Guatemala's Geography

Guatemala is in size a little smaller than the state of Tennessee (108,890 sq. km.) and has borders with four countries: Mexico (west and north), Belize (norhteast), Honduras (east) and El Salvador (southeast). It has access to both the Pacific Ocean (south) and the Caribbean (east). It has a total of 1,687 kilometers of borders and 400 of shores.

Sunset behind the volcanoes seen from a cornfield in Solola

The country has four main geographic areas that are very varied, from fertile plains to mountains and tall volcanoes. The south is characterized by having the coastal plains of the Pacific Ocean, soil is rich mainly composed of material brought by the rivers from the mountains and volcanoes. This area is mainly used for extensive sugar production, rubber plantations and cattle ranching.

Sugar plantation in coastal plain with Atitlan volcano in the background

The volcanic belt goes from east to west north of the coastal plain. It is composed of 34 volcanoes of which the tallest occur close to the mexican border and in central Guatemala (Tajumulco with 4,220 meters above sea level). Three of these volcanoes are still active (Pacaya, Fuego and Santiaguito volcanoes). In the south facing slopes most of them have cloud forests (forests which have a lot of moisture from the clouds). One of the rainiest places of the country (with more than 6,000 mm of rain a year) is Chicacao, on the slopes of Atitlán Volcano. The main use for soil in this steep terrain is coffee growing up to about 1,600 meters. There are still many cloud forests above 1,600 meters where it is too steep or humid for cultivating.

Mountain top view looking south to the Santa Maria volcano

Most of central Guatemala is covered with mountains which are part of the Sierra Madre comming from Mexico. The central mountains comming from Mexico are usually called the Sierra Madre and is where most of the population is concentrated. The soils in this mountains are genarally very good and support a big variety of crops, from corn and beens to vegetables and cold climate fruit trees. Guatemala, the capital city of the country is in the middle of the mountains.

Typical view of the road to Petén (karstic plateu)

The flat plateus from the north are mainly karstic and include a few low level mountains (below 1,000 meters and usually under 500 meters). This lowlands extends into the Yucantan Peninsula of the north and includes the largest conservation areas in the country. It has many national parks including hundreds of archaelogical sites like Tikal. Population is sparse with big extenses of cattle pastures.

MOUNTAINS AND VOLCANOES
Guatemalan mountains and volcanoes are the reason for this country to be very rich ecologically due to the large amount of different biotic areas and climates. As soon as the Sierra Madre from Mexico is in Guatemala, it divides in two. The one in the north (Huehuetenango department) forms the Cuchumatanes mountains the tallest in Centralamerica (above 3,800 meters). The one in the south (San Marcos department) is bordered in the south by the volcanic chain. The mountains divide the country in the north flowing rivers (Caribbean and Mexican Gulf) and the Pacific ocean in the south.

Monument to the Cuchumatanes mountains in the outlook (see volcanoes on the background)

There are nine smaller mountain ranges in Guatemala: Sierra Los Cuchumatanes in Huehuetenango and Quiché (above 3,900m.); Sierra de Las Minas in El Progreso, Baja Verapáz, Alta Verapáz, Zacapa and Izabal (2,987 meters); Sierra de Chamá in Alta Verapáz (2,645 meters); Sierra de Chuacús in Quiché and Baja Verapáz (2,504 meters); Sierra de Santa Cruz in Izabal (1,210 meters); Sierra del Espiritu Santo in Zacapa and Izabal (1,486 meters); Sierra del Lacandón in Petén (636 meters); Merendón mountains in Izabal (1,144 meters); and Mayan mountains in Petén and Belice (above 900 meters).

Volcanoes are plenty in Guatemala, 34 to be exact! See Guatemalan volcanoes map. The most well known ones are Pacaya, Fuego and Santiaguito because they are active. The tallest are Tajumulco (4,220 m.) and Tacana (4,092 m.) both in San Marcos department.

1. Tajumulco 4,220	10. Cerro Quemado 3,197	19. Alzatate 2,050	28. Ipala 1,650
2. Tacana 4,092	11. Tolimán 3,150	20. Suchitán 2,042	29. Ixtepeque 1,292
3. Acatenango 3,976	12. San Pedro 3,020	21. Quetzaltepeque 1,904	30. Monterrico 1,285
4. Santa María 3,772	13. Cuxliquel 3,050	22. Tecuamburro 1,840	31. Cerro Redondo 1,267
5. Agua 3,766	14. Chicabal 2,900	23. Jumaytepeque 1,815	32. Las Víboras 1,070
6. Fuego 3,763	15. Pacaya 2,522	24. Chingo 1,775	33. Amayo 1,044
7. Zunil 3,542	16. Santiaguito 2,500	25. Tahual 1,716	34. Culma 1,027
8. Atitlán 3,537	17. Jumay 2,176	26. Cruz Quemada 1,690
9. Siete Orejas 3,370	18. Tobón 2,087	27. Moyuta 1,622

Volcanoes from Guatemala in descending altitude order (altitudes in meters)