The Sale of Children Child Commercial Sexual Exploitation Comparative Analisis Recommendations Let them know your concern I. Country Situation 6. The population of Guatemala numbers 10 million, 50-60 per cent of whom are indigenous peoples belonging to 22 ethnic groups, mainly of Mayan descent. Each group has its own language and at least 80 per cent of the indigenous peoples in those departments where they are the majority speak only their own language. Agriculture is the primary source of income, and the country exports coffee, bananas, sugar and cotton, as well as corn, tobacco, wheat and cocoa.
Tourism is an important contributor to the country's economy.
Poverty and illiteracy are common in Guatemala. There is also a large disparity of wealth in Guatemala. Among all persons aged 7 and up, the literacy rate is around 60 per cent. In 1996, the Government of Guatemala signed a final peace accord with the armed guerrilla opposition group, thereby ending a 30-year civil war. The years of internal armed conflict generated 34,000 refugees and 1 million internally displaced persons, of whom more than half are children.