Guatemala is a small Central American country of about 14 million people that is situated to the south of Mexico, the west of Belize, and the northwest of El Salvador and Honduras. Initially a location that was home to the Mayan civilization, Guatemala was noted ruled by any major civilization for several centuries until it became a Spanish colony in the 1500s. After several centuries of Spanish rule, Guatemala declared its independence in 1821. For most of the late 1900s, Guatemala experienced a severe political turbulences and endured a guerrilla war that lasted 36 years. The war formally ended in 1996 with the signing of a peace treaty. The first Guatemalan delegation to the Olympics appeared at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, including 21 athletes (among them, one woman) across six different sports. However, Guatemala did not return for the next three Olympic games. It returned at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City with 48 athletes, its largest delegation yet sent as of the 2012 London Olympics. Since then, Guatemala has consistently appeared at the Summer Olympics, with all delegations (excluding 1972) including over ten athletes. As of 2012, Guatemala had also competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, marking its only Winter Olympic appearance. Prior to and including the Beijing Guatemala competed at fourteen Summer Olympics (thirteen of them consecutive) and a fifteen Olympic games overall. In Olympic history, only one Guatemalan, Erick Barrondo, has won an Olympic medal. That medal was in 2012 when Barrondo won the silver medal in the men's 20 kilometres walk.