* 1977 – 28 people are killed in the Guatemala City air disaster.

Central America then emerged as a distinct political entity upon the independence of the Federal Republic of Central America a representative democracy with its capital at Guatemala City.

Astronaut View of Guatemala City

Guatemala City ( in full, La Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción ; locally known as Guatemala or Guate ), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America.

Within the confines of modern Guatemala City is the ancient Maya city of Kaminaljuyu.

The center of Kaminaljuyu was located a short distance from the oldest part of Guatemala City.

In Spanish colonial times, Guatemala City was a small town.

Guatemala City was the scene of the declaration of independence of Central America from Spain, and became the capital of the United Provinces of Central America in 1821.

Cathedral of Guatemala City

Guatemala City is the economic, governmental, and cultural capital of the Republic.

Guatemala City offers all the modern amenities along with important historic sites that a world class city can be expected to have ranging from an IMAX Theater to the Ícaro film festival ( Festival Ícaro ) featuring films produced in Guatemala and Central America.

Despite its location in the tropics and the many micro climates found within the country, Guatemala City ’ s elevation and the resulting moderating influence of the higher altitude enable it to enjoy a subtropical highland climate ( Köppen Cwb ), though depending on location, it also borders on a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen Aw ).

Guatemala City is generally mild, almost springlike, throughout the course of the year.

Guatemala City Zone 10, aerial view

Guatemala City is subdivided into 22 zones designed by the urban engineering of Raúl Aguilar Batres, each one with its own streets and avenues, making it pretty easy to find addresses in the city.

The city's metro area has recently grown very rapidly and has absorbed most of the neighboring municipalities of Villa Nueva, San Miguel Petapa, Mixco, San Juan Sacatepequez, San José Pinula, Santa Catarina Pinula, Fraijanes, San Pedro Ayampuc, Amatitlán, Villa Canales, Palencia and Chinautla forming what is now known as the Guatemala City Metropolitan Area.

Guatemala City, zone 4.

Guatemala City also has a sizeable Indigenous population and minority groups such as Germans and other Europeans, Jewish, Asians primarily Chinese and Korean, and many groups of other Latin American origins such as Peruvian, and Colombian amongst others.

For this reason along with several others, Guatemala City has experienced some growth problems such as transportation saturation, availability of safe potable water in some areas at certain times as well as increased crime.

In other words, Guatemala City faces problems common to many other rapidly expanding cities.

Guatemala City monuments, all around the city streets.

* 1902 – Quetzaltenango, the second largest city of Guatemala, is destroyed by an earthquake.

The Classic period of Mesoamerican civilization corresponds to the height of the Maya civilization, and is represented by countless sites throughout Guatemala, although the largest concentration is in Petén.

Guatemala is the largest producer of cardamom in the world with an average yield of between 25 thousand to 29 thousand metric tons annually.

Hispanics with origins in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, other Central American countries, and South America now comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in the area.

This is the second largest district in terms of total area in comparison to other districts in Belize, and lies between the Belize and Corozal districts to the east, Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west.

In 2009, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that there were two hundred thousand ( 200, 000 ) Korean " unauthorized immigrants "; they are the sixth largest nationality ( tied with Indians ) of illegal immigrants behind Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Philippines.

The two Districts with the largest membership in the Church of the Nazarene are the Guatemala North Verapaz District, with 22, 012 members, and the Korea National District, with 20, 282 members.

Guatemala City is the capital and largest city in Guatemala with a population between 1 and 2. 5 million people ; it is also the largest city in Central America.

The largest populations of contemporary Maya inhabit Guatemala, Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador, as well as large segments of population within the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas.

In Guatemala, the largest and most traditional Maya populations are in the western highlands.

The Middle kingdoms of India had already the largest economy of the ancient and medieval world, the Napata / Meroitic kingdom extended over the current Sudan and Ethiopia, the Olmecs controlled central Mexico and Guatemala, and the pre-Incan Chavín people managed large areas of northern Peru.

Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador and Guatemala have the largest fleets of sport fishing boats.

Near the Motagua river, the largest in Guatemala that crosses all over El Progreso to Zacapa, in direction to Izabal, it can be found big extensions of green lands, and cities and villages near it.

The capital is the city of Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in Guatemala.

The cloud forest of Sierra de las Minas, Guatemala, is the largest in Central America.

The boundaries between northern Guatemala ( El Petén ), Mexico ( Campeche and Quintana Roo ), and western Belize are still occupied by the largest continuous tracts of tropical rainforest in Central America.

Prior to closing, Casa Alianza Guatemala was the largest service provider to homeless youth in Guatemala, serving nearly 150 children each night in its residential program and having one of the region's strongest legal support programs for disenfranchised youth.

The closest rival to Angkor, the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, was between in total size.

It is also the capital city of the local Municipio de Guatemala, and Guatemala Department.

The city is located at, in a mountain valley called Valle de la Ermita in the south central part of the country Guatemala.

The zones are assigned in a spiral form starting in downtown Guatemala city.

In an attempt to control rapid growth of the city, the municipal government ( Municipalidad de Guatemala ) headed by longtime Mayor Álvaro Arzú, has implemented a plan to control its growth based on transects along its important arterial roads and exhibitting Transit-oriented development ( TOD ) characteristics.

Guatemala City is subdivided into 22 zones designed by the urban engineering of Raúl Aguilar Batres, each one with its own streets and avenues, making it very easy to find addresses in the city.

The city also has some of the most expensive private schools in Central America, The American School of Guatemala and The Mayan International School.

In February 2007, a very large, deep circular hole with vertical walls opened in a poor neighborhood in northeast Guatemala city, killing three people.

In Guatemala, there are some sites with unmistakable Olmec style, such as Chocolá in Suchitepéquez, La Corona, in Peten, and Tak ' alik A ´ baj, in Retalhuleu, the last of which is the only ancient city in the Americas with Olmec and Mayan features.

On November 9, 2003, Óscar Berger, a former mayor of Guatemala city, won the presidential election with 38. 8 % of the vote.

* Izapa – Chief city of the Izapa civilization, whose territory extended from the Gulf Coast across to the Pacific Coast of Chiapas, in present day Mexico, and Guatemala.

* 1717 – An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city's architecture and making authorities consider moving the capital to a different city.

* February 25 – Guatemalan Sergeant Major Melchor de Mencos y Varón departs the city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala with an infantry battalion, to fight British pirates that reportedly disembarked on the coasts of Petén ( today Belize ) and were sacking the nearby towns.