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Slide 1Slide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19Slide 20Slide 21Slide 22Slide 23Slide 24Slide 25Slide 26Slide 27Slide 28Slide 29Slide 30Slide 31Slide 32Slide 33Slide 34Slide 35Slide 36Slide 37Slide 38Slide 39Slide 40Slide 41Slide 42Slide 43Slide 44Slide 45•Guatemala is located in Central America and is bordered by Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador. •The country is also sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and the Caribbean Sea to the northeast.•Guatemala is an industrializing society with initially agrarian developmental roots. •Guatemala was inhabited with early hunting and gathering groups as far back as 10,000 years ago •However, the population of Guatemala quickly adapted to food production, namely the cultivation of maize.•Guatemala was subjected to Spanish expeditions and rule which decimated local populations from 1518 ….•….until September 15th, 1821 when the country declared independence from Spain and membership in the Mexican Empire.•Current Population= •Crude birth rate =•Crude Death Rate= •Rate pop. growth =•Net Migration rate= •12,293,545•29.88 births/1,000 •5.2 deaths/1,000•2.27%•-1.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population•As seen in the graph, Guatemala has been experiencing very rapid population growth in the past 50 years •This growth is felt primarily in the youth community •Percent of citizens ages 0-14= 41.1% •Median age of citizens= 18.9 years•The population of Guatemala has jumped from 3 million to over 11 million since 1950.• Why?Indigenous distrust of contraceptives Religion Lifestyle based on manual labor and kin High rate of poverty Lack of government aid in family planning•Guatemala is a predominantly Catholic country and The Catholic church opposes contraceptives •THUS, people are taught to protect oneself from pregnancy and HIV/AIDS by abstinence and fidelity. •This methodology could be attributed to the high birth rate found in Guatemala •And their rate of infection which is one of the HIGHEST in Central America•people living with HIV/AIDS: 78,000•HIV/AIDS - deaths: 5,800•Catholic= 50-60%•Protestant ( especially Evangelicals and Pentecostals) = 40%•Traditional Mayan beliefs = 1%•There are 2 major ethnic groups•~ 60% of the population are LadinosThey are Mestizos or of mixed Mayan and European/Spanish descent•~ 40% of the population are of pure Mayan origin (indigenas)•They make up most of the urban population•Their culture is dominant in the urban areas•Ladinos speak Spanish and have adopted the European customs•They include a wide range of people: from the elite to the middle classes to the poor•Historically suffered from discrimination and poverty•They are geographically isolated – found mainly in the rural highlands•Many speak a Mayan language and follow the traditional religious and village customs•Still produce the traditional textiles and crafts•They are the majority of the agricultural labor force•The government has tried to suppress their culture and force them to assimilate•Peace agreements in 1996•The social classes are based on wealth, education, and family prestige•Race is not as important as culture or lifestyles•The distinction between the 2 ethnic groups is more a matter of culture than of biology•Natives could be accepted into Ladino society if they are well-educated and could live in a Western lifestyle•Society is divided between rich and poor and there’s a huge gap between the two•The wealthy class is very small•Many of the people remain extremely poor, especially the native people•Poverty affects both rural and urban areas but those in the rural areas live under harsher conditions• Per capita GDP (2007 est.): $5,400. •Unemployment rate 3.2% (2005 est.)• Top remittance recipient in Central America• ¾ of population lives in poverty• Wealth concentrated among a few• Women earn 1/5 of the nation’s income (lowest in Latin America)•Quetzals per US dollar - 7.6833 (2007)•The quetzal became the monetary unit of Guatemala in 1925 when it replaced the Guatemalan peso• Economy dominated by private sector generates 85% of GDP• •Agriculture 23% of GDP and 75% of exports•Export market: sugar, bananas, coffee•Also textiles, winter vegetables, fruit and flowers•Export to the United States and Central America•U.S. is Guatemala’s largest trading partnerLabor force by occupation:agriculture: 50% industry: 15% services: 35% (1999 est.)Hindrances of progress:Decades of civil warLack of diverse manufacturing sectorDependency on exporting agricultureVast difference between the rural and urban sectors•Spanish colonialism •Mid-19th century to mid-1980s there were a series of dictatorships, insurgencies (particularly in the 1960s), coups, and stretches of military rule •36 year Civil War •Only occasional periods of representative government during this time•New Constitution drafted May 1985, amended 1993•ExecutivePresident, 4 year term •LegislativeUnicameral 158 member congress, 4 year term•Judicial13 member Supreme Court of Justice, 5 year term•Many subdivisions•Suffrage for those over 18Variety of procedural obstacles have reduced participation by poor, rural, and indigenous people•Nation Unity for Hope (UNE) •Current party represented by President Alvaro Colom•Grand National Alliance (GANA) •Consists of Patriot Party, Reform Movement, and National Solidarity Party•National Advancement Party (PAN) •Center right party •Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG)•Populist party •14 parties on 2007 presidential election ticket•36-Year Civil War (1960-1996)•Longest Civil War in Latin American History•Ethnic Genocide•Ideology conflicts•Backed by US CIA•Military infiltration into government and public •Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) Mix of four revolutionary groupsAssassinated military leaders, including a US Ambassador John Gordon Mein in 1968•Large amount of corruption•Guatemalan presidents and government acted out against the guerilla movement with military action•1983 de facto President Mejia•New constitution 1985• 1986 President Cerezo elected under new constitutionNew laws of habeas corpus (right to trial and jury) and amparo (court-ordered protection)Creation of a legislative human


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UNC-Chapel Hill SOCI 111 - STUDY GUIDE

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