GUATEMALA ENVIRONMENT

Much of Guatemala’s population is centered within the hilly valleys in and around its capital, Guatemala City, and its neighboring mountainous highlands, leaving its northern highlands and southern coastal areas sparsely populated. The country’s 14 ecoregions include mangrove forests, wetlands, lakes, lagoons, rivers and swamps. Almost 7 percent of its 1,200-plus animals species and 13.5 percent of its 8,000-plus plant species are endemic — and some of those are threatened.