The people of Guatemala represent many different cultures, and the country still proudly recognizes its strong indigenous influence. But while Guatemala is considered a middle-income country, its economic divide between cultures is steep and disproportionate, affecting people of indigenous descent more than any other group. This sensitive relationship between ethnicity and economic status may be seen throughout Latin America, but is even more visible in Guatemala because of the large indigenous population and stark differences between urban and rural life.
Guatemala is still recovering from the effects of a 36-year civil war that ended in 1995. The longest civil war in Latin America, it disrupted the progress of the nation and the lives of all Guatemalans for over a generation. The violence and devastation of the war caused abrupt population shifts and had many other long-lasting effects. Since the war ended, there have been some improvements in infrastructure and services, but progress has been limited by high illiteracy rates, low school enrollment, insufficient health services and access to clean water, and poor urban planning.
