Indigenous Guatemalan People

Many of the Maya civilization's major towns, including Tikal and El Mirador, were created and later abandoned in Guatemala, which is often regarded as their birthplace. Up until about 1000 AD, the Mayans controlled the region that is now Guatemala. Nobody is exactly sure what led to the destruction of Guatemala's magnificent Mayan towns. After they vanished, it took the Spanish another 500 years to finally set foot in America.

Presently, Guatemala is home to roughly 40% of indigenous people, the bulk of whom are Mayans. Of the 23 Mayan groups that have been officially recognized in the nation, K'iche, Kaqchikel, Mam, and Q'eqchi' are the four most well-known. Additionally, the Xinca make up around 0.5% of the population and are not Mayan. Although Spanish is the official language of Guatemala, more than 20 other languages are still widely used. In the highlands, there are 21 different Mayan languages spoken, while two other languages are also spoken along the Caribbean coast. Original Americans frequently talk in their native tongue, even in urban environments. However, the government did not formally acknowledge these languages until 2003.