Geography, Demographics, and History of Guatemala - Case Study Example

Guatemala’s narrative as a country, however, is more than this. Certainly, there was the fact that it was home to the great Mayan civilization that flourished as early as 3,000 B.C. Furthermore, its history is also not unlike most states in Latin America. It became a Spanish colony imbibing Hispanic characteristics and way of life. Throughout the Guatemalan landscape, the grand Spanish churches and structures are interspersed with the ruins of the Mayan civilizations. Consequently, these also depict the character of the Guatemalan culture: there was the Hispanic influence but there is also the unique Mayan ancestry.

Its culture has been preserved over the years. Guatemala today is a melting pot of culture, history, and diversity. The state, like most of its Latin American neighbors, faces challenges such as poverty. But its people – with their unique heritage – are struggling to make the country a better and more prosperous place to live in.Situated in Central America, Guatemala is a small country with an area of 108,889 square kilometers or 42,042 square miles. It is bounded by Mexico to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, Belize and the Caribbean to the east, and El Salvador to the south.

Considered an isthmus, it is located between the latitudes 13° and 18°N and longitudes 88° and 93°W. Prior to the 1990s, there was no comprehensive geologic mapping for the country. The most updated only identified the geologic map at a scale of 1:500,000 although succeeding versions that have been in development include scales ranging from 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 (Cunningham et al. 1984). Advanced satellite technology was able to generate new but still incomplete information such as the geological mapping data from Cerveceria Centro Americana (Amin and Goldstein 131).

Out of all these, three prominent geographical classifications are revealed: the mountainous region to the south; the coastal plains near the Pacific; and the lowlands typified by extensive forests to the north.