Guatemala historical timeline

Chronology

1. c. 12,000 BC — The first evidence of human habitation in Guatemala.
2. 2000 BC–AD 250 — The Preclassic period of Mesoamerica, followed by the Classic from 250 to 900 and the Postclassic from 900 to 1500. Tikal and the lowland cities belong to the Classic.
3. c. AD 900 — The Classic Maya civilisation collapses. The cities of the central lowlands are abandoned or their people die in a drought-induced famine — which is why the great sites sit in rainforest rather than in towns.
4. 1523–1524 — Pedro de Alvarado launches the Spanish conquest, and the first Spanish capital is established in 1524. Epidemics including smallpox cut the indigenous population before the military conquest is even complete.
5. 1541 — On 11 September a catastrophic lahar from the Volcán de Agua destroys Ciudad Vieja, and the capital moves to the Panchoy Valley — to the city now called Antigua Guatemala.
6. 1565–1815 — Guatemala is drawn into the Manila Galleon trade linking Spain's Asian and American colonies, on the strength of its Pacific coast.
7. 1773 — The Santa Marta earthquakes devastate Antigua and the capital moves again, to the Ermita Valley; the new city is founded in 1776. Antigua was left as it fell, which is why it is a World Heritage site and Guatemala City is not.
8. 1821 — On 15 September the Captaincy General of Guatemala proclaims independence from Spain at a public meeting in Guatemala City.
9. 1823–1838 — The Federal Republic of Central America, with its capital at Guatemala City. Guatemala declares itself independent of the United Provinces on 17 April 1839.
10. 1847 — On 21 March Guatemala declares itself a republic, with Rafael Carrera as its first president.
11. 1954 — Carlos Castillo Armas becomes president on 7 July after a coup; elections that October bar every political party from taking part.
12. 1960 — On 13 November left-wing junior officers stage a failed revolt and flee to the eastern mountains. The civil war that follows runs for 36 years.
13. 1992 — Rigoberta Menchú receives the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing international attention to the state-sponsored genocide against the indigenous population.
14. 1996 — The civil war ends with a peace accord brokered through the United Nations. Its victims were students, workers and opposition figures in the first decade and, in the last years, thousands of mostly rural Maya farmers.