Demographics of Guatemala

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, Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish - in local Spanish called Ladino) and European made 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%. Therefore, 40% of the population is Amerindian. Pure European population is not known because the country combines mestizos with whites.

Most of Guatemala's population is rural, though urbanization is accelerating. The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, once the main faith of the population, into which many indigenous Guatemalans have incorporated traditional forms of worship. Protestantism and traditional Maya religions are practiced by an estimated 40% and 1% of the population, respectively.

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. And thousands who are Middle Easterner descendants: Arabs, Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians, Europeans, Armenians, Italians, Greeks and Turks came to Guatemala after World War I.

In 1900, Guatemala had a population of just 885,000. 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. This has brought on difficulties for Guatemala as more people puts pressure in the nation's economic progress in a country where 70% live in dire poverty, and political stability was weakened by an inability to have effective population growth programs.

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.

The largest population of Guatemalans is in Los Angeles, but there are also established Guatemalan communities in Dallas, Houston, Miami, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco area, and Washington, DC. There are also Guatemalan immigrants living abroad in Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, Europe, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, India and Australia as well.