Guatemala, Wracked by 36 Years of Civil War

Guatemala City: Guatemala, Central America's most populated country, has been wracked by 36 years of civil war, gang violence and poverty.

The country, which holds a presidential run-off election Sunday, is emerging from a political crisis unprecedented in its recent history, which culminated in the resignation and arrest of president Otto Perez on corruption charges.

200,000 Dead and Missing in Civil War

Once part of the Mayan empire, Guatemala was ruled by Spain from 1524 until its independence in 1821.

Its recent history was marked by a series of coups and civil wars.

In 1996, a peace accord ended 36 years of fighting between government troops, left-wing rebels and right-wing vigilante groups that left an estimated 200,000 people dead or "disappeared." Many of the victims were indigenous people. Some 1.5 million people were displaced or exiled.

Violence and Corruption

Guatemala languishes in 115th place out of 175 on watchdog Transparency International's 2014 corruption ranking.

Since April 2015, the country has been rocked by fraud and corruption scandals that felled numerous top officials.

Vice president Roxana Baldetti stepped down in May and was remanded in custody in August pending trial on charges of defrauding the customs service of millions of dollars.

After defying mounting calls to resign, Perez finally followed suit in September after Congress stripped him of his presidential immunity and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Interim president Alejandro Maldonado is running the country until an elected successor is inaugurated on January 14.

The country of 15.8 million people, of whom 40 per cent are Indians and 3.3 million live in the capital Guatemala City, is also plagued by violence. It has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with an average of 16 murders a day. Around half of them are linked to turf wars between drug gangs.

Government

The president, who is both head of state and of government, is elected every four years and can serve only one term. Perez had been in power since January 2012.

An Unequal Economy

Guatemala is the most developed economy in Central America, a very impoverished region.

Economic growth has hovered around 3.5 per cent in recent years, backed by exports of coffee, sugar, silver and bananas.

According to the World Bank, the country has "a strong potential for economic development thanks to trade, tourism and regional integration."

But Guatemala is among the Latin American countries where inequalities are strongest, with 53.7 percent of the population living below the poverty line of $1.50 a day and 15 percent unable to read and write, according to the education ministry.

In 2013, Guatemala came in 133rd out of 187 countries on the UN's Human Development Index, which looks at health, education and a wide range of other indicators.

That was the worst result in Central America.

Guatemala's income per capita stood at $3,440 in 2014, according to the World Bank.

Geography

Guatemala is bordered by Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean. It has a land surface of 108,889 square kilometers (42,042 square miles).

Spanish is the official language, along with 21 native, mainly Maya, tongues.