Guatemala Cultural Essentials

• History

Maya Have Your Attention? (Dawn Of Time-Ad 1523). The first settlers of Guatemala were the ancestors of the great Mayan civilization that dominated the land until the Spanish arrived in the 16th century ...more

• Today

Guatemala has experienced rapid economic growth over the past few decades, consolidated by the country’s ratification of the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR–CAFTA) in ...more

• People

The composition of Guatemala’s population is similar to those of many countries of Central America. A broad Mestizo population of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent forms a middle band, in Guatemala ...more

• Culture

On the topic of the arts, a traveler’s thoughts tend to flit to the Maya, whether of the crafts and artisan’s works that decorate the country, or the ancient reliefs, murals, and architecture of ...more

• Land

Guatemala lies between Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras, with coasts on both the Gulf of Honduras in the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Divided into several areas by mountains and highlands ...more

• Food And Drink

Corn is divine in Guatemala—literally. According to the sacred Quiché Maya text, the Popol Vuh, the gods unsuccessfully first tried to use mud, then wood, and finally corn in their attempts to create ...more

• Customs And Etiquette

Although etiquette is fairly universal throughout Central America, Guatemala has a few of its own customs. As in much of Latin America, punctuality sometimes falls by the wayside —no one seems to be ...more