Guatemala history will reflect the early settling by the Mayan culture, conquest by the Spanish, and a series of governmental instabilities much its neighbors in the region. As mentioned earlier, the Mayans were here between the fifth and eighth century A.D. They were the dominant civilization here but as other ethnic groups began to settle in the region, their dominance declined. The Europeans arrived in the New World in the 15th century and eventually Guatemala would be conquered by the Spanish conquistador Cortés in the 1600s. Guatemala achieved its independence from Spain on September 15, 1821 and in 1822, the country was annexed to Mexico. There were attempts to form a union of the Central American states but it never worked out and Guatemala finally became a sovereign nation in 1839.

The next years would see continued leadership under repressive right-wing governments that would continue to support the wealthy landowners. In the early 1950s, Colonel Arbenz Jacobo Guzman becomes president and tries to implement land reforms. He nationalizes the land of the United Fruit Company which was an American corporation that grew fruits (mostly pineapples and bananas) and exported them back to North America and Europe. The nationalization of the plantations was met with a U.S.-backed coup allowing Colonel Carlos Castillo to be installed as President.

Guatemala would continue to record turbulence because of continued human rights violations by military regimes in power. in the early 1970s, the military would start a program to suppress left-wing opposition and kill 50,000 opponents. There would be civil conflict until 1996 when President Alvaro Arzu purged the military of its senior officers and signed a treaty with the rebels to finally end a civil war that lasted for 36 years.

Even following the civil war, Guatemala history would still see uprisings by squatters against the government mostly because of extreme poverty. Other events that have taken place in recent years are the ratification of the Central American/US free trade treaty, War on Drugs activity, and devastation by Tropical Storm Stan.