About Guatemala Guatemala is located in Central America. It is south of Mexico and north of El Salvador. Total area is slightly smaller than the state of Tennessee. The climate is mostly tropical, hot and humid in the coastal area and cooler in the highlands. Guatemala has a beautiful countryside with numerous volcanoes in the mountain areas. Guatemala gained its independence from Spain in 1821. It is a constitutional democracy. It’s current President is Alfonso Portillo who was elected on January 2000 to serve a four year term. The capital is Guatemala City, it is located inland and has a very tempered climate year round. The city has many modern day conveniences with good restaurants, hotels and shopping malls. There are many Americans and well as Europeans living in and around the capital. Many live in the historical town of Antigua it is located about 25 miles outside of the city. Guatemala has a population of 13 million people. Approximately 55% of the people are a mix of Indian and Spanish, in local Spanish they are know as Ladino and 43% are Mayan Indian. Language spoken is Spanish with the Indian population speaking Mayan dialects. Over 60% of the population live below the poverty line. The Guatemalan currency is the quetzal. The exchange rate is about 8 quetzals to 1 dollar. Their primary products are coffee, bananas and sugar. Their primary trading partners are the U.S. and other Latin American countries. Although it is a beautiful country it is slow in developing because of its 36 years of civil war. In 1996 the government signed a peace agreement finally ending the conflict.