Demographics of Guatemala

The Demographics of Guatemala are diverse, the 16,548,168 people (June 2016)^[1] consist primarily of Mestizos, Amerindians, and people of European descent. The population is divided almost evenly between rural and urban areas.^[2] About 60% of the population speak Spanish, with nearly all the rest speaking Amerindian languages (there are 23 officially recognized Amerindian languages^[3]).

According to official 2012 national statistics, 39.8% of the population is indigenous.^[2]

Population

Guatemala's population (1950-2010).^[4]

According to the 2015 revision of the CIA World Factbook the total population estimate was 14,918,999.^[5] The proportion of the population below the age of 15 in 2010 was 41.5%, 54.1% were aged between 15 and 65 years of age, and 4.4% were aged 65 years or older.^[4]

Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America, is home to over 3 million inhabitants. In 1900 Guatemala had a population of 885,000.^[6] Over the twentieth century Guatemala's population grew by a factor of fourteen. Even though Guatemala's population grew by a factor of 14, it still wasn't the biggest jump in that region.^[7] Although Guatemala does have an increase in population, the annual population isn't the superior in that region of the world as well.^[8]

Population by departments

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, the total number of emigrants increased from 6,700 in the 1960s to 558,776 for the period 1995-2000, by 2005 the total number had reached 1.3 million.^[10] In 2013, the MPI estimated that there are around 900,000 people of Guatemalan origin in the United States.^[11]

Country	Count
United States	480,665[12] – 1,489,426[13]
Mexico	23,529[13]
Belize	14,693[13]
Canada	14,256[13] – 34,665[14]
Germany	5,989[13]
Honduras	5,172[13]
El Salvador	4,209[13]
Spain	2,491[13]

Ethnic groups

Indigenous girls in Chichicastenango

Ethnic Groups in Guatemala %^[2][3][15]

  Mestizos (41.0%)

  Amerindians (38.9%)

  Whites (18.5%)

  Blacks (1.0%)

  Asians (0.6%)

Official 2012 statistics indicate that approximately 60.2% of the population is "non-indigenous",^[2] referring to the mestizo population and the people of European origin. These people are called Ladino in Guatemala.

Approximately 39.8% of the population is indigenous^[2] and consist of 23 Maya groups and one non-Maya group. These are divided as follows: (K'iche 9.1%, 8.4% Kaqchikel, Mam 7.9%, 6.3% Q'eqchi', other Maya peoples 8.6%, 0.2% indigenous non-Maya).^[3] They live all over the country, especially in the highlands.

Other racial groups include numbers of Afro-Guatemalans, Afro-Mestizos, and Garifuna of mixed African and indigenous Caribbean origins who live in the country's eastern end. Some Garifunas live mainly in Livingston, San Vicente and Puerto Barrios. They descend mainly from the Arawaks and Belizean Creoles.^[3]

There are thousands of Arab Guatemalans descending from; Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and other Arab countries who reside in Guatemala City. Some belong to Christian Churches while others to Islamic Mosques.

There are also thousands of Jews residing in Guatemala. They are immigrants from Germany and Eastern Europe that arrived in the 19th century. Many immigrated during World War II. There are approximately 9,000 Jews living in Guatemala today. Most live in Guatemala City, Quezaltenango and San Marcos. Today, the Jewish community in Guatemala is made up of Orthodox Jews, Sephardi, Eastern European and German Jews.

In 2014, numerous members of the Hassidic communities Lev Tahor and Toiras Jesed began settling in the village of San Juan La Laguna. The mainstream Jewish community was reportedly dismayed and concerned that the arrival of communities with a more visible adherence to Judaism might stir up anti-Jewish sentiment. Despite the tropical heat, the members of the community continued to wear the traditional ancient Jewish clothing.^[16][17][18]

Asian Guatemalans are primarily of Korean descent and Chinese descent, whose ancestors were farm workers and railroad laborers in the early 20th century.

History

The 1893 Guatemalan Census reported that 481,945 persons, or 35.3% of the population, were Ladinos (defined as both whites and people of European and Indian descent), and 882,733 persons, or 64.7% of the population, were Natives.^[19]

European Guatemalans

Approximately, 18.5% of the population is considered White or Caucasian, accounts for more than 3 million of the population. Most are of German and Spanish descent, but there is a considerable number of people of Italian, Belgian, French, British, Swiss, Finnish, Russian and Hungarian descent.

The departments of Zacapa and Chiquimula are half or predominantly of Spanish descent, with castizos, the white populations make up more than 80% in these departments, where many European immigrants arrived, mainly the 19th and 20th centuries. In Guatemala City there is a significant amount of minority descendants of Europeans (35-40%), and other minorities with more than 20% in Coban, Carlos V and Xelaju.

Mestizo Guatemalans

Guatemalan Mestizos are people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. The Mestizo population is heavily populated in urban areas of the country (the national capital and departmental capitals).^[20]

Historically, the Mestizo population in the Kingdom of Guatemala at the time of Independence amounted to nearly 600,000 Indians, 300,000 Castes (mostly Mestizos and a lesser number of Mulattos), and 45,000 Criollos or Spanish, with a very small number of Spaniards.^[21]

Indigenous Guatemalans

The Amerindian populations in Guatemala include the K'iche' 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 7.9% and Q'eqchi 6.3%. 8.6% belongs to other Maya groups, 0.4% belong to non-Maya indigenous peoples. The whole indigenous community in Guatemala is about 40.5% of the population.^[22]

Languages

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 the Southern region, Eastern region, Guatemala City and Peten.^[3] Though the official language is Spanish, it is often the second language among the indigenous population.

Approximately 23 additional Amerindian languages are spoken by more than 40% of the population.^[5] The most significant are; Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna and Xinca.^[5]

There are also significant numbers of German, Chinese, French and English speakers.

Religion

Catholicism was the official religion during the colonial era. Protestantism has increased in recent decades. More than one third of Guatemalans are Protestant, chiefly Evangelicals and Pentecostals. Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy claim rapid growth, especially among indigenous Mayans.

The Islamic community in Guatemala is growing, Muslim population of Guatemala is approximately 1,200. Of this population, 95% are Palestinian Arab immigrants. There is a mosque in the outskirts of Guatemala City called the Islamic Da'wah Mosque of Guatemala (Spanish: Mezquita de Aldawaa Islámica) which is available for the five daily prayers and offers classes in Islamic studies.

The president of the Islamic Community of the country is Jamal Mubarak.

Traditionally a large proportion of Guatemalans have been Catholics. This has declined, from 90% of the population in 1950, 61% in 1986, 65% in 1991 (after the visit of the Pope John Paul II), 57% in 2006,^[24] and 47% in 2013.^[23] Between 1882 and 1940, 2% of the population were Protestants, 17.98% were Protestant in 1978, 30% in 1986, 21% in 1991, 25.27% in 2001, 30.70% in 2006^[24] and 40% Protestant in 2014.^[23]

3% of Guatemalans follow other religions.^[23] 9% are non-religious.^[23] Guatemalans who self-identify as atheists/agnostics were 3.25% of the population in 1982, 12% in 1991, and 14.2% in 2001.^[24] According to the Latinobarómetro, 8% of the population were irreligious in 1996, 15% in 2000, 16% in 2007, 11% in 2008, 13% in 2010, with 10% irreligious in 2014.^[23] The "other religions" were 9% in 1996 to 14% one year later, and 3% in 2013.^[23]

Religious Evolution in Guatemala (by national census)
Year	% Catholic	% Evangelic	% Others	% No religion
1882-1940	97%	2%	0.1%	0.4%
1978	80.1%	17.9%	0.8%	1.2%
1980	77%	19.1%	1.1%	2.8%
1982	73.4%	22.3%	1.1%	3.2%
1986	62.9%	30%	2%	6%
1991	64.6%	21%	2.4%	12%
1992	60.4%	26.4%	2.1%	11.1%
2001	58.1%	25.2%	2.5%	14.2%
2006	57.3%	30.7%	2.1%	9.9%
2010	47.6%	31.7%	2.4%	18.3%
2012	47.9%	38.2%	2.3%	11.6%

Vital statistics

UN estimates

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

Registered annual data^[25][26]

Fertility and Births (Demographic and Health Surveys)

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[27][28]

Structure of the population ^[29]

Structure of the population (01.07.2005) (Estimates) :

Structure of the population (01.07.2010) (Estimates) (Projections based on the 2002 Population Census) :

Structure of the population (2015):^[30]

References

Ancestry and ethnicity in Guatemala
Guatemalan Indians (Maya and others)	Achi Akatek Awakatek Chuj Ch'orti' Itza Ixil Jakaltek Kaqchikel K'iche' Mam Mopan Poqomam Poqomchi' Q'anjob'al Q'eqchi' Sakapultek Sipakapense Tektitek Tz'utujil Uspantek Xinca
Former and extinct	Acala Ch'ol Chinamita Kejache Kowoj Lakandon Ch'ol Manche Ch'ol Pipil Tojolabal Toquegua Yalain
Guatemalan mestizo	Mestizo
Descendants of Europeans (whites or Criollo)	French German Italian Russian Spanish Swiss
Descendants of Asians	Jewish Korean Lebanese
Afro-Descendants	Garifuna Mulatto Zambo
Americas	Americans Mexicans Salvadorans
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