City of Escuintla and Its Twin Volcanoes, Guatemala
Guatemala (gwä t-mä´ lå) is the northern most of the Central American countries. It is bordered on the north and west by Mexico. East of it lies the colony of British Honduras (hn-d´ rås). On the southeast are the sister republics of Honduras and Salvador (säl´ vå-dr´). Guatemala stretches from ocean to ocean, and has ports on both the Atlantic and the Pacific. It is the second largest of the Central American countries. It is slightly larger than Virginia. It has a population of more than 2,000,000, and a large part of its people are of Indian descent. Guatemala is largely a high plateau, rising from the Atlantic to the Sierra Madre (s-r´ å mä´ dr) Mountains, 60 miles from the Pacific Coast. The scene here shown is in the highest portions of the range. The twin volcanoes in the distance are Fuego (fw´ g) and Acatenango (åk´ ä-tn-än´ g). Fuego, meaning "fire", is rightly named. It is an active volcano, and its occasional eruptions are violent. It is 13,130 feet high. Acatenango, the highest peak in Central America, rises 13,616 feet above sea level. It is no longer an active volcano. The city of Acatenango is the fourth in size in Guatemala, with a population of about 20,000. Guatemala has a fertile soil, and a plentiful rainfall. It has great forests of fine timber. Much of our mahogany is imported from this country. Raw rubber and chicle, from which gum is made, form other valuable items of export. Some 2,000 plantations yield annually almost 100,000,000 pounds of coffee. There are also many large banana and sugar cane plantations. Cattle and sheep are coming to be extensively raised. The yearly foreign commerce of the country is valued at $25,000,000. Keystone ID: 12872 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.