Antigua Guatemala [Span.,=Old Guatemala], town (1991 pop. 58,114), S central Guatemala. It is the capital of Sacatepéquez dept. Founded in 1542 by survivors from nearby Ciudad Vieja, which had...

Flores, town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the Itzá Mayan city of T...

San José, town (1994 est. pop. 14,170), SW Guatemala, on the Pacific Ocean. It is a rail terminus and a major Pacific port of Guatemala.

Guatemala, officially Republic of Guatemala, republic (2005 est. pop. 14,655,000), 42,042 sq mi (108,889 sq km), Central America. The country is bounded on the north and west by Mexico, on the...

Piedras Negras [Span.,=black stones], ruined city of the Classic era of the Maya, NW Petén, Guatemala, in the Usumacinta valley. Reaching a peak of sculptural achievement (according to one dat...

Carrera, Rafael, 1814–65, president of Guatemala, a caudillo. He led the revolution against the anticlerical liberal government of Guatemala, and his ultimate success in 1840 helped to destroy...

Quiché, indigenous peoples of Mayan linguistic stock, in the western highlands of Guatemala; most important group of the ancient southern Maya. The largest of the contemporary native groups of...

Motagua, river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, rising in S central Guatemala and flowing NE to the Gulf of Honduras. The longest river within Guatemala, it waters a valley where hemp and bananas are ...

Santo Tomás de Castilla, port, E Guatemala, on the Bay of Amatique, an area of the Caribbean Sea. The chief general cargo port of Guatemala, it has a deepwater harbor and modern shipping facil...

Colom Caballeros, Álvaro, 1951–, Guatemalan political leader, president of Guatemala (2008–), b. Guatemala City. An industrial engineer, he became a textile entrepreneur. Entering politics in ...