It is known for its mixed culture, a product of both Mayan and Spanish cultures, from the colonial period. Guatemala is known for its ever-changing weather, a product of the mountain range which crosses the center of the country. Guatemala has many languages, a total of 23. Because of its natural beauty, it is a popular tourist destination.
The capital of Guatemala is Guatemala City. The country suffers from extreme poverty, corruption, drug trafficking, and discrimination.
Guatemala is the world's largest producer and exporter of cardamom.It is considered to be a third world country.
It is the country with the largest population in Central America. Its neighbors are the countries Belize, Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. More than fourteen million people live in the 22 Guatemalan departments. Most of the population is made up of mestizo (mixed race) people, who are a combination of Native and European people. Mestizo people make up 40% of the population. Native Mayan people make up 49% of the total population, while 9% are direct descendants of Spanish and German people. Black people (including some others), make up 2% of population.
Most people believe that Guatemala City was the first choice for the capital city, but the capital was moved several times. This was caused by natural disasters. The first city was destroyed when the volcano Volcan de Agua erupted, forcing the move to what today is called Antigua Guatemala. This city was destroyed by earthquakes. Finally, the capital was moved to what we know as Guatemala City.
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Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs built Tenochtitlan around 1325, right on a lake called Lake Texcoco.
As the Empire grew, so did Tenochtitlan. By the early 1500s, at least 200,000 people lived in the city. This made Tenochtitlan the largest city in the Americas before Christopher Columbus arrived.
Tenochtitlan was the center of the Aztec government and religion. It was also a very big trading center. When the Spanish arrived in 1519, they guessed that 60,000 people came to the market in Tenochtitlan every day. People bought and sold many things there, including slaves (prisoners of war from states the Aztecs had taken over). The entire city was decorated with art, architecture, and stone sculptures.
The city had a huge pyramid called the Templo Mayor (Great Temple). At the top of the Temple, there were two small rooms. In these rooms, the Aztecs sacrificed people to two of their most important gods: "Huitzilopochtli", the god of war and the sun, and "Tlaloc", the rain god. The Aztecs believed that if they did not feed their gods blood, the gods would wither and die, causing the end of the world as they knew it.
The Aztecs had created canals all across the city. By bringing water to Aztec crops, these canals made it possible for the Aztecs to grow much more food than they normally could have. The Aztecs had also made levees to protect the city from flooding, and reservoirs for fresh water.
The Aztecs also built chinampas (small rectangular crops floating on lake beds) so that they could create more food to feed the thousands of people who lived around Tenochtitlan. In addition, they built waterways and dams so that they could receive fresh water, and block out the salty brackish water.
In 1519, Spanish conquistadores led by Hernan Cortes arrived in Tenochtitlan. Cortes was impressed with the city, but still decided to attack it. The Spanish and their Tlaxcalan allies invaded Tenochtitlan, and the city fell in 1521.
Mexico City was built over the ruins of Tenochtitlan.
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is a song contest run by the European Broadcasting Union that started in 1956. Different singers representing countries in Europe compete every year.
Famous past winners include ABBA (representing their native Sweden in 1974), Céline Dion (though Canadian, she represented Switzerland) in 1988, Lordi (Finland, 2006), Loreen (Sweden, 2012).
One of Eurovision's most famous moments was in 1990 when Spain's entry suffered a technical fault at the start of the song but it was soon performed without any further problems.
The latest winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands, achieving his country's fifth win of the contest (and first in 44 years) in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2019, with his song "Arcade".
The country that had to wait the longest from its first participation to achieve a win was Portugal, which won with the song "Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral in Kiev, Ukraine, in 2017.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first time the contest was cancelled.
Malleability
Malleability is a substance's ability to deform under pressure (compressive stress). If malleable, a material may be flattened into thin sheets by hammering or rolling. Malleable materials can be flattened into metal leaf. One well-known type of metal leaf is gold leaf. Many metals with high malleability also have high ductility. Some do not; for example lead has low ductility but high malleability.
Malleability is a physical property of matter, usually metals. The property usually applies to the family groups 1 to 12 on the modern periodic table of elements. It is the ability of a solid to bend or be hammered into other shapes without breaking. Examples of malleable metals are gold, iron, aluminum, copper, silver, and lead.
Gold and silver are highly malleable. When a piece of hot iron is hammered it takes the shape of a sheet. The property is not seen in non-metals. Non-malleable metals may break apart when struck by a hammer. Malleable metals usually bend and twist in various shapes.
Zinc is malleable at temperatures between 100 and 200 °C but is brittle at other temperatures.
Gay
Gay is a word used to describe someone who is homosexual. Today, the word usually means a person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex and often that person can be also romantically interested in people of the same sex. A gay person can be a male who likes other males or a female who likes other females.
The word "gay" can mean any homosexual person, but sometimes it's used just for homosexual men. In that case, homosexual women are called "lesbian" instead. Sometimes, people use the word "queer" to mean the same thing as "gay" when talking about sexuality.
In the early 20th century and before, "gay" used to mean 'happy' or 'carefree', but now people use it to define sexuality.
People who don't like gay people are called homophobes (or homophobic.) Some people are homophobes because of how they were brought up as a child. Some might belong to a religion and feel that means that homosexuality is not okay. Some homophobes are just very angry and hateful people. Homophobes often use the word "gay" to make fun of them(more below).
Sometimes people use the word "gay" as a way of saying that they think something is strange or weird.
Most people use "gay" only when talking about someone's sexuality. Sometimes "gay" is used in an insulting way to mean that something is weak, stupid, or less important. For example, "That is so gay!" is used by bigots to say something looks or acts stupid. They may also use the word "queer" in the same way. This inappropriate way of using the words "gay" and "queer" is considered very offensive, as it can be an attack on someone's identity and can assume things about people they don't know.
Potsdam
Potsdam (Low Sorbian: "Podstupim") is a small German city which is right next to Berlin. In fact it touches the border of Berlin, and is about 26 km southwest of Berlin's centre. It is the capital of the state of Brandenburg. Potsdam has a small population: about 176,000 people lived in this city in 2017.