Guatemala City

Guatemala City Ciudad de Guatemala
Capital city
Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción New Guatemala of the Assumption
Skyline Zone 14 National Palace of Culture Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago Post Office Reformer's Tower Zone 4 Spain Square Cayala City Skyline Zone 10
Flag Coat of arms
Motto(s):  "Todos somos la ciudad" (We are all the city), "Tú eres la ciudad" (You are the city).
Interactive map outlining Guatemala City
Guatemala City and its neighbors[a]
Guatemala City Show map of Guatemala Guatemala City Show map of Central America Guatemala City Show map of America Guatemala City Show map of Earth
Coordinates: 14°36′48″N 90°32′7″W / 14.61333°N 90.53528°W / 14.61333; -90.53528
Country	Guatemala
Department	Guatemala Department
Established	1776
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Mayor	Ricardo Quiñónez Lemus (Unionist)
Area
• Capital city	997 km2 (385 sq mi)
• Water	0 km2 (0 sq mi)
Elevation	1,500 m (4,900 ft)
Population  (2023 projection)[2]
• Capital city	1,221,739
• Density	5,552/km2 (14,380/sq mi)
• Urban	3,014,000[1]
GDP (PPP, constant 2015 values)
• Year	2023
• Total (Metro)	$48.1 billion[3]
• Per capita	$15,500
Time zone	UTC– 06:00 (Central America)
Climate	Aw
Website	www.muniguate.com

Guatemala City (Spanish: Ciudad de Guatemala, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the national capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala.^[4] It is also a municipal capital of the Guatemala Department and the most populous urban metropolitan area in the region of Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, in a mountain valley called Valle de la Ermita (English: Hermitage Valley).

Guatemala City is the site of the native Mayan city of Kaminaljuyu in Mesoamerica, which was occupied primarily between 1500 BCE and 1200 CE. The present city was founded by the Spanish after their colonial capital, now called Antigua Guatemala, was destroyed by the devastating 1773 Santa Marta earthquake and its aftershocks.^[5] It became the third royal capital of the surrounding Captaincy General of Guatemala of the larger Viceroyalty of New Spain in imperial Spanish America and remained under colonial rule until the nineteenth century.

In September 1821, Guatemala City was the site of the famous Act of Independence of Central America, which declared the independence of the region from the Spanish Empire. It was ratified and enacted on 15 September, now celebrated annually as Guatemala's independence day and called the Dias Patrios. For the next several decades, Guatemala City was the federation capital of the newly established and independent government of the United Provinces of Central America, which was later reorganized and renamed the Federal Republic of Central America.^[6] In August 1847, Guatemala declared itself an independent republic, separate from the larger federation, and Guatemala City became its national capital.^[7]

Guatemala City and the surrounding region were almost completely destroyed by the 1917–1918 Guatemala earthquakes and months of continued aftershocks. Reconstructions since have resulted in a more modern architectural landscape, including wider streets and a grid lay-out for new developments, inspired by post-18th century designs of architects in other national capital cities such as Paris, France and Washington, D.C..

Today, Guatemala City is the political, cultural, religious and economic center of the Republic of Guatemala and exerts a wide financial, commercial, and cultural influence on the Central America region and beyond, throughout Latin America.

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