General Geographic Aspects of Guatemala February 1954

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP62-00865R000100070009-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2000
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: February 1, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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General Geographic Aspects of Guatemala
February 19%
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General Geographic Aspects of Guatemala
Guatemala, with an area of 112,364 s~g are miles, is the third
largest of the Central American republics although its population of
approximately 3,000,000 Is greater than that of any other Central
American state. Its eeonouq is agricultural, the great bulk of the
population being concerned with the production of maize, by far the
major crop, and a great variety of other food crops. Important
export products include coffee, bananas, chicle, abaca, and lumber.
The topography of tuatemala is determined largely by east-vest
geologic formations which continue into the neighboring coiintries.
Within Guatemala, these formations divide the country into four major
divisions: the Northern Lowland, the Caribbean Lowlands., the Highlands,
and the Pacific Lowland. The divisions readily can be distinguished
since the terrain, climate, vegetation, population distribution, and
economy of each differ in many important characteristics.
The Northern Laviand
Terrain and Climate
The Northern Lowland, eneamp?asBing approximately one-third of
Guatemala, lies in the Department of El Pet 4n and is largely an
undulating plateau between 500 and 700 feet above sea level. Surface
drainage is poor and is provided chiefly by intermittent streams that
flog during the rainy season, i.e., from April to January. After
heavy rains, the many lakes and swamps fill rapidly and spread over
the surface. The total annual rainfall averages approxlmmtely 80
inches.
Ve a Cation
Almost the entire Northern Lowland is covered by a dense, ever-
green forest except for a few stretches of savanna, and small areas
of pine in the slight3,y higher and drier Poctun region near the border
of British Honduras. This forest. provides the basis for the region's
chief economic activities -- chicle gathering and mahogany lumbering --
although scattered patches of shifting agriculture are located within
the forest area.
Principal Economic Activities
It has been noted in reliable studies that the Peter area could
produce about 20 million board feet of mahogany and other cabinet
wood annually on a sustained yield[ basis. The ecocmic outlook for
the chicle industry, on the other hand,?is not nearly so favorable. The
output of chicle, best known as a base for chewing gum:, has been reduced
by destructive practices and, more impoartantly, - several natural and
synthetic substitutes have emerged which have materially cut into the
chicle market.
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P pul ation Density
Remains still exist in this area of the once relatively populous
Mayan civilizzation, but the ancient build1jags have crumbled 'and, are
covered with mated jungle. now the region is only thinly settled --
less than one person per square kilometer. Flaares, situated on an
Island in Lake Peen Itza, hao fewer than 3,000 inhabitants but it is
by far the largest settlement in the department.
Transportation
'The Northern L+owlmd is virtually inaccessible due to the absence
of roads and navigable rivers, and crass-country travel would be
extremely difficult even in the short dry season. Most of the mahogany
saw1og8 are exported, via the Usumacinta River a and it's'. branches, through
Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico. Chicle is taken out mainly by air ftca
the town of Flares on Lake Peters Itza".
The Caribbean Lowlands
The Northern Lowland of Paten eonnects9 to the southeast, with
the Caribbean Lowlands in the Departments of Alta Verapaz and Izabal.
These lowlands extend inland from the Gulf of Honduras and include
three valleys: In the north,? On the boarder of British Handuras, is the
valley of the Rio Sarstua; in the middle is the shy lowland In' which'
. the .Itio Polochic and Lake Izabal lie; and near, the border of Ro ura$'
is the largest lawlaad, the, alloy of the Rio Wtagua. Sting , uie
val. ,eys are low mountain ranges that form eastward extern ,ions of I the
gegetation and Climate
Vegetation in the Caribbean Lcsw1 ds is similar to that of the
Northern Lowland -- predgninately broad-leaved evergreen forests with
interspersed grassy areas." L The eli=te,' too, is similar except that
the rainfall, is more plentiful and averages more than 100 inches per
year. The "dry" or rather less vat season is very aahart,. leiating. daily
,from March thrbu& May, aaad even in those months daily. ,rai#1s are not
uncommaon. and June normally are the 1f rment months of the year,
with
average temperatures in the lowvr 80' a; November and December, with
ten eratures averaging approxia aLtely 70?, are the coolest nianths.
A small area in the middle part of the
departments of ~ ~-~, in', the
Zacapa and El Progreso, has acme of the character1atics
of a dessert In that It is so-dry that only xeropbytie plants can
survive. Similar cooditiona, to any significant extent, are round
nowhere else in G aaten tia.
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Principal Economic Activities
Mahogany lumbering and chicle gath are the chief forest
industries, and near the rivers there isimited subsistence farming.
T h e e x t e n s i v e banana, plantations o f the" U n i t e d F r u i t Coepany are
located in the lover liatagua Valley. The latter are now partly
replaced by abaca, oil palm, and rubber plantings because of the
spread of banana diseases. The products of the gaited Fruit Csiany
are shipped out of the country through Puerto Barrios, a thriving .
port complete with the special loading devices used in the transpor-
tation of bananas, and the only deep-water port in Quatemla where
vessels ca
ti
n
e up alongside a pier.
Transportation
Although there are no all-weather roads in the Caribbean Lowlands,
the United Fruit Company has built railroads throughout its plantations,
and the International Railways of Central America follows the Motagua
valley framd Puerto Barrios to the central highlands of the country.
Population Density
Both, the Northern and Caribbean Lowlands are sparsely populated
: t d, although they represent sake 46 percent of the total area of
aua. ala, they support only 3 percent of the total population: The,'
population density in the Caribbean Lovlands is approximately 9 persons
per snare kilometer. Puerto Barrios, with 16,000 people, Is the
largest town in the area, although there are ether fair-sized Cca?unities
in the )btagua valley, particularly in the' vicinity of the banana
Terrain
The $
ighleads ec?ziprise about 47 percent of the total area of
Guatemala, support about 90 percent of the total population, and cover
most of the southern and western portions of the country. Elevations
of over 10,000 feet are con in the southwestern highlands and in
the Cuchumatanes Mduntajns of the northvest; a few peaks exceed 13,000
feet. Among the volcanic cones which dominate the southwestern high-
lands are several basins of irregular sbape,`in one of which is the
magnificent Lake.*tit]. . it is in these basins,, which are from 5~
to 8,000 feet shave sea level ,
that the greatest concentrations of
population exist.
Fr= the promin t south-facing edge of the highlands short,
torrettjal etreama descend to the Pacifica but the (;Teeter part of the
hYghland is drained to the C64
?ibbeaa. The headwaters of the Caribbean
drainage have cut steep c,asWoas into the easily eroded volcanic soils.
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North and east of the volcanic zone, the streams have out their
valleys close to sea,". level, and exposed ,the underlying geological
structures forming a maze or steep ridges,; sharp divides, and deep
valid lowlands a SGeae ? of tbe.ridges ex~end all the way to the margins
of then' Caribbean. /
The terrain of the southeastern hi len1S --
Bh toward the Sl Salvadear
bolder --- ie lower in elevation and loss rugged 'than. th_ a western or
northwestern, highlands. This area, one of forests snarl 'scattered subsis-
tence farnijn , also is less densely populated than the other hi
...
ahLand
areas.
vegetation
'i'~-e= vegetation cover of the highlands exhibits the two basic
characteristics of mmmtain geo,grap)q; a general zoning by altitude,
and as intricacy of detail that makes the vertical zones in same places
difficult to identify. GeueroU ., as one ascends to higher altitudes,
the thick "tropical" forests of the lowlands and the piedmont give m W
to oak, cypress, and pine. Above 10,000 feet pine grows only in patches
an there are wide areas of high altitude grassland.
Climate
Although the rainfall averages apprMtimately 50 inches per ye
in the vicinity of Guatemala City, and the toleratures gexaaral.ly
average in the 60's, there are great differences within short distances.
Slopes oriented in various directions towrd the winds and the sum have
notably cotrasted climates,. In part of the Same va11 -, one slope nary
be rainy, a aotheer relatively dry; Or en* slope my y receive the sun's
rays at such an eagle that the heating effect is very greet, whereas
another slope nearby may receive little direct heat from the sun..
filly, however, there is a decrease of taiperatun with increasing
altitude.
fit i~ Dens
most of the areas of productive land within the highlands are
small and scattered, but where they exist they freequent]y support a
large popuul,atinn, varying from a few hundred to more than 30,000
people. In some, the faz err live in the villages and go out to work
the eurrouf'ding fields. In other districts the
units on the land th r People live in family
they are e:uttivati,ng. ?
.. t
In the southwestern hi , Particularly,, it is not uncowno
to find that each sue, city is isolated by tho
from the neigtibetrr by tasand-foot canproas
ing eeettl t so that trade, between, the two would
require the descent and ascent of very steep trails passable only for
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People on foot or for mules. Each coamity-has its own distinctive
customs, Ito own unique dress. Instead of A few areas of compact
settlem=t,. therefore, there is a covlex ttern of isolated co ,mi-
ties.
Priacioal Economic Activities
Agriculture in the hig ds is carried on for the moat part by
small farnaard who raise size, beans, wheat, and other food crops for
the dbMeotic market. Much of the poorer and fallow land is given over
to grazing, and in the highr cold regions above 9,500 feet the land is
used for little else, though meager subsistence agricultum based on
Potato-growing occasionally is encountered.
Coffee Is Guatemala's most IMortant com?ercial'bsop. With few
exceptions in recent decades, coffee has been the leading
fore ~ e change, and coffee, as an industry, employs the ~ ea of
people. In total land area it ranks only behind maize, which
is the leading food staple of the Guatemalan people. Most of Guatem la?s
coffee is produced in the Pict. and Imer
se enitive
the.Pacific coast where the rather precise requirements slopes
for this that
Plant are f'nlfilled. In this zone uiremeunsitive
soils are Drell drained and between 5,~ and 1,500 feet, volcanic
in the are ' and highly productive, the tan~peratures average
70's, and the almost 200 inches of annual rainfall are
concentrated, In one season a- all favorable conditions for the produgtion
of top-quality coffee. Coffee also is an Important-crop on the eeatern
side of the highlands in the Cobalt region, and, In tact, ewe coffee is
produced in 20 of Guatemala's 22 dep ts.
Sources of labor consist primrily of radians from the Highlands,
somee oof whom thers, have becc io permanent residents of the coffee f~,
perhaps a third of the labor force, are mat workers.
who return to their highland villages at the and of. the October-to-
DeceLber harvest season.
Sugarcane is own and p'ocesstd almost entirely in pl~n-tatia~s
ale the Piedmont,, ninny of them lour altitude coffee fincas, where
cane is planted in stream bottoms between coffee-covered ridges. The
sh
on the o_. ec of Lake Atitl n Capproximately 5,000 feet in elevation are about
season upper limits of sugarcane gr th. The cutting and grinding
lasts
from January to l9?y.
Tranl!gcrtatiou
The transportation net kin the Highlands Is fairly extenatve,
but it has been accurately. -descri1,ed an an overfed, poorly
located network of lour-ealib, narrow roads. -The road beds are -
fair],y stable in the higher parts of. the Highland area,, acrwever at
lower' elevations the volcanic ash-sand. soils tend to erode rapidly
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when disturbed and subjected to scour action by heavy rains. Such
rain p icuZy wing almg the seeps Pacific-facing
----
AieBront T.tbere 1 nnds1 do-
are
Qt t the other hand, the Highland soils drain rapiBZy. Moareover$
they ordinarily can be Worked easily by road machinery or even by
hand.. The low clay content reduces the formation of mod. Also, the
local road crew are quite effective except for major catastrophes,
and even then alternate routes
usually are available.
It should be noted that most of Guatemala' a hi?bweys are highways
in name only. With the exception of the Inter American Highway and a
few kilaemeters of good pavement in the vicinity of Guatemala Cit
is no first-class hi ~Y~ there
leading from Guatemala t to San Republic.
the south Nationi
oastHouteseNud3er
cond- 8a
grade.
The Inter American Highway is being built to a heavy-duty paving
specification and, though not yet paved throughout its length, can be
considered as "all-weather" Pratt the 'Talisman bridge on the Mexican
border to the El Salvador border. The majority of highways, 'however,
are narrow, ate-lane roads of sharp: curves and steep po ]r3` graded and surfaced. Most appear to have been dgrevel, and are
farm-to-tarkst roads or from pack trails of earlier s leading dn
tams to fs or from town to town. days lt zhram
natiTe latercoca Railways of Central America, crosses the Highlands
through Guatemala City on its route frost Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean
coast to Ban .Jose on the,Pacific. Front Santa Maria, aErpraat3mately 20
miles north of San Jose, the railroad traverses the lower piedmont
Paralleling the Pacific to Alrutla an the Mexican border* )Branches
coahect the main line zdth the Pacific ports of CbmVericei and Ocos,
and with the inland towns of San Pelipe and San Antonio an the south
slopes of the mountains near Nazatenango.
The Pacific Lowland
ea^min .
The Pacific Lowland occupies a rarrou coastal plain, 320 feet or
less above sea level and 10 to 25 miles wide, between the southern
border of the highlands and the Pacific. This plain caastitutes about
7 percent
of Mm of the total area of the country, and supports about 7 Pare-eat
e total population.
Climate
The rainfall in the Pacific Lowland averages over 80 inches per
year except at the northwestern and southeastern extremities of the
plan and 3iediate4 adjacent to the coast. Here the 40 inches of
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rain that fall, en ual.ly are inadequate for 1he production of bananas
and sugarcane, but vill support quick-mturAng subsistence crops.
Vegetation
Back of the sandbar., on the immediate share, there is a variable
belt of trot lagoons fined with move. The greater part of the
coastal plain is covered t4th navsana, crossed by ribbons of forest
altMg the BMW streams which descend from the hf gh I ands . Toward the
interior, the plada rises gradually toward the base of the mountains
through a belt of gently-sloping foothills. The foothills and the
lover slopes of the highlands are covered With a thick forest. This
forested area is potentially one of the most productive areas. in the
satire eoontry.
Principal Economic Activities
Except for the extensive United Fruit C enj banana plantations
near Tequisate, the Pacific I.owland is relatively underdeveloped
agriculturally. It was from the United Fruit holdings in this area
that the Governteent of Guatemala in March 1953 eVropriat ??mace'than
200,000 acres of land under the Agrarian Reform Program..
Transpo L ration
The Pacific coast is straiot, entirely without natural harbor.;
San Jose' and Chan erico are the oiil r two Guatemalan paints now, operating
an the Pacific Coast. At neither of them can chips tie up oicaagside
the pier. surf conditions and the unprotected nature of the coastline
requires anchorage of chips offabore, to be loaded a=rid umlasded by the
use'of lighters. Both parts have rail connections with the- interior.
The only all-rweether roads in the Pacific how1afld are from Escuint].a
to Sao dose and from Escuintle to Chiqu1ip 1t . Trefficability of the
other roads in the area is poor in both the rainy add the dry season.
Possibilities bf.TJndetected Travel
U etected travel throughout Hsieh or t uatesmU trou].d be extremely
difficult due to the population distributim and the lack of continuous
forest cover. The dispersed rural settlement consists of a aambinatiOn
of small villages and scattered houses on individva1 farmsteads. .Bath
subsistence and commaereia1 agricultural activities continue' tbrav _W
the year and there is practically- eontinuovs moveameaat of people f ibm
fhrm to farm or .farm to market.
The intensive farming pattern t roughout the populated area has
left on]y scattered patches of natural vegetative cover. Sours of the
steepest slopes and most isolated areas have been clued and rots
support. ercps of maize and other subsistence foods. The caly r " ning
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belts of forest are in the unsettled parts of the lv+T nd, above
10,000 feet where the pine forests are int ri pereed with grassland
areas, and in the extensive coffee areas here shade trees have been
introduced. F
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Basic Sources
1. Carlson, Fred A., Geography of Latin America, New York, Prentice-
Hall, 1944.
2. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Mission in
Collaboration with the Govt of Guatemala, The Ecsamic Devu oument
of Guatemala, Baltimore, The Johns Hapkins Press, 1951.
3. Jas, Preston E., Latina New York, pdyss Press, 1950.
4. *de, Felix Webster, Cultural and Historisti .l
Southwest Guatemala, Smithsoe-ia~n institution, t-Ge"by of
ute Social
Anthropoloff Publication No. 4, Washington, V.S. Government Printing
Office,
5. )Bryde, Felix Webster, "Studies in Guatemalan Neteoraogy (I) and
(It),,"-_ Bulletin of the American met Cal Society Vol. 2 954-
s V P ?
26-;. 4F --kO6 ni
e D
n
ecember.
6. SPien, H.J., `,Vhe Population of Ancient America," Geographical
Review, Vol. 7~VIII, 1928, No. 4, pp. 641.660. (See especially Rainfall
l~cp on page 66D.)
,
epar
msen
vol. , Ho. 742, September 14, 1953.
7? U.S. Department of State, "S cproprlatlon of united Fruit CaVanar
Property bar 0overmment at Ouateeala
" D
t
t of State Bulletin,
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 I GUATEMALA j
PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
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