People
More than half of Guatemalans are descendants of the Mayans. Westernized
Mayans and mestizos (mixed European and Amerindian) are known as ?ladinos.?
Most of Guatemala?s population is rural, though urbanization is accelerating.
The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, into which many Amerindians have
incorporated traditional forms of worship. Protestantism and traditional Mayan
religions are practiced by an estimated 30 percent of the population. Though
the official language is Spanish, it is not universally understood among the
indigenous population. The peace accords signed in December 1996, following
the decades of civil strife, provide for the translation of some official documents
and voting materials into several indigenous languages.
The population of Guatemala has a life expectancy at birth of 66.45 years (63.78
for males, and 69.24 for females) and an infant mortality rate of 46.15 deaths/1,000
live births. In terms of literacy, 48.6 percent of the female population and
62.5 percent of the male population, age 15 and over, can read and write.
The United Nations? Human Development Index (HDI) for 2000 places Guatemala
in the lower portion of the medium human development category, at 120th place
out of 174 nations. The HDI is a composite of three basic components of human
development: longevity, knowledge and standard of living. For a complete overview
of the HDI 2000 index and its methodology, see Appendix C of this review.
Written by CountryWatch.com. Sources:
The U.S. State Department Background Notes.
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