And just a few facts about my second country…
Guatemala
- It is bordered by Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras
- It is about the same size as Tennessee
- Guatemala City is the capital
- The ethnic groups are comprised of the following: Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish – in local Spanish called Ladino) and European 59.4%, K’iche 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 7.9%, Q’eqchi 6.3%, other Mayan 8.6%, indigenous non-Mayan 0.2%, other 0.1%
- Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Indigenous Mayan beliefs
- The official language of the country is Spanish, while the currency is Quetzal
- Their government is a constitutional democratic republic
- Population: 14,373,472
- It has the highest population growth rate in Latin America
- More than half of the population is under the age of 19 which makes it the country with the youngest population in Latin America
- The median age is 20.7 years old
- It is one of the poorest countries in Latin America
- More than half of the population is below the national poverty line and 13% or the population lives in extreme poverty
- Almost 50% of children under five are chronically malnourished
- At least 13% of the child population is underweight
- As of 2006, it was estimated that 21% of the population of children were involved in some form of child labor. That was approximately 929,852 children.
***Facts are compliments of the CIA world factbook
