 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 19,357,426 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Guatemala | 17,980,803[1] |
 United States | 1,226,849[2] |
 Mexico | 46,318[2] |
 Belize | 26,767[2] |
 Canada | 18,602[2] |
 Spain | 10,002[2] 15,172 (2022)[3] |
 El Salvador | 9,036[2] |
 Honduras | 4,711[2] |
 France | 3,423[2] |
 Costa Rica | 3,192[2] |
 Italy | 2,330,[2] 965 (according to Italian official data)[4] |
 Germany | 2,322[2] |
 Panama | 1,925[2] |
 Nicaragua | 1,843[2] |
 Switzerland | 1,144[2] |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Catholic andProtestant[5] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
aGuatemalan AmericanbGuatemalan Mexican | |
Guatemalans (Spanish:guatemaltecos or less commonlyguatemalenses) are people connected to the country ofGuatemala. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Guatemalans, several (if not all) of these connections exist.
Guatemala is a multicultural society, though most Guatemalans have varying degrees of European (predominantlySpaniards) andAmerindian ancestry. Guatemalans are also colloquially nicknamed Chapines in otherSpanish-speaking countries ofLatin America.
Guatemala has a population of 17,153,288 (July 2020 est).[6] In 1900, Guatemala had a population of 885,000.[7] Guatemala had the fastest population growth in the Western Hemisphere during 20th century. Approximately half of the Guatemalan population lives in poverty and 13.7% of them live in extreme poverty.
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 wider urban area. This is a significant percentage of the population (14 million).[8]
The estimated median age in Guatemala is 20 years old, 19.4 for males and 20.7 years for females.[8] This is the lowestmedian age of any country in the Western Hemisphere and comparable to most of central Africa and Iraq.
According to the 2018 Census, about 56.57% of the population identifies as non-indigenous.[9] The majority, or 56.01% areLadinos, those includeMestizos, people mixed European with Amerindian, another part but visible areWhites of European descent, specially Spanish, German andItalian, (in Colonia Era, direct descendants of Spanish were called asCriollo). The Amerindian populations as of 2002 Census include theK'iche' 9.1%,Q'eqchi 8.4%,Kaqchikel 7.9%,Mam 6.3% and 8.6% of the population is "otherMayan", 0.4% is indigenous non-Mayan, making the indigenous community in Guatemala about 40.3% of the population.
There are smaller communities present, including about 15,000 Salvadorans. TheGarífuna, who are descended primarily from Africans who lived with and intermarried with indigenous peoples from St. Vincent, live mainly in Livingston andPuerto Barrios. Those communities have otherblacks andmulattos descended from the Spanish Slave Trade. There are alsoAsians, mostly ofChinese descent. Other Asian groups includeArabs ofLebanese andSyrian descent. There is also a growingKorean community in Guatemala City and in nearbyMixco, currently numbering about 6,000.[10] Guatemala's German population is credited with bringing the tradition of a Christmas tree to the country.[11]
Guatemalanmestizos are people of mixedEuropean and Amerindian ancestry. They may also have varying degrees of African or Asian ancestry. Mixed Guatemalans could reach 60% with people of different grades of mixture, but the culture environment into different communities can influence people to identify as Indigenous, Ladino or White. The mestizo population in Guatemala is concentrated in urban areas of the country (the national capital and departmental capitals).[12]Genetic testing indicates that Guatemalan Mestizos are on average of predominantly indigenous ancestry.[13]
Historically the mestizo population inthe Kingdom of Guatemala at the time of Independence amounted to nearly 600,000Indians, 300,000castes (mostlymestizos and a lesser number ofmulattos), and 45,000criollos orSpanish, with a very small number of Spaniards.[14]
The Amerindian populations in Guatemala are estimated from 41.7% to the half of population. According to the last Census, the distribution are formed by 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 40.3% of the population.[15]
TheGarífuna, who are descended primarily from Africans who lived with and intermarried with indigenous peoples from St. Vincent, live mainly in Livingston andPuerto Barrios.
The termCriollo refers to Guatemalans of mostly or fullySpanish descent. Other European ethnic groups include those ofGermans,Italians,English, andBelgian descent. Other ancestry can include those fromEastern Europe and WhiteAmericans.[citation needed]
Spanish is the official language. As a first and second language, Spanish is spoken by 93% of the population as second or third language.
Twenty-oneMayan languages are spoken, especially in rural areas, as well as two non-MayanAmerindian languages,Xinca, an indigenous language, andGarifuna, anArawakan language spoken on the Caribbean coast. According to the Language Law of 2003, the languages of Mayas, Xincas, and Garifunas are unrecognized as National Languages.[16]
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 and five of the nation's other languages, and Spanish.
The Civil War forced many Guatemalans to start lives outside of their country. The majority of the Guatemalandiaspora is located in the United States of America, with estimates ranging from 480,665[17] to 1,489,426.[18] The difficulty in getting accurate counts for Guatemalans abroad is because many of them are refugee claimants awaiting determination of their status.[19] Emigration to the United States of America has led to the growth of Guatemalan communities in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Rhode Island and elsewhere since the 1970s.[20]
Below are estimates for certain countries:
| Country | 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States | 1226849 | |||
| Mexico | 46318 | |||
| Belize | 26767 | |||
| Canada | 18602 | |||
| Spain | 10002 | |||
| El Salvador | 9036 | |||
| Honduras | 4711 | |||
| France | 3423 | |||
| Costa Rica | 3192 | |||
| Italy | 2330 | |||
| Total | 1368431 | |||
| Source:DatosMacro.[2] | ||||
During the colonial era Guatemala received immigrants (settlers) only from Spain. Subsequently, Guatemala received waves of immigration from Europe in the mid 19th century and early 20th century.[clarification needed] Primarily from Germany, these immigrants installed coffee and cardamomfincas inAlta Verapaz,Zacapa,Quetzaltenango,Baja Verapaz andIzabal departments. To a lesser extent people also arrived from Spain, France, Belgium, England, Italy, Sweden, etc.
Many Europeans who emigrated to Guatemala were politicians, refugees, families, entrepreneurs and mainly settlers, Guatemala had long been the Central American country that received the most immigrants, behindCosta Rica for 1950, that does not mean that the country no longer receive large numbers of immigrants.[clarification needed]
From the 1890s there have been small communities of Asians (in particular fromKorea, China, Japan,Singapore and thePhilippines) but in recent decades this has been growing. Also beginning with theFirst World War, the immigrant population is being strengthened byJewish andPakistani immigration.
During the second half of the twentieth century, Latin American immigration grew strong in Guatemala, particularly from otherCentral American countries, Mexico,Cuba,Colombia, etc. Although the majority of them resided only temporarily to go to their final destination, which was the United States.
| Country | 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Salvador | 20683 | |||
| Mexico | 18872 | |||
| United States | 9299 | |||
| Nicaragua | 9211 | |||
| Honduras | 9023 | |||
 South Korea | 1921 | |||
| Spain | 1418 | |||
| Costa Rica | 1248 | |||
 Colombia | 1242 | |||
| Belize | 984 | |||
| Total | 84311 | |||
| Source:DatosMacro.[21] | ||||
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Guatemalans" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TheGuatemalan cuisine reflects the multicultural nature of Guatemala, in that it involves food that differs in taste depending on the region. Guatemala has 22 departments (or divisions), each of which has very different varieties of food.. For example,Antigua Guatemala is well known for its candy which makes use of many local ingredients fruits, seeds and nuts along with honey, condensed milk and other traditional sweeteners. Antigua's candy is very popular when tourists visit the country for the first time, and is a great choice in the search for new and interesting flavors.
Many traditional foods are based onMaya cuisine and prominently feature corn, chilis and beans as key ingredients. Various dishes may have the same name as dishes from a neighboring country, but may in fact be quite different for example theenchilada orquesadilla, which are nothing like their Mexican counterparts.
There are also foods that it is traditional to eat on certain days of the week – for example, by tradition it is known that on Thursday, the typical food is "paches", which is like atamale made with a base of potato, and on Sundays it is traditional to eat tamales, due to the fact that Sundays are considered holidays. Certain dishes are also associated with special occasions, such asfiambre forAll Saints Day on November 1 and tamales, which are commonChristmas.
There are reportedly hundreds of varieties oftamales throughout Guatemala. They key variations are what is in themasa or dough (maize,potatoes,rice), what's in the filling (meat, fruits, nuts), and what is it wrapped with (leaves, husks). The masa is made out of corn that is not sweet, such as what is known as feed corn in the U.S.A. In Guatemala, this non-sweet corn is calledmaize and the corn that Americans from the US are used to eating on the cob, sweet corn, they callelote. Tamales in Guatemala are more typically wrapped inplantain,banana, or maxan leaves rather than corn husks.
The ancient Mayan civilization lasted for about six hundred years before collapsing around 900 A.D. Today, almost half of the Guatemalan population is Mayan. These natives live throughout the country and grow maize as their staple crop. In addition, the ancient Maya ate amaranth, a breakfast cereal similar to modern day cereals.
Guatemala's national instrument is themarimba, anidiophone from the family of thexylophones, which is played all over the country, even in the remotest corners. Towns also have wind and percussion bands that play during theLent andEaster-week processions, as well as on other occasions. TheGarifuna people ofAfro-Caribbean descent, who are spread thinly on the northeastern Caribbean coast, have their own distinct varieties ofpopular andfolk music.Cumbia, from the Colombian variety, is also very popular, especially among the lower classes.
TheGuatemala 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 isEl Señor Presidente, a novel based on the government ofManuel Estrada Cabrera.
Rigoberta Menchú, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting oppression of indigenous people in Guatemala, is famous for her booksI, Rigoberta Menchú andCrossing Borders.
Historically,Catholicism was introduced by the Spanish and was the official religion during the colonial era. However, the practice of Protestantism has increased markedly in recent decades, with nearly one third of Guatemalans identifying themselves as Protestants, chieflyEvangelicals andPentecostals. Growth is particularly strong among the ethnic Mayan population, withNational Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala being an important denomination, maintaining 11 indigenous-language Presbyteries.
TraditionalMayan religion persists through the process ofinculturation, whereby certain practices are incorporated into Catholic ceremonies and worship when they are sympathetic to the meaning of Catholic belief.[23][24] Indigenous religious practices are 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 traditional ceremonies may be performed there.
Ancestral background ofGuatemalan citizens | |
| Guatemalan native groups (Maya and others) | |
| Former and extinct | |
| Guatemalan mestizo | |
| Descendants of Europeans (white orCriollo) | |
| Descendants of Asians | |
| Afro-descendants | |
| Americas | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
