Guatemala

GUATEMALA

A. THE COUNTRY

The Republic of Guatemala, in Latin America, is a representative
democracy.  Current government forces can do little to tackle the
violence caused by the upheaval of war and human rights abuses of the
last few decades, and private armed guards outnumber police two to one.
Half of the nations jobs are in agriculture – mainly coffee, sugar and
bananas.  There is major inequity in income and living standards as the
majority still live in poverty, indigenous peoples being particularly
oppressed.

B. THE PEOPLE

The population is ~14,377,000 and the official language is Spanish.
~53% are Spanish-speaking Ladinos (mixed European and Indian), ~44.7%
Amerindian (mostly Maya), ~8.4% Other Central American indigenous, ~2.3%
Other (Korean, Chinese, Arab, Gariuna, Western, other).
The authorities are cooperating with evangelicals and committed
Catholics toward solutions for social problems such as street children,
substance abuse, homelessness and illiteracy.

C. RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY/PENTECOSTALISM

Separation of church and state has given freedom for growth among
evangelicals and charismatics.  
~96.12% claim to be Christian, ~3.5% Non-religious, ~0.3%
Ethnoreligionist, 0.05% Buddhist. ~0.02% Chinese, ~0,01% Muslim.
In the Christian category:
~55.19% are Catholic, ~19.23% Protestant, ~15.07% Unaffiliated, ~6.57%
Independent, ~0.02% Anglican.
Evangelicals represent ~24.4% of the population.
Charismatics represent ~18% and of those ~14.8% are Pentecostals.
Donna Siemens