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Demographics of Guatemala

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The Demographics of Guatemala are diverse, constituting primarily of mestizos, Amerindians and Europeans. About 60% of the population speak Spanish, with nearly all of the rest speaking Amerindian languages.

According to the CIA World Fact Book, in the 2001 census Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish - in local Spanish called Ladino) and European were 59.4% of the population, and 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%.[1] Therefore, 40% of the population is Amerindian. The 1893 Guatemalan Census reported that 481,945 persons —or 35.3% of the population— were Ladinos (includes both whites and mixed-race persons), and 882,733 persons —or 64.7% of the population— were Indios (Natives).[2]

Though the official language is Spanish, it is often the second language among the indigenous population. However, the Peace Accords signed in December 1996 provide for the translation of some official documents and voting materials into several indigenous languages (see summary of main substantive accords).

Racial stratification is complex and fluid in Guatemalan politics, culture and identity. Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America, is home to over 3 million inhabitants.

Other racial groups include small numbers of Afro-Guatemalans and Garifuna of mixed African and indigenous Caribbean origins who live in the country's Eastern end. Asians, mostly of Chinese descent are descendants of farm workers and railroad laborers in the early 20th century.

In 1900, Guatemala had a population of just 885,000.[3] Over the course of the twentieth century, the population of the country grew by a factor of fourteen. No other western hemisphere country saw such rapid growth.[citation needed]

Population

Population growth 1961-2003, as reported by FAO, 2005. Population numbers are in thousands.

According to the 2012 revison of the World Population Prospects the total population was 14 342 000 in 2010, compared to only 3 146 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 41.5%, 54.1% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 4.4% was 65 years or older .[4]

Total population
(x 1000) 		Proportion
aged 0–14
(%) 		Proportion
aged 15–64
(%) 		Proportion
aged 65+
(%)
1950 3 146 44.6 52.9 2.5
1955 3 619 45.4 52.0 2.6
1960 4 141 45.8 51.6 2.7
1965 4 736 45.2 52.0 2.8
1970 5 416 44.6 52.5 2.9
1975 6 194 44.8 52.3 2.9
1980 7 001 45.4 51.6 3.0
1985 7 920 45.7 51.2 3.1
1990 8 890 45.4 51.3 3.4
1995 9 984 44.9 51.4 3.7
2000 11 204 44.1 51.9 4.0
2005 12 679 43.2 52.6 4.3
2010 14 342 41.5 54.1 4.4

Vital statistics

UN estimates

The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. [4]

Period Live births
per year 		Deaths
per year 		Natural change
per year 		CBR* CDR* NC* TFR* IMR* Life expectancy
total 		Life expectancy
males 		Life expectancy
females
1950-1955 170 000 75 000 95 000 50.3 22.3 28.0 7.00 141 42.5 41.8 43.3
1955-1960 183 000 78 000 104 000 47.0 20.2 26.9 6.60 134 44.5 43.7 45.4
1960-1965 204 000 80 000 124 000 46.0 18.0 28.0 6.50 127 47.1 56.2 48.1
1965-1970 227 000 80 000 146 000 44.7 15.8 28.8 6.30 116 50.1 49.0 51.3
1970-1975 255 000 79 000 177 000 44.0 13.5 30.4 6.20 102 53.9 52.4 55.4
1975-1980 287 000 80 000 206 000 43.5 12.2 31.3 6.20 91 56.2 54.4 58.2
1980-1985 315 000 81 000 234 000 42.2 10.9 31.3 6.10 79 58.3 56.1 60.8
1985-1990 333 000 79 000 254 000 39.6 9.4 30.2 5.70 67 60.9 58.3 63.8
1990-1995 367 000 76 000 291 000 38.9 8.1 30.8 5.45 55 63.5 60.5 66.9
1995-2000 396 000 73 000 322 000 37.3 6.9 30.4 5.00 46 66.3 62.9 70.0
2000-2005 427 000 72 000 355 000 35.8 6.1 29.7 4.60 39 69.0 65.5 72.5
2005-2010 449 000 77 000 373 000 33.3 5.7 27.6 4.15 30 70.3 66.7 73.8
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Registered annual data[5][6]

Average population (x 1000) Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000)
1930 1 760 100 000 43 500 56 500 56.8 24.7 32.1
1931 1 810 99 000 44 000 55 000 54.7 24.3 30.4
1932 1 860 93 600 43 900 49 700 50.3 23.6 26.7
1933 1 910 90 700 52 100 38 600 47.5 27.3 20.2
1934 1 940 92 205 60 051 32 154 47.5 31.0 16.6
1935 1 980 96 031 54 789 41 242 48.5 27.7 20.8
1936 2 020 97 646 50 604 47 042 48.3 25.1 23.3
1937 2 070 96 981 51 027 45 954 46.9 24.7 22.2
1938 2 110 98 906 56 131 42 775 46.9 26.6 20.3
1939 2 150 102 908 64 117 38 791 47.9 29.8 18.0
1940 2 200 106 998 55 083 51 915 48.6 25.0 23.6
1941 2 250 103 688 56 444 47 244 46.1 25.1 21.0
1942 2 300 107 519 72 477 35 042 46.7 31.5 15.2
1943 2 340 112 407 72 837 39 570 48.0 31.1 16.9
1944 2 390 111 324 63 068 48 256 46.6 26.4 20.2
1945 2 440 118 912 59 732 59 180 48.7 24.5 24.3
1946 2 500 120 525 61 641 58 884 48.2 24.7 23.6
1947 2 570 134 066 63 316 70 750 52.2 24.6 27.5
1948 2 641 137 009 62 090 74 919 51.9 23.5 28.4
1949 2 724 140 596 59 277 81 319 51.6 21.8 29.9
1950 3 146 142 673 61 234 81 439 48.1 20.6 27.4
1951 3 238 151 416 56 550 94 866 49.6 18.5 31.1
1952 3 331 151 865 71 994 79 871 48.3 22.9 25.4
1953 3 426 156 377 70 794 85 583 48.3 21.9 26.4
1954 3 521 162 773 58 132 104 641 48.9 17.4 31.4
1955 3 619 158 856 67 088 91 768 46.3 19.6 26.7
1956 3 719 163 301 66 280 97 021 46.2 18.8 27.5
1957 3 820 170 381 70 933 99 448 46.9 19.5 27.4
1958 3 924 172 745 75 634 97 111 46.2 20.2 26.0
1959 4 031 181 740 63 010 118 730 47.2 16.4 30.8
1960 4 141 186 476 65 805 120 671 47.1 16.6 30.4
1961 4 253 193 833 63 287 130 546 47.5 15.5 32.0
1962 4 369 191 420 69 287 122 133 45.6 16.5 29.1
1963 4 488 197 671 71 449 126 222 45.8 16.6 29.2
1964 4 610 196 386 68 278 128 108 44.2 15.4 28.9
1965 4 736 201 059 74 830 126 229 44.0 16.4 27.6
1966 4 864 206 520 75 774 130 746 44.0 16.1 27.8
1967 4 996 201 816 71 191 130 625 41.8 14.8 27.1
1968 5 132 211 679 79 421 132 258 42.7 16.0 26.7
1969 5 271 215 397 85 174 130 223 42.2 16.7 25.5
1970 5 416 212 151 77 333 134 818 40.5 14.7 25.7
1971 5 565 229 674 75 223 154 451 42.6 14.0 28.6
1972 5 719 241 593 67 989 173 604 43.6 12.3 31.3
1973 5 877 238 498 69 454 169 044 41.8 12.2 29.6
1974 6 036 252 203 69 820 182 383 43.0 11.9 31.1
1975 6 194 249 332 78 708 170 624 41.4 13.1 28.4
1976 6 352 266 728 81 627 185 101 43.2 13.2 30.0
1977 6 510 284 747 71 777 212 970 45.0 11.3 33.6
1978 6 669 286 415 66 844 219 571 44.1 10.3 33.8
1979 6 832 295 972 72 274 223 698 44.5 10.9 33.6
1980 7 001 303 643 71 352 232 291 44.5 10.5 34.1
1981 7 177 308 413 75 658 232 755 44.1 10.8 33.3
1982 7 358 312 047 76 267 235 780 43.5 10.6 32.9
1983 7 543 306 827 74 462 232 365 41.7 10.1 31.6
1984 7 731 312 094 75 462 236 632 41.3 10.0 31.4
1985 7 920 326 849 69 455 257 394 42.2 9.0 33.3
1986 8 109 318 340 66 328 252 012 40.1 8.4 31.8
1987 8 299 319 942 66 404 253 538 39.4 8.2 31.2
1988 8 492 337 396 64 100 273 296 40.5 7.7 32.8
1989 8 688 340 807 61 548 279 259 39.9 7.2 32.7
1990 8 890 347 207 73 344 273 863 39.7 8.4 31.3
1991 9 099 359 904 72 896 287 008 39.6 8.0 31.5
1992 9 313 363 648 73 124 290 524 39.0 7.9 31.2
1993 9 533 370 138 73 870 296 268 38.8 7.7 31.1
1994 9 756 381 497 74 761 306 736 39.1 7.7 31.4
1995 9 984 371 091 65 159 305 932 37.2 6.5 30.6
1996 10 215 377 723 60 618 317 105 37.0 5.9 31.0
1997 10 450 387 862 67 691 320 171 37.1 6.5 30.6
1998 10 691 400 133 69 847 330 286 37.4 6.5 30.9
1999 10 942 409 034 65 139 343 895 37.4 6.0 31.4
2000 11 204 425 410 67 284 358 126 38.0 6.0 32.0
2001 11 479 415 338 68 041 347 297 36.2 5.9 30.3
2002 11 766 387 287 66 089 321 198 32.9 5.6 27.3
2003 12 063 375 092 66 695 308 397 31.1 5.5 25.6
2004 12 368 383 704 66 991 316 713 31.0 5.4 25.6
2005 12 679 374 066 71 039 303 027 29.5 5.6 23.9
2006 12 995 368 399 69 756 298 643 28.3 5.4 23.0
2007 13 318 366 128 70 030 296 098 27.5 5.3 22.2
2008 13 648 369 769 70 233 299 536 27.1 5.1 21.9
2009 13 989 351 628 71 707 279 921 25.1 5.1 20.0
2010 14 342 361 906 72 000 289 906 25.2 5.0 20.2
2011 14 707 373 692 72 354 301 338 25.4 4.9 20.5

Departments by population

Guatemala city.
Rank Department Pop. Rank Department Rank. Department Pop.
1 Guatemala 3,306,397 10 Totonicapán 18 Retalhuleu 325,556
2 Huehuetenango 1,234,593 11 Sololá 19 Baja Verapaz 291,903
3 Alta Verapaz 1,219,585 12 Jutiapa 20 Zacapa 291,903
4 San Marcos 1,095,997 13 Izabal 445,125
5 Quetzaltenango 844,906 14 Chiquimula 397,202
6 Escuintla 746,309 15 Santa Rosa 367,569
7 Petén 711,585 16 Jalapa 345,926
8 Chimaltenango 666,938 17 Sacatepéquez 336,606
9 Suchitepéquez 555,261 18 Total -- 15,806,675 (2014)
Source: National Institute of Statistics (INE).[7]

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups
Group Number
Mestizo (42%) 6,638,803
Indigenous people (38.8%) 6,132,989
White (18%)[dubious – discuss] 2,845,201
Other (1.2%) 189,670
Source: INE (2012)[dubious – discuss]
Ethnic groups
Group Number
Mestizo and White[dubious – discuss] (59.4%) 9,448,004
Indigenous people (40.5%) 5,304,659
Other (0.1%) 18,000
Source: CIA (2010)[dubious – discuss]

The official 2012 statistics indicate that approximately 60% of the population is "non-indigenous",[8] referring to those people of European or partial European origin, sometimes called mestizos. Locally this group is called Ladino. The majority live in the central region, east and south. But there are significant communities in the north.

Approximately 40% of the population is indigenous, consisting of 23 groups of mayans and 1 non-mayan group, divided as follows: (K'iche 9.1%, 8.4% Kaqchikel, Mam 7.9%, 6.3% Q'eqchi', other Mayans 8.6%, 0.2% indigenous non-Mayan). And they are distributed all over the country, although they live most in the highlands.

There is a small number of Garifunas who live mainly in Livingstone, San Vicente and Puerto Barrios. They are descendants mainly from the Arawak family, and Belizean Creole.[1] There are also Asian Guatemalans, particularly from Korea.[citation needed]

White Guatemalans

According to official 2012 national statistics, 60.2% of the population is non-indigenous, and 39.8% of the population belongs to 23 groups of Maya peoples.[9] These two national census categories are indigenous peoples and non-indigenous; the latter is also termed mestizo, or locally as Ladino.[citation needed]

A 2011 unofficial questionnaire by Latinobarómetro suggested that 15% self-identify as white, 29% as mestizo, 45% as indigenous, and 3% as other.[10]

Mestizo Guatemalans

Guatemalan mestizos are people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. The mestizo population in Guatemala is concentrated in urban areas of the country (the national capital and departmental capitals).[11]

Historically the mestizo population in the the Kingdom of Guatemala at the time of Independence amounted to nearly 600,000 Indians, 300,000 castes (mostly mestizos and lesser extent of mulattos), and 45,000 criollos or Spanish, with very small number of Spaniards.[12]

Immigration

Guatemala experienced immigration of Germans, Spaniards and Belgians in the nineteenth century and twentieth century, who were granted estates to grow coffee, sugar and cardamom, mainly in Alta Verapaz, Zacapa, Izabal and Retalhuleu.[citation needed] Guatemala City was an important settlement of the European activities such as schools, transport, hotels, banks and European commerce.

Emigration

The Guatemalan civil war from 1960 to 1996 provoked migration of Guatemalans, with a large majority of those leaving for foreign countries living in the United States. According to the International Organization for Migration, between 1960-1995 the number of emigrants increased very considerably from 6.700 to 558.776, but by 2005 the number had surpassed the million.[19] Over a million Guatemalan emigrants went to the US in the 1980s and 1990s for a better life mostly because of the Civil War. The 2010 U.S. Census counted 1,044,209 Guatemalans in the United States, up from 372,487 in 2000.[20]

Country Count
United States United States 480,665[21] – 1,489,426[22]
Mexico Mexico 23,529[22] – 190,000
Belize Belize 14,693[22]
Canada Canada 14,256[22] – 34,665[23]
Germany Germany 5,989[22]
Honduras Honduras 5,172[22]
El Salvador El Salvador 4,209[22]
Spain Spain 2,491[22] – 5,000[24]

Languages

Main article: Languages of Guatemala

The official language of Guatemala is Spanish, it is spoken by more than 60% of the population and is found mainly in the departments of South region, east region, Guatemala City and Peten. An additional approximately 23 indigenous languages Mayana spoken by more than 30% of the population, and the most significant are (Quiche, Kaqchikel, Mam, Tz’utujil, Q'eqchi' and Pocomam), plus a non-Mayan indigenous language is xinca, this language is almost extinct as the speakers less than 10,000 people. About 50,000 people speak the Garifuna language, there are also significant nuclei of German, Chinese, French and English language.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Guatemala
Religion in Guatemala (2010) Latinobarómetro
Religion %
Catholicism 47%
Protestantism 39%
Atheism, Nothing, Agnosticism 11%
Other 2%
NS/NC 1%
Source: Latinobarómetro (2010) [25]

The Article 36 of the Political Constitution of Guatemala states that everyone has the right to practice their religion or belief, in public and in private (in this Act include Protestants, practitioners of Mayan beliefs and with those who do not practice no religion). Since 1882 the country has no official religion, this was approved in the government of Justo Rufino Barrios. Catholicism was the official religion during the colonial era. However, Protestantism has been increased in recent decades. Around two-fifths of Guatemalans are Protestant, chiefly Evangelicals and Pentecostals. Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy have also been expanding rapidly, especially among indigenous Mayans; Guatemala is now the most Orthodox country in the entire Western Hemisphere. [citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b "CIA - The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  2. ^ Mara Loveman (1972). National Colors: Racial Classification and the State in Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-19-933735-4. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ a b Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision
  5. ^ United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
  6. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Guatemala
  7. ^ "Guatemalan population growth (by departament)" (web page). INE. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
  8. ^ INE- Caracterización estadística República de Guatemala 2012 Retrieved, 2014/12/20.
  9. ^ "Caracterización estadística República de Guatemala 2012". INE. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2012. Retrieved 2014-11-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Informe 2011. Corporación Latinobarómetro. page 58, table 16
  11. ^ http://www.countriesquest.com/central_america/guatemala.htm
  12. ^ "GUATEMALA: DEL MESTIZAJE A LA LADINIZACION, 1524-1964" (PDF). CIRMA. Retrieved 2014-11-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ [[:Template:Asiantitle]], Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2011-07-15, p. 142, retrieved 2012-02-25 {{citation}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  14. ^ The Embassy of the United States of America (Guatemala City, Guatemala)
  15. ^ Federal Foreign Office Auswärtiges-Guatemala.Retrieved on, 7 November 2014.
  16. ^ "Embassy of Spain in Guatemala City, Guatemala". www.embassypages.com (in Spanish). EmbassyPages.com. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  17. ^ The Italian Embassy in Guatemala City
  18. ^ French Alliance in Guatemala
  19. ^ Economic Migrants Replace Political Refugees see Table 1. Emigration Flows from Guatemala, 1960s through 2005. Retrieved on, 18 November 2014
  20. ^ "American FactFinder". Factfinder2.census.gov. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  21. ^ The 2000 U.S. Census recorded 480,665 Guatemalan-born respondents; see Smith (2006)
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h Smith, James (April 2006). "DRC Migration, Globalisation and Poverty".
  23. ^ "Guatemala" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  24. ^ "Embajada de Guatemala en España". Embajadaguatemala.es. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  25. ^ Latinobarómetro. Retrieved on, 18 November 2014.
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