The cities were sophisticated and developed, with architectonic structures from BC. The Conquest The Maya civilization was already somewhat fragmented when Europeans arrived in the early 's, and the weak and divided Maya were easily conquered by the Spaniards. Alvarado was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala, and was known for his skill as a soldier and his cruelty to native populations. Once he felt militarily secure, Alvarado turned against the Cakchiquels, meeting them in several battles until they were subdued in Those of native blood descended to the bottom of the new social hierarchy.
The lands were carved up into large estates and the people ruthlessly exploited by the new landowners. In order to conquer these last Maya sites, the Spaniards had to attack them on three fronts, one coming from Yucatan, another from Belize, and the third one from Alta Verapaz. Guatemala gained independence from Spain on September 15, It brought new prosperity to those of Spanish blood creoles and even worse conditions for those of Mayan descent.
Huge tracts of Mayan land were stolen for the cultivation of tobacco and sugar cane, and the Maya were further enslaved to work that land. Guatemala briefly became part of the Mexican Empire and then for a period belonged to a federation called The United Provinces of Central America, until the federation broke up in civil war during — Guatemala's Rafael Carrera was instrumental in leading the revolt against the federal government and breaking apart the Union.
Carrera dominated Guatemalan politics until , backed by conservatives, large land-owners and the church. Guatemala's "Liberal Revolution" came in 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. Barrios had ambitions of reuniting Central America and took the country to war in an unsuccessful attempt at reunification.
While on a tour of Guatemala, travelers will discover a country that is still addressing the wounds after its year long civil war. A chronology of key events:. He conducts a campaign of mass murder against indigenous Mayans, accusing them of harbouring insurgents.
He faces trial over these crimes in Diplomatic relations restored with Belize, from whom Guatemala had long-standing territorial claims. Both nations will hold referendums on draft settlement. Under the leadership of Carlos Castillo Armas, the small army invaded Guatemala through Honduras in The Guatemalan army did not put up much of a fight, and Arbenz escaped to Mexico while Armas rose to power.
Armas introduced a conservative regime to the country, which had long been ruled by a string of liberals, thus reversing nearly all the reforms that had been introduced since Despite Armas being assassinated three years later, Guatemala saw itself reverting back to a country of violence and unrest. Throughout the s and 70s, Guatemala was subject to a series of brutal military regimes.
This action resulted in some semblance of peace returning to the country, with the election of civilian president Vinicio Cerezo. Citizens were hopeful that Cerezo would be the man to finally bring an end to the fighting, however, his term ended with violence still springing up in several parts of the country. The agreement, which is known as the Peace Accords, recognizes all of the human rights atrocities committed by the military regimes during the 36 years of civil war, as well as provides provisions for addressing basic social services missing from the country.
Many of these provisions remained unfulfilled today, and Guatemala still struggles to maintain the peace that they have more or less enjoyed since the end of the civil war. Guatemala remains an incredibly poor country whose economy is primarily reliant on agriculture. 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 that killed more than 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. 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. Fuego and Pacaya erupted in 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 and earthquakes in On Thursday May 27, , 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. Cleaning works are done. The country has 14 ecoregions ranging from mangrove forests to both ocean littorals with 5 different ecosystems. Guatemala has listed wetlands, including 5 lakes, 61 lagoons, rivers, and 4 swamps. Guatemala is a country of distinct fauna. It has some known species. Of these, 6. Guatemala is home to at least species of vascular plants, of which Amerindian populations include the K'iche' 9.
There are smaller communities present. Vincent, 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, Guatemala's German population is credited with bringing the tradition of a Christmas tree to the country.
In , Guatemala had a population of , 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.
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 , to 1,, The difficulty in getting accurate counts for Guatemalans abroad is because many of them are refugee claimants awaiting determination of their status. Below are estimates for certain countries:. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line and just over , 3.
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.
Some of the main products for export are fruits, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, cloths and others. Mines produce gold, silver, zinc, cobalt and nickel. 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. The 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. Guatemala also has free trade agreements with Taiwan and Colombia. 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. Almost each of the municipalities in the country has a small museum. 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 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 by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. 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 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 represented, 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. 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.
The peace accords signed in December 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.
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