was by far the most populated city in pre-Columbian America.^{[citation needed]} Both the El Tigre and Monos pyramids encompass a volume greater than 250,000 cubic meters.^[11] Mirador was the first politically organized state in America, named the Kan Kingdom in ancient texts. There were 26 cities, all connected by Sacbeob (highways), which were several kilometers long, up to 40 meters wide, and two to four meters above the ground, paved with stucco, that are clearly distinguishable from the air in the most extensive virgin tropical rain forest in Mesoamerica.

Tikal Maya Ruins

The Classic period of Mesoamerican civilization corresponds to the height of the Maya civilization, and is represented by countless sites throughout Guatemala, although the largest concentration is in Petén. This period is characterized by heavy city-building, the development of independent city-states, and contact with other Mesoamerican cultures.

This lasted until around 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed.^[12] The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the central lowlands or were killed off by a drought-induced famine.^[13] Scientists debate the cause of the Classic Maya Collapse, but gaining currency is the Drought Theory discovered by physical scientists studying lakebeds, ancient pollen, and other tangible evidence.^[14] A series of prolonged droughts, among other reasons (such as overpopulation), in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya, who were primarily reliant upon regular rainfall.^[15]

The Post-Classic period is represented by regional kingdoms, such as the Itzá and Ko'woj in the lakes area in Petén, and the Mam, Ki'ch'es, Kack'chiquel, Tz'utuh'il, Pokom'chí, Kek'chi and Chortí in the Highlands. These cities preserved many aspects of Mayan culture, but would never equal the size or power of the Classic cities.

The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy, and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras, Guatemala, Northern El Salvador and to as far as central Mexico, more than 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to result from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest.

Colonial[link]

Calle del Arco in city of Antigua Guatemala

After arriving in what was named the New World, the Spanish started several expeditions to Guatemala, beginning in 1519. Before long, Spanish contact resulted in an epidemic that devastated native populations. Hernán Cortés, who had led the Spanish conquest of Mexico, granted a permit to Captains Gonzalo de Alvarado and his brother, Pedro de Alvarado, to conquer this land. Alvarado at first allied himself with the Kaqchikel nation to fight against their traditional rivals the K'iche' (Quiché) nation. Alvarado later turned against the Kaqchikel, and eventually held the entire region under Spanish domination.^[16] Several families of Spanish descent subsequently rose to prominence in colonial Guatemala, including the surnames de Arrivillaga, Arroyave, Alvarez de las Asturias, González de Batres, Coronado, Gálvez Corral, Mencos, Delgado de Nájera, de la Tovilla, and Varón de Berrieza.^[17]

During the colonial period, Guatemala was an Audiencia and a Captaincy General (Capitanía General de Guatemala) of Spain, and a part of New Spain (Mexico). ^[18] It extended from the modern Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas (including the then separate administration of Soconusco) to Costa Rica. Its main products were sugarcane, cocoa, blue añil dye, red dye from cochineal insects, and precious woods^{[citation needed]}.

The first capital was named Tecpan Guatemala, founded on July 25, 1524 with the name of Villa de Santiago de Guatemala and was located near Iximché, the Kaqchikel capital city. It was moved to Ciudad Vieja on November 22, 1527, when the Kaqchikel attacked the city. On September 11, 1541 the city was flooded when the lagoon in the crater of the Agua Volcano collapsed due to heavy rains and earthquakes, and was moved 4 miles (6 km) to Antigua Guatemala, on the Panchoy Valley, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This city was destroyed by several earthquakes in 1773–1774, and the King of Spain granted the authorization to move the capital to the Ermita Valley, named after a Catholic church to the Virgen de El Carmen, in its current location, founded on January 2, 1776.

Independence and 19th century[link]

Zunil

On September 15, 1821, the Captaincy-general of Guatemala (formed by Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras) officially proclaimed its independence from Spain and its incorporation into the Mexican Empire, which was dissolved two years later.^[19] This region had been formally subject to New Spain throughout the colonial period, but as a practical matter was administered separately. All but Chiapas soon separated from Mexico after Agustín I from Mexico was forced to abdicate.

The Guatemalan provinces formed the United Provinces of Central America, also called the Central American Federation (Federacion de Estados Centroamericanos). That federation dissolved in civil war from 1838 to 1840. Guatemala's Rafael Carrera was instrumental in leading the revolt against the federal government and breaking apart the Union.^[20] During this period a region of the Highlands, Los Altos, declared independence from Guatemala, but was annexed by Carrera, who dominated Guatemalan politics until 1865, backed by conservatives, large land owners and the church.^[21]

Guatemala's "Liberal Revolution" came in 1871 under the leadership of Justo Rufino Barrios, who worked to modernize the country, improve trade, and introduce new crops and manufacturing. During this era coffee became an important crop for Guatemala.^[22] Barrios had ambitions of reuniting Central America and took the country to war in an unsuccessful attempt to attain this, losing his life on the battlefield in 1885 against forces in El Salvador.

From 1898 to 1920, Guatemala was ruled by the dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera, whose access to the presidency was helped by the United Fruit Company. It was during his long presidency that the United Fruit Company became a major force in Guatemala.^[23]

1944 to the end of the civil war[link]

View of Antigua Guatemala from Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross), 2009

On July 4, 1944, dictator Jorge Ubico Castañeda was forced to resign his office in response to a wave of protests and a general strike. His replacement, General Juan Federico Ponce Vaides, was later also forced out of office on October 20, 1944 by a coup d'état led by Major Francisco Javier Arana and Captain Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. About 100 people were killed in the coup. The country was led by a military junta made up of Arana, Arbenz, and Jorge Toriello Garrido.

The Junta called Guatemala's first free election, which was won with a majority of 85% by the prominent writer and teacher Juan José Arévalo Bermejo, who had lived in exile in Argentina for 14 years. Arévalo was the first democratically elected president of Guatemala to fully complete the term for which he was elected. His "Christian Socialist" policies, inspired by the U.S. New Deal, were criticized by landowners and the upper class as "communist."

This period was also the beginning of the Cold War between the U.S. and the USSR, which was to have a considerable influence on Guatemalan history. From the 1950s through the 1990s, the U.S. government directly supported Guatemala's army with training, weapons, and money.

Guatemala City at night

In 1954, Arévalo's freely elected Guatemalan successor, Arbenz, was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état. He considered himself a socialist. After his land reform, the CIA intervened because it feared that a socialist government would become a Soviet beachhead in the Western Hemisphere.^[24] Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas was installed as president in 1954 and ruled until he was assassinated by a member of his personal guard in 1957. Substantial evidence points to the role of the American United Fruit Company (which changed its name in 1970 to Chiquita Brands International Inc) as instrumental in this coup, as the land reforms of Jacobo Arbenz were threatening the company's interests in Guatemala and it had several direct ties to the White House and the CIA. (See United Fruit Company – History in Central America).

In the election that followed, General Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes assumed power. He is most celebrated for challenging the Mexican president to a gentleman's duel on the bridge on the south border to end a feud on the subject of illegal fishing by Mexican boats on Guatemala's Pacific coast, two of which were sunk by the Guatemalan Air Force. Ydigoras authorized the training of 5,000 anti-Castro Cubans in Guatemala. He also provided airstrips in the region of Petén for what later became the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. Ydigoras' government was ousted in 1963 when the Guatemalan Air Force attacked several military bases. The coup was led by his Defense Minister, Colonel Enrique Peralta Azurdia.

Calle Santander tourist street in Panajachel, 2009

In 1966, Julio César Méndez Montenegro was elected president of Guatemala under the banner "Democratic Opening". Mendez Montenegro was the candidate of the Revolutionary Party, a center-left party which had its origins in the post-Ubico era. It was during this time that rightist paramilitary organizations, such as the "White Hand" (Mano Blanca), and the Anticommunist Secret Army, (Ejército Secreto Anticomunista), were formed. Those organizations were the forerunners of the infamous "Death Squads". Military advisers from the United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets) were sent to Guatemala to train troops and help transform its army into a modern counter-insurgency force, which eventually made it the most sophisticated in Central America.

In 1970, Colonel Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio was elected president. A new guerrilla movement entered the country from Mexico, into the Western Highlands in 1972. In the disputed election of 1974, General Kjell Laugerud García defeated General Efraín Ríos Montt, a candidate of the Christian Democratic Party, who claimed that he had been cheated out of a victory through fraud. On February 4, 1976, a major earthquake destroyed several cities and caused more than 25,000 deaths. In 1978, in a fraudulent election, General Romeo Lucas García assumed power.

The 1970s saw the birth of two new guerrilla organizations, The Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP) and the Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA), who began and intensified by the end of the seventies, guerrilla attacks that included urban and rural guerrilla warfare, mainly against the military and some of the civilian supporters of the army. In 1979, the U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, ordered a ban on all military aid to the Guatemalan Army because of the widespread and systematic abuse of human rights.

In 1980, a group of indigenous K'iche' took over the Spanish Embassy to protest army massacres in the countryside. The Guatemalan government launched an assault that killed almost everyone inside as a result of a fire that consumed the building. The Guatemalan government claimed that the activists set the fire and immolated themselves.^[25] However, the Spanish ambassador, who survived the fire, disputed this claim, claiming that the Guatemalan police intentionally killed almost everyone inside and set the fire to erase traces of their acts. As a result of this incident, the government of Spain broke diplomatic relations with Guatemala.

This government was overthrown in 1982. General Efraín Ríos Montt was named President of the military junta, continuing the bloody campaign of torture, forced disappearances, and "scorched earth" warfare. The country became a pariah state internationally. Ríos Montt was overthrown by General Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, who called for an election of a national constitutional assembly to write a new constitution, leading to a free election in 1986, which was won by Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, the candidate of the Christian Democracy Party.

In 1982, the four guerrilla groups, EGP, ORPA, FAR and PGT, merged and formed the URNG, influenced by the Salvadoran guerrilla FMLN, the Nicaraguan FSLN and Cuba's government, in order to become stronger. As a result of the Army's "scorched earth" tactics in the countryside, more than 45,000 Guatemalans fled across the border to Mexico. The Mexican government placed the refugees in camps in Chiapas and Tabasco.

In 1992, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Rigoberta Menchú for her efforts to bring international attention to the government-sponsored genocide against the indigenous population.

1996 to today[link]

Outdoor market in Chichicastenango, 2009

The Guatemalan Civil War ended in 1996 with a peace accord between the guerrillas and the government, negotiated by the United Nations through intense brokerage by nations such as Norway and Spain. Both sides made major concessions. The guerrilla fighters disarmed and received land to work. According to the U.N.-sponsored truth commission the ("Commission for Historical Clarification"), government forces and state-sponsored paramilitaries were responsible for over 93% of the human rights violations during the war.^[26] Over the last few years, millions of documents related to crimes committed during the civil war were found abandoned by the former Guatamelan police. Among millions of documents found, there was evidence that the former police chief of Guatemala, Hector Bol de la Cruz had been involved in the kidnapping and murder of 27-year-old student Fernando Garcia in 1984. The evidence was used to prosecute the former police chief. The families of over 45.000 Guatemalan activists are now reviewing the documents (which have been digitalized) and this could lead to further legal actions. Paradoxically, the current democratically elected president, Otto Pérez Molina, could be a barrier to further legal action as he, a retired general, was the head of intelligence in Guatemala during the civil war.^[27]

During the first ten years, the victims of the state-sponsored terror were primarily students, workers, professionals, and opposition figures, but in the last years they were thousands of mostly rural Mayan farmers and non-combatants. More than 450 Mayan villages were destroyed and over 1 million people became displaced within Guatemala or refugees. Over 200,000 people, mostly Mayan, were killed during the civil war.^{[28][copyright violation?][29]}

In certain areas, such as Baja Verapaz, the Truth Commission considered that the Guatemalan state engaged in an intentional policy of genocide against particular ethnic groups in the Civil War.^[26]

In 1999, U.S. president Bill Clinton stated that the United States was wrong to have provided support to Guatemalan military forces that took part in the brutal civilian killings.^[30]

Since the peace accords, Guatemala has witnessed both economic growth, development, and successive democratic elections; most recently in 2011. In the 2011 elections, Otto Pérez Molina of the Patriotic Party, won the presidency. He assumed office on January 14, 2012. He names Roxana Baldetti as his vicepresident.

The estimated median age in Guatemala is 20 years old, 19.4 for males and 20.7 years for females.^[31] This is the lowest median age of any country in the Western Hemisphere and comparable to most of central Africa and Iraq.

Politics[link]

Guatemala is a constitutional democratic republic whereby the President of Guatemala is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of the Republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Otto Perez Molina is the President of Guatemala.

Departments and municipalities[link]

Departments of Guatemala

Map of Guatemala

Guatemala is divided into 22 departments (departamentos) and sub-divided into about 334 municipalities (municipios).

The departments are:

Guatemala is heavily centralized. Transportation, communications, business, politics, and the most relevant urban activity takes place in Guatemala City. Guatemala City has about 2 million inhabitants within the city limits and more than 5 million within the urban area. This is a significant percentage of the population (14 million).^[31]

Geography[link]

The highlands of Quetzaltenango

Guatemala lies between latitudes 13° and 18°N, and longitudes 88° and 93°W.

The country is mountainous with small desert and sand dune patches, hilly valleys filled with people, except for the south coastal area and the vast northern lowlands of Petén department. Two mountain chains enter Guatemala from west to east, dividing the country into three major regions: the highlands, where the mountains are located; the Pacific coast, south of the mountains; and the Petén region, north of the mountains. All major cities are located in the highlands and Pacific coast regions; by comparison, Petén is sparsely populated. These three regions vary in climate, elevation, and landscape, providing dramatic contrasts between hot, humid tropical lowlands and colder, drier highland peaks. Volcán Tajumulco, at 4,220 m, is the highest point in the Central American states.

The rivers are short and shallow in the Pacific drainage basin, larger and deeper in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico drainage basins, which include the Polochic and Dulce Rivers, which drain into Lake Izabal, the Motagua River, the Sarstún that forms the boundary with Belize, and the Usumacinta River, which forms the boundary between Petén and Chiapas, Mexico.

Guatemala has long claimed all or part of the territory of neighbouring Belize, formerly part of the Spanish colony, and currently an independent Commonwealth Realm which recognises Queen Elizabeth II as its Head of State. Due to this territorial dispute, Guatemala recognized Belize's independence until 1990, but the dispute is not resolved. Negotiations are currently underway under the auspices of the Organization of American States and the Commonwealth of Nations to conclude it.^[32][33]

Natural disasters[link]

Guatemala's location between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for hurricanes, such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane Stan in October 2005, which killed more than 1,500 people. The damage was not wind related, but rather due to significant flooding and resulting mudslides. The most recent was Tropical Storm Agatha in late May 2010 that killed more than 200.

A town along the Pan-American Highway and in close proximity to a volcanic crater

Guatemala's highlands lie along the Motagua Fault, part of the boundary between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. This fault has been responsible for several major earthquakes in historic times, including a 7.5 magnitude tremor on February 4, 1976, which killed more than 25,000 people. In addition, the Middle America Trench, a major subduction zone lies off the Pacific coast. Here, the Cocos Plate is sinking beneath the Caribbean Plate, producing volcanic activity inland of the coast. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, four of them are active: Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego and Tacaná. Fuego and Pacaya erupted in 2010.

Natural disasters have a long history in this geologically active part of the world. For example, two of the three moves of the capital of Guatemala have been due to volcanic mudflows in 1541 and earthquakes in 1773.

Volcano Pacaya[link]

On Thursday May 27, 2010, the Pacaya volcano started erupting lava and rocks, blanketing Guatemala City with black sand (and forcing the closure of the international airport). It was declared a "state of calamity." The Pacaya volcano left about 8 cm (3 in) of ash and sand through all of Guatemala City. Cleaning works are done.

Biodiversity[link]

Lake Atitlán

The country has 14 ecoregions ranging from mangrove forests to both ocean littorals with 5 different ecosystems. Guatemala has 252 listed wetlands, including 5 lakes, 61 lagoons, 100 rivers, and 4 swamps.^[34] Tikal National Park was the first mixed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Guatemala is a country of distinct fauna. It has some 1246 known species. Of these, 6.7% are endemic and 8.1% are threatened. Guatemala is home to at least 8681 species of vascular plants, of which 13.5% are endemic. 5.4% of Guatemala is protected under IUCN categories I-V.^{[citation needed]}

In the department of Petén lies the Maya Biosphere Reserve of 2,112,940 ha,^[35] making it the second largest forest in Central America after Bosawas.

Demographics[link]

Tz'utujil men in Santiago Atitlán

Guatemalan women in Antigua Guatemala

According to the CIA World Fact Book, Guatemala has a population of 13,824,463 (2011 est). About 59% of the population is Ladino, also called Mestizo and European (mixed Amerindian and Spanish). Whites are a noticeably much smaller community (>1%), primarily of Spanish, but also those of Italian, German, British and Scandinavian descent. Amerindian populations include the K'iche' 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 7.9% and Q'eqchi 6.3%. 8.6% of the population is "other Mayan," 0.4% is indigenous non-Mayan, making the indigenous community in Guatemala about 40.5% of the population.^[31]

There are smaller communities present. The Garífuna, who are descended primarily from Black Africans who lived with and intermarried with indigenous peoples from St. Vincent's, live mainly in Livingston and Puerto Barrios. Those communities have other blacks and mulattos descended from banana workers. There are also Asians, mostly of Chinese descent.Other Asian groups include Arabs of Lebanese and Syrian descent. There is also a growing Korean community in Guatemala City and in nearby Mixco, currently numbering about 10,000.^[36] Guatemala's German population is credited with bringing the tradition of a Christmas tree to the country.^[37]

In 1900, Guatemala had a population of 885,000.^[38] Over the course of the twentieth century the population of the country grew, the fastest growth in the Western Hemisphere. The ever-increasing pattern of emigration to the U.S. has led to the growth of Guatemalan communities in California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Texas, Rhode Island and elsewhere since the 1970s.^[39]

Largest cities[link]

v t e Largest cities or towns of Guatemala http://www.geonames.org/GT/largest-cities-in-guatemala.html
	Rank	City name	Department	Pop.
Guatemala City Mixco	1	Guatemala City	Guatemala	994 938	Villa Nueva Villa Nueva Petapa Petapa
	2	Mixco	Guatemala	473 080
	3	Villa Nueva	Guatemala	406 830
	4	Petapa	Guatemala	141 455
	5	San Juan Sacatepéquez	Guatemala	136 886
	6	Quetzaltenango	Quetzaltenango	132 230
	7	Villa Canales	Guatemala	122 194
	8	Escuintla	Escuintla	103 165
	9	Chinautla	Guatemala	97 172
	10	Chimaltenango	Chimaltenango	82 370

Diaspora[link]

The Civil War forced many Guatemalans to start lives outside of their country. The majority of the Guatemalan diaspora is located in the United States, with estimates ranging from 480,665^[40] to 1,489,426.^[41] The difficulty in getting accurate counts for Guatemalans abroad is because many of them are refugee claimants awaiting determination of their status.^[42] Below are estimates for certain countries:

Country	Count
USA	480,665[40] – 1,489,426[41]
Mexico	23,529[41] – 190,000[citation needed]
Belize	14,693[41]
Canada	14,256[41] – 34,665[43]
Germany	5,989[41]
Honduras	5,172[41]
El Salvador	4,209[41]
Spain	2,491[41] – 5,000[44]

Economy[link]

An indoor market in Zunil

According to the CIA World Factbook, Guatemala's GDP (PPP) per capita is US$5,200; however, this developing country still faces many social problems and is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line and just over 400,000 (3.2%) unemployed. The CIA World Fact Book considers 56.2% of the population of Guatemala to be living in poverty.^[31][45]

Remittances from Guatemalans who fled to the United States during the civil war now constitute the largest single source of foreign income (two thirds of exports and one tenth of GDP).^[31]

In recent years the exporter sector of nontraditional products has grown dynamically representing more than 53% of global exports. Some of the main products for export are fruits, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, cloths and others.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2010 was estimated at $70.15 billion USD. The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 63%, followed by the industry sector at 23.8% and the agriculture sector at 13.2% (2010 est.). Mines produce gold, silver, zinc, cobalt and nickel.^[46] The agricultural sector accounts for about two-fifths of exports, and half of the labor force. Organic coffee, sugar, textiles, fresh vegetables, and bananas are the country's main exports. Inflation was 3.9% in 2010.

The 1996 peace accords that ended the decades-long civil war removed a major obstacle to foreign investment. Tourism has become an increasing source of revenue for Guatemala.

In March 2006 Guatemala's congress ratified the Dominican Republic – Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) between several Central American nations and the United States.^[47] Guatemala also has free trade agreements with Taiwan and Colombia.

Culture[link]

Guatemalan girls in their traditional clothing in Chichicastenango

Guatemala City is home to many of the nation's libraries and museums, including the National Archives, the National Library, and the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, which has an extensive collection of Maya artifacts. There are private museums, such as the Ixchel, which focuses on textiles, and the Popol Vuh, which focuses on Maya archaeology. Both museums are housed inside the Universidad Francisco Marroquín campus. Almost each of the 329 municipalities in the country has a small museum.

Art[link]

Guatemala has produced many indigenous artists who follow centuries-old Pre-Columbian traditions. However, reflecting Guatemala's colonial and post-colonial history, encounters with multiple global art movements also have produced a wealth of artists who have combined the traditional so-called "primitivism" or "naive" aesthetic with European, North American, and other traditions. The Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas "Rafael Rodríguez Padilla" is the country's leading art school, and several leading indigenous artists, also graduates of that school, are in the permanent collection of the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno in the capital city. Contemporary Guatemalan artists who have gained reputations outside of Guatemala include Dagoberto Vásquez, Luis Rolando Ixquiac Xicara, Carlos Mérida,^[48] Aníbal López, Roberto González Goyri, and Elmar René Rojas.^[49]

Literature[link]

The Iglesia de Santo Tomás, a church built around 1545

The Guatemala National Prize in Literature is a one-time only award that recognizes an individual writer's body of work. It has been given annually since 1988 by the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Miguel Ángel Asturias won the literature Nobel Prize in 1967. Among his famous books is El Señor Presidente, a novel based on the government of Manuel Estrada Cabrera.

Rigoberta Menchu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting oppression of indigenous people in Guatemala, is famous for her books I, Rigoberta Menchu and Crossing Borders.

Music[link]

The Music of Guatemala comprises a number of styles and expressions. Guatemalan social change has been empowered by music scenes such as Nueva cancion, which blend together histories, present day issues, and political values and struggles of common people. The Maya had an intense musical practice, as is documented by iconography. Guatemala was also one of the first regions in the New World to be introduced to European music, from 1524 on. Many composers from the Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary music styles have contributed works of all genres. The marimba is the national instrument that has developed a large repertoire of very attractive pieces that have been popular for more than a century.

The Historia General de Guatemala has published a series of CDs of historical Music of Guatemala, in which every style is present, from the Maya, colonial period, independent and republican eras to current times. There are many contemporary music groups in Guatemala from Caribbean music, salsa, punta (Garifuna influenced), Latin pop, Mexican regional, and mariachi. There is also a vibrant scene for what is known in the Hispanic world as rock en Español (Rock in Spanish).

Language[link]

Language Map of Guatemala, according to the Comisión de Oficialización de los Dialectos Indígenas de Guatemala. The "Castilian" areas represent Spanish.

Although Spanish is the official language, it is not universally spoken among the indigenous population, nor is it often spoken as a second language by the elderly indigenous. Twenty-one Mayan languages are spoken, especially in rural areas, as well as two non-Mayan Amerindian dialects, Xinca, an indigenous dialect, and Garifuna, an Arawakan dialect spoken on the Caribbean coast. According to Decreto Número 19-2003, twenty-three dialects are unrecognized as National Languages.^{[50][not in citation given (See discussion.)]}

As a first and second language, Spanish is spoken by 93% of the population. The peace accords signed in December 1996 provide for the translation of some official documents and voting materials into several indigenous languages (see summary of main substantive accords) and mandate the provision of interpreters in legal cases for non-Spanish speakers. The accord also sanctioned bilingual education in Spanish and indigenous languages. It is common for indigenous Guatemalans to learn or speak between two to five of the nation's other languages, and Spanish.^{[citation needed]}

Religion[link]

Catedral Metropolitana in Guatemala City

In Guatemala 50–60% of the population is Catholic, 40% Protestant, 3% Eastern Orthodox and 1% follow the indigenous Mayan faith.^{[51][not in citation given]} Catholicism was the official religion during the colonial era.^[when?] However, Protestantism has increased markedly in recent decades. More than one third of Guatemalans are Protestant, chiefly Evangelicals and Pentecostals. It is common for relevant Mayan practices to be incorporated into Catholic ceremonies and worship when they are sympathetic to the meaning of Catholic belief a phenomenon known as inculturation.^[52][53] The practice of traditional Mayan religion is increasing as a result of the cultural protections established under the peace accords. The government has instituted a policy of providing altars at every Mayan ruin found in the country so that traditional ceremonies may be performed there.

Antigua Guatemala Processions

There are also small communities of Jews estimated between 1200 and 2000,^[54] Muslims (1200), Buddhists at around 9000 to 12000,^[55] and members of other faiths and those who do not profess any faith.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently has over 215,000 members in Guatemala, accounting for approximately 1.65% of the country's estimated population in 2008.^[56] The first member of the LDS Church in Guatemala was baptized in 1948. Membership grew to 10,000 by 1966, and 18 years later, when the Guatemala City Temple^[57][58] was dedicated in 1984, membership had risen to 40,000. By 1998 membership had quadrupled again to 164,000.^[56] The LDS Church continues to grow in Guatemala; it has announced and begun the construction of the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple,^[59] the LDS Church's second temple in the country.^[60]

Recently, it was announced that 520,000 members of the Orthodox Catholic Church of Guatemala (OCCG) were received into communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The OCCG has an approximate membership of 527,000 faithful and catechumens, overwhelmingly indigenous, with 334 churches in Guatemala and southern Mexico, with 12 (formerly OCCG) clergymen and 14 seminarians, who are assisted in their pastoral ministry by 250 lay ministers and 380 catechists. The administrative offices of the OCCG are located on 280 acres (113 ha) of land, with a community college and 2 schools with 12 professors/teachers. Additionally, the OCCG has an established monastery located on 480 acres (194 ha) of land. Fourteen students from Guatemala, with full scholarship, are now enrolled in the St. Gregory Nazianzen Orthodox Theological Institute Licentiate degree program. The seminary is fully accredited by the Holy Metropolis’ Department of Education.

Church in San Andrés Xecul

Funeral traditions[link]

When people pass away in Guatemala, they are usually buried as soon as possible, so as to provide a quick passage to heaven. Funerals generally include candles and rum, and despite the local superstition that loud mourning and crying will slow down the deceased's journey to the next world; mourners usually cry very loudly, except at funerals for children. Deceased are buried with their treasured items to dissuade them from returning to haunt the people.^{[citation needed]}

Education[link]

The government runs a number of public elementary and secondary-level schools. These schools are free, though the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, and transportation makes them less accessible to the poorer segments of society and significant numbers of poor children do not attend school. Many middle and upper-class children go to private schools. The country also has one public university (USAC or Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala), and nine private ones (see List of universities in Guatemala). USAC was one of the first universities in America. It was officially declared a university on January 31, 1676 by royal command of King Charles II of Spain. Only 74.5% of the population aged 15 and over are literate, the lowest literacy rate in Central America. Although it has the lowest literacy rate, Guatemala is expected to change this within the next 20 years.^[61] Schools such as Saint Joseph's College of Maine travel to villages such as Nueva de Concepcion to teach English and construct clinics in the village.

Health[link]

Medical anthropology and pluralism[link]

In the 1950s, medical anthropologists such as Richard N. Adams, Benjamin D. Paul, and Lois Paul wrote monographs dedicated to the Maya medical beliefs and practices. Richard N. Adams, albeit secondary to his work, described the chasm between Maya medical beliefs and practices and Western science, and showed why Mayans rejected projects applied by the Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama (INCAP). His work is seen as setting the stage for four decades for medical anthropology in Guatemala by diagnosing the communication breakdown caused by “ignorance of local beliefs and practices.” Many of those once affiliated with INCAP have since published works on various topics of interest to medical anthropology in Guatemala.

In the 20th century, several things came to undermine the indigenous way of practicing medicine. First, the religious persecution first administered by Catholic Action, then Protestant evangelical religions, and finally by Catholic Charismatics resulted in the prohibition of their members from consulting traditional healers. Secondly, certain elements of Guatemalan society systematically killed the upper rank of the Maya priests. Third, starting in the 1980s, the Guatemalan national health care system, based heavily on Western medicine, began to suppress traditional healers by banning them from practicing. While the health care system made efforts to train local midwives, some persons accused those programs of not giving culturally appropriate, high-quality services.

The disparity between Western biomedicine and traditional care has created tensions, i.e., NGO programs primarily focus today on those with higher education levels—those who speak Spanish—and rivalries hamper communication between Western-trained health care providers and traditional practitioners. Additionally, the medical professionals of Western biomedicine neglect the social experience of the patients, as well as the social construction of disease. Studies conducted in Mexico, Guatemala, and other rural areas support the position that many Western biomedical practitioners shun remote areas either because they cannot earn enough money there or because they discriminate against ethnic minorities.

Today, patients must choose between the two systems based on the complex conditions surrounding the ailment and decide which medical system most likely will provide a cure for their ailment.^[62]

Laureates[link]

Rigoberta Menchú won the Nobel Peace prize in 1992 for her very important work in favor of the Mayan people, and the Mayan refugees in Mexico and the US. Miguel Ángel Asturias won the Nobel prize in Literature in 1967 for his novel El Señor Presidente, which was controversial during Guatemala's civil war. Such novel portrayed the horrors endured by Guatemalans during their military-controlled governments.

Journalism[link]

There are seven national newspapers in Guatemala, one of them online-only, all of them in Spanish. Also five national television channels, two news programs, and many local radio news programs. Among the most known news programs in radio there are Patrullaje Informativo, Radio Sonora and radio periódico "El Independiente" from Nuevo Mundo Radio. The newspapers are: Al Día, the government official Diario de Centroamérica, La Hora, Plaza Pública, Prensa Libre, Nuestro Diario and Siglo.21. The news programs on TV are Noti7, Telecentro Trece and Noticiero Guatevision. The Guatemala Times is a Digital English news magazine. The Guatemala Times

Cayala City, Zone 16

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	North America portal
	Latin America portal
	Guatemala portal

• Outline of Guatemala
• Bibliography of Guatemala
• Index of Guatemala-related articles
• International rankings of Guatemala
• List of Guatemalans
• List of places in Guatemala

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Harry E. Vanden; Gary Prevost, ed. (2002). "Chapter Ten: Guatemala". Politics of Latin America: The Power Game. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512317-4. 

External links[link]

Find more about Guatemala on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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• Guatemala Memory of Silence Tx'inil Na'tab'al Report of the (United Nations) Commission for Historical Clarification: Conclusions and Recommendations
• Guatemala Map Search with Longitude and Latitude
• Government of Guatemala (Spanish)
• Chief of State and Cabinet Members
• Guatemala entry at The World Factbook
• Guatemala at UCB Libraries GovPubs
• Guatemala at the Open Directory Project
• Wikimedia Atlas of Guatemala
• Guatemala travel guide from Wikitravel
• Key Development Forecasts for Guatemala from International Futures

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Gaby Moreno and Ricardo Arjona

.

Gaby Moreno (born Maria Gabriela Moreno) is originally from Guatemala City, Guatemala and is an award-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist. She now resides in Los Angeles, California.

Biography[link]

She born in Guatemala City. Is a jazz, soul and blues singer-songwriter

Critical praise[link]

KCRW's Ariana Morgernstern, Producer of Morning Becomes Eclectic, featured Moreno in an October 2008 podcast and bestowed "Today's Top Tune" status on her song "Song of You." She said she was "caught by surprise with its organic and understated feel. She sings beautifully both in English and Spanish."^[1]

NPR.org reviewed Moreno's debut record Still the Unknown and said: "Whether Moreno decides to stick with pop, soul or Latin (or a fusion of all three) for future releases, Still the Unknown is a promising debut that indicates she won't go unnoticed for much longer." NPR.org - Gaby Moreno Song of You ^[2]

In 2006, she won the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest with her song “Escondidos,” first in the Latin category, then overall.

In July 2010 Moreno was nominated alongside her co-writer Vincent Jones for an Emmy in the category of "Outstanding Main Title Theme Music" for their theme song to NBC's "Parks and Recreation.".^[3]

In 2010 Moreno was awarded "Favorite American Latino Indie Artist" at the American Latino Awards (run by American Latino TV).

2011 Critical Praise:

• "Gaby Moreno’s soulful vocals and ability to switch languages and genres have made her a rising star.” -NPR All Things Considered ^[4]

• "The Guatemalan songwriter Gaby Moreno plucked ragtimey syncopations on a well-worn acoustic guitar, and let loose a tangy, bluesy voice with the feistiness of Édith Piaf."- NY Times ^[5]

• "Moreno's breathtaking voice is passionate and stylistically malleable, as she glides back and forth easily between bossa nova and bluesy rock."-NPR Tiny Desk Concerts ^[6]

• “This Guatemalan American singer-songwriter alternates fluidly between languages, whether spoken (English and Spanish) or musical, easing in and out of everything from folksy alt country to retro blues rock …Plucky, quirky and insightful, Moreno has the grace and the skill to make it big.” – Rhapsody: #3 Top 10 Latin Alt Albums of Spring 2011 ^[7]

• “Our little secret is neither little nor secret any more ...[On] Illustrated Songs, influences of soul and Spanish ballads explode in a synergy of musical pieces that impeccably represent a young artist with a rich, old soul” – Al Borde ^[8]

• “I really fell in love with this record, because there is so much to her voice …her voice really stands out - very sweet and soulful … adapting to different genres of music … she can go from a dreamy/folksy, very laid back feel, to a tougher edge blast of R&B, to a song that reminds me of something from the 1920’s ...to a Brazilian bossa nova song that she sings in English and Spanish.” – Felix Contreras, NPR’s “Alt. Latino” ^[9]

• “The Best [New] Latin Music... Meet your next favorite from the Spanish-speaking world: Gaby Moreno, Old-School, soulful pop... Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald are hard acts to follow, but Gaby Moreno takes her idols’ signature bluesiness and marries it with a little Latin flare” – Latina Magazine ^[10]

2012 Critical Praise:

• "5 Latinos to Look Out for in 2012" - "Joan Smalls, Gaby Moreno, Jorge Garcia, Thomas Suarez and Mayra Alvarez will probably become household names in the months to come. Her new album, Illustrated Songs, was listed one of “The Best Latin Music Albums of 2011” by About.com, and she will be busy touring Europe, Latin America and the U.S. in 2012." - NBC Latino ^[11]

• "The more a thing is stereotyped to death, the more refreshing it is to encounter the skilled reaffirmation of its ideal. With Guatemala-born, L.A.-based Gaby Moreno (Oct. 9, McRaney’s Tavern), it’s the female singer-songwriter form that she has rescued from the abyss of cliché. She doesn’t radically change its rules or anything – she just does it with a little more flavor and a lot more skill. And that’s what separates her from typical coffeehouse fare. With an exceptionally rich and assured voice, and a palette that spans Latin, blues, folk, jazz and pop, she’s a marquee talent. Her singing is effortlessly bright with purpose and not just a display of ostentatious acrobatics. In fact, there’s something very classic about her expression. In her voice, the flame of the female greats is alive." -Orlando Weekly ^[12]

Tour[link]

In August 2009 Moreno toured along with established singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman. Later in November 2009, Moreno toured as direct support for Ani Difranco, on an east coast tour. Difranco invited Moreno back out on tour Jan/Feb 2010.

In early 2011 Moreno and her band played their first headlining tour. They toured through Holland and Belgium performing as part of the "World Sessions" tour. In addition, Moreno and her band opened as direct support for Nouvelle Vague for three shows in Germany.

In late 2011 Gaby toured the U.S. East coast as direct support for The Milk Carton Kids

Discography[link]

• 2008 - Still the Unknown (released independently)
• 2009 - The Cove - sang the song "Smile" (written by Charlie Chaplin) in the Academy Award-winning documentary^[13]
• 2010 - "Quizas" - cover song
• 2010 - A Good Old Christmastime EP (released independently)
• 2011 - European release of "Still the Unknown" (World Connection Records)
• 2011 - Illustrated Songs (released independently)

References[link]

Michael Jackson
Jackson at the White House in 1984
Background information
Birth name	Michael Joseph Jackson[1]
Also known as	King of Pop, MJ
Born	(1958-08-29)August 29, 1958 Gary, Indiana, U.S.
Died	June 25, 2009(2009-06-25) (aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B, pop, rock, soul, dance, funk, disco, new jack swing
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, composer, dancer, choreographer, record producer, actor, businessman, philanthropist
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1964–2009
Labels	Motown, Epic, Legacy, MJJ Productions
Associated acts	The Jackson 5 Michael Jackson's Signature
Website	www.michaeljackson.com

Michael Joseph Jackson^[1] (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ,^[2] Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.

In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop and rock artists.

Jackson's 1982 album Thriller is the best-selling album of all time. His other records, including Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling. Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and rock 'n' roll. Some of his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award); 26 American Music Awards (more than any other artist, including the "Artist of the Century"); 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era); and the estimated sale of over 750 million records worldwide. Jackson won hundreds of awards, which made him the most-awarded recording artist in the history of popular music.^[3] He was also one of the world's most prominent humanitarians and philanthropists; personally, and through his Heal the World Foundation, he donated more than $300 million in charity, and held the Guinness World Record for having supported the most charities out of any pop star.^[4][5]

Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the case was settled out of court and no formal charges were brought. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges after the jury found him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for his concert series titled This Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and as many as one billion people around the world reportedly watched his public memorial service on live television. In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a $250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017, and to release seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death.^[6]

Life and career[link]

Early life and The Jackson 5 (1958–1975)[link]

Jackson's childhood home in Gary, Indiana, showing floral tributes after his death

Jackson (center) as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1972

Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, the eighth of ten children in an African American working-class family who lived in a small 3-room house in Gary, Indiana,^[7] an industrial city near Chicago. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy.^[8] A sixth brother, Brandon, died shortly after birth.^[9]

Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe.^[10][11][12] Joseph acknowledged in 2003 that he regularly whipped Jackson as a boy.^[12] Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, though he also credited his father's strict discipline with playing a large role in his success.^[10] Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast in February 1993. He admitted that he had often cried from loneliness and he would vomit on the sight of his father. Jackson's father was also said to have verbally abused Jackson, saying that he had a fat nose on numerous occasions.^[13] In fact, Michael Jackson's deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares and chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant especially with his father, and to remain child-like throughout his adult life are in many ways consistent with the effects of this chronic maltreatment he endured as a young child.^[14]

In an interview with Martin Bashir, later included in the 2003 broadcast of Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson acknowledged that his father hurt him when he was a child, but was nonetheless a "genius", as he admitted his father's strict discipline played a huge role in his success. When Bashir dismissed the positive remark and continued asking about beatings, Jackson put his hand over his face and objected to the questions. He recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you".^[15][16]

In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine. Jackson later began performing backup vocals and dancing. When he was eight, Jackson began sharing the lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to The Jackson 5.^[8] The band toured the Midwest extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the "chitlin' circuit", where they often opened stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they won a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)", led by Michael.^[17]

The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy", for the local record label Steeltown in 1967, before signing with Motown Records in 1968.^[8] Rolling Stone magazine later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts," writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer."^[18] The group set a chart record when its first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There") peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.^[8] Between 1972 and 1975, Michael released four solo studio albums with Motown, among them Got to Be There and Ben, released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and producing successful singles such as "Got to Be There", "Ben", and a remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin".

The Jackson 5 "became a cutting-edge example of black crossover artists... five working-class black boys with afros and bell bottoms, and they really didn't have to trade any of that stuff in order to become mainstream stars."^[19]

The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit "I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.^[20]

[edit] Move to Epic and Off the Wall (1975–81)

In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records^[20] and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally joined the band around this time, while Jermaine left to pursue a solo career.^[21] They continued to tour internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and 1984, during which Michael was the lead songwriter, writing hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel", and "Can You Feel It".^[17] In 1978, he starred as the scarecrow in the musical, The Wiz, a box-office disaster. It was here that he teamed up with Quincy Jones, who was arranging the film's musical score. Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album, Off the Wall.^[22] In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and subsequent operations.^[23]

Jones and Jackson produced the Off the Wall album together. Songwriters for the album included Jackson, Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Released in 1979, it was the first solo album to generate four U.S. top 10 hits, including the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".^[24][25] It reached number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.^[26] In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".^[27][28] That year, he also won Billboard Year-End for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".^[24] Jackson again won at the American Music Awards in 1981 for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist.^[29] Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.^[30] In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.^[31]

[edit] Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1982–83)

In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; the record won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children in 1984. In the same year he won another seven Grammys and eight American Music Awards (including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it), making him the most awarded in one night for both award shows.^[32][33] These awards were thanks to the Thriller album, released in late 1982, which was 1983's best-selling album worldwide^[34][35] and became the best-selling album of all time in the United States,^[36] as well as the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 110 million copies so far.^[37] The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".^[38] Thriller was certified for 29 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States. The album won also another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work.^[39] Jackson's attorney John Branca noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making record-breaking profits from sales of his recordings. The videocassette of the documentary The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.^[40] Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple."^[41] In 1985, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Longform.^[32] In December 2009, the music video for "Thriller" was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, "Thriller" is the first music video ever to be inducted.^[42][43][44]