Country · Americas
Guatemala
Republic of Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America. Its capital city is Guatemala City. About 17.2 million people live there, in an area of 108 889 square kilometres.
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Where is Guatemala?
Guatemala lies in Central America, on the continent of Americas.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 725 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 400 km long.
It shares a border with 4 countries: Belize, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.
How big is Guatemala?
Guatemala covers 108 889 square kilometres.
That is about 2.6 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 105th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 158.4 people on every square kilometre.
Who lives in Guatemala?
About 17.2 million people live in Guatemala.
That is the 65th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Spanish.
They pay with the Guatemalan quetzal (Q).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 66 years.
The land of Guatemala
The land in Guatemala sits on average 759 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 400 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 20 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Guatemala different?
A dish the country is known for: Fiambre and Pepian (hearty meat stew).
Websites from here often end in .gt.
Guatemala and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 2 live in Guatemala.
It takes up about 0.08 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Americas it is the 19th largest of 35 countries, and the 10th most populated.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Guatemala and its neighbours
Mexico, its largest neighbour, is about 18 times bigger.
Mexico has more people: 126.2 million against 17.2 million.
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Guatemala?
The capital of Guatemala is Guatemala City. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Guatemala?
About 17.2 million people live in Guatemala, which makes it the 65th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Guatemala?
Guatemala borders Belize, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico — 4 neighbours in total.
How big is Guatemala?
Guatemala covers 108 889 square kilometres, making it the 105th largest country in the world. That is about 2.6 times the size of Switzerland.
Which continent is Guatemala in?
Guatemala is in Americas, in the part called Central America.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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