Guatemala

Located in Central America, between Mexico and Belize to the north and El Salvador and Honduras to the south, Guatemala is the most populous of all Central American countries. The Mayan civilization flourished in the region long before the arrival of the Spanish, but it was defeated in 1524. After almost three centuries as a Spanish colony the country gained its independence in 1821, and Guatemala has since experienced a series of dictatorships, coups, insurgencies and stretches of military rule. In 1996, the government concluded peace negotiations and signed peace accords that ended the internal guerilla war which had plagued the country for 36 years. Guatemala's economy was primed for rapid growth after signing the final peace accords, but a financial crisis in 1998 and the subsequent collapse in coffee prices had a severe impact on rural income, and more than half of the country's population now lives below the poverty line. Counterpart International (Counterpart) aims to expand economic opportunities through the tourism sector by incorporating sustainable biodiversity conservation into the tourism industry.

Map and country information, The World Factbook 2009. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009.