1985 Edition

Agriculture

sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, vegetables

main products — coffee, cotton, corn, beans, sugarcane, bananas, livestock

Aid

economic— bilateral ODA and OOF commitments (1970-79) from Western (nonUS) countries, $2.4 billion; no military aid

Airfields

9 total, 9 usable, 8 with permanentsurface runways; 1 with runways 2,4403,659m

Branches

traditionally dominant executive; unicameral legislature (National Congress) abolished 23 March 1982; power vested in Office of President; seven-member (minimum) Supreme Court

Budget

$198 million (1981)

Capital

Guatemala

Civil air

2 major transport aircraft

Coastline

400 km People

Communists

Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT); main radical left guerrilla groups — Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP), Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA), Rebel Armed Forces (FAR), and PGT Dissidents

Elections

last election (Constituent Assembly) held 1 July 1984; Presidential and Congressional elections held 7 March 1982 Political parties and leaders: 20 political groups participated in elections for an 88member Constituent Assembly in July 1984; national elections tentatively scheduled during 1985; Democratic Institutional Party (PID), Oscar Humberto Rivas Garcia; Revolutionary Party (PR), Napoleon Alfaro; National Liberation Movement (MLN), Mario Sandoval Alarcon; Guatemalan Christian Democratic Party (DCG), Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo; Nationalist Authentic Central (CAN), Mario Roberto Aguilar Arroyo; National United Front (FUN), Gabriel Giron Ortiz; Nationalist Renovator Party (PNR), Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre; United Revolutionary Party (FUR), Edmundo Lopez Duran; National Centrist Union (UCN), Jorge Carpio Nicolle

Electric power

80,000 kW capacity (1984); 273 million kWh produced (1984), 822 kWh per capita

655,000 kW capacity (1983); 1.8 billion kWh produced (1983), 235 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

58.6% Ladino (mestizo and westernized Indian), 41.4% Indian

Exports

$89.2 million (1981); bananas, sugar, rum

$1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1983); coffee, cotton, sugar, bananas, meat

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 4,898 metric tons (1980)

GDP

$1.18 billion (1980), $3,765 per capita; real growth rate 15.7% (1979-80 average)

$8.9 billion (1983), $1,136 per capita; 26% commerce, 25% agriculture, 9% financial services, 7% transportation and communication, 6% government, 11% other; average annual real growth rate (1975-80), 5.7%; real growth rate 1983, -5.4%

Government leader

Maj. Gen. Oscar Humberto MEJIA Victores, Chief of State (since August 1983)

Highways

1,954 km total; 1,600 km paved, 340 km gravel and earth

Imports

$560 million (1981); vehicles, foodstuffs, clothing and other consumer goods, construction materials, petroleum products

$1.12 billion (c.i.f., 1983); manufactured products, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, fuels

Land boundaries

1,625 km Water

Language

Spanish, but over 40% of the population speaks an Indian language as a primary tongue ( 1 8 Indian dialects, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi)

Legal system

civil law system; constitution came into effect 1966 but suspended following March 1982 coup; Constituent Assembly elected in July 1984 currently drafting new constitution and other electoral laws in anticipation of national elections later this year; judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at University of San Carlos of Guatemala; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

1 2 nm (economic, including fishing, 200 nm)

Literacy

50% Labor force (1984): 2.5 million; 57.0% agriculture, 14.0% manufacturing, 13.0% services, 7.0% commerce, 4.0% construction, 3.0% transport, 0.8% utilities, 0.4% mining; unemployment 33%

Major industries

construction, cement, rum, light industry, tourism

food processing, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, nonmetallic minerals, metals

Major trade partners

exports — 88% franc zone; imports — 73% franc zone, 3% Italy (1981)

exports (1983) — 30% US, 17% El Salvador, 6% Honduras, 5% Costa Rica; imports(1983)— 33% US, 10% El Salvador, 8% Netherland Antilles, 7% Mexico, 7%

Member of

WFTU Economy

CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IHRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB — Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, OAS, ODECA, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO Economy

Military manpower

males 15-49, 89,000 110km Land 108,780 km2; the size of Tennessee; 57% forest; 14% cultivated; 10% pasture; 19% other

Monetary conversion rate

9.65 French francs=US$l (January 1985)

National holiday

Independence Day, 15 September

Nationality

noun — Guatemalan(s); adjective— Guatemalan

Official name

Republic of Guatemala

Organized labor

10% of labor force (1984) Government

Other political or pressure groups

Guadeloupe Liberation Army (GLA), Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance (ARC), Popular Movement for Independent Guadeloupe (MPGI)

Federated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACIF)

Political subdivisions

22 departments

Population

8,335,000 (July 19&5), average annual growth rate 3.1%

Ports

1 major (Pointe-a-Pitre), 3 minor

Railroads

privately owned, narrow-gauge plantation lines

Religion

predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant, traditional Mayan

Suffrage

universal over age 18, compulsory for literates, optional for illiterates

Telecommunications

domestic facilities inadequate; 50,200 telephones (15.7 per 100 popl.); interisland radio-relay to Antigua, Dominica, and Martinique; 2 AM, 3 FM, 9 TV stations Defense Forces Defense is responsibility of France

Type

republic

Voting strength

(July 1984) Constituent Assembly—DCG 318,300 (16%), UCN 269,500 (13%), MLN/CAN 245,500(12%); PR 142,600 (7%)i PNR 129,700 (6%); PID 102,800(5%).