So far our essay for our report is going this well:

Republica de Guatemala. Known as Guatemala to the rest of us, it is a country unique in its own way. With a population of about thirteen million people, located in Central America, Guatemala is very fascinating. Interesting as it is, it is still a developing country, much the same as the rest of the world. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful country.
Guatemala is located in Central America south of Mexico, with Belize bordering on the East, Honduras on the southeast, El Salvador on the south-southeast and Caribbean Sea bordering a small section on the east. The Pacific Ocean borders Guatemala on the southwest. The capital of Guatemala is Guatemala City and it is located at 14° North and 90° West. It is five thousand feet above sea level and has 4 universities. It was founded in 1776 and was almost completely destroyed in 1917 and 1918. The weather in Guatemala is mostly hot and humid, but in the highlands it is cooler. Guatemala covers 42,044 square miles of land.
The earliest distinguished society by historians in what is today Guatemala is a society from Las Charcas, which is in the highland region. Almost two thousand years ago, part of the Maya civilization developed in what is now Guatemala. They built pyramids and were some of the first stargazers and someone good at math. They developed a pretty accurate calendar, the most accurate one of the time. They developed a writing system somewhat like Chinese calligraphy. They wrote down important dates on stelae, or carved blocks of stone, usually created about history and important leaders. In the rainforests, they built picturesque cities. They created things such as temples, palaces and pyramids out of materials such as limestone. For some unknown reason, they abandoned these cities and by the time the Spanish people arrived, they were living in highland areas. Their civilization spanned from A.D. 250 to A.D. 900. In 1523, a mission led by Pedro de Alvarado sadly took over the Indian groups in Guatemala and established Spanish order. The Spanish and Maya fought for the land of Guatemala. Sadly the Spanish change many things like their languages and the religions. September 15, 1821 Guatemala declared their independence from Spain. They later became part of the Mexican empire but in 1823 disengaged from that as well. Central America created its own union, but that did not last for very long either, at least not united. From 1839 to 1865, there was dictatorial rule in Guatemala. A liberal government was then put into action. In the 1970s crime became widespread in Guatemala, but in 1996 a peace treaty was signed, ending all the conflict allowing many to safely return from Mexico where many had fled.

And that is two days of work. Oh well, we have to get working.
BYE
- salam az Mar @ 4:23 PM