A Spanish Vocab Guide to Guatemala Geography

If you are planning to visit Guatemala, be prepared to experience great diversity in weather, geography, and wildlife. Even though Guatemala is just the size of Tennessee, you can experience almost every type of climate by traveling from coast to coast.

To prepare for your trip, let’s learn about incredible Guatemala geography. ¡Aprendamos!

Guatemalan Geography: An Overview

Before we get into the details of vocabulary, let’s learn a bit about Guatemala. It is located just south of Mexico, sharing a border with Belize on the northwestern edge. To the southeast, it borders both Honduras and El Salvador.

Like most Central American countries, Guatemala has coastal land on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Thanks to the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range, the Guatemalan terrain is extremely mountainous and difficult to traverse. What may take a couple of hours to travel in the United States may take one or two days to cross. 

When you think of Central America, beaches and tropical weather may come to mind. While Guatemala definitely has warm regions, there are departments that often experience light snow and ice. 

Thanks to the numerous volcanoes, Guatemalan soil is rich for agriculture. The country offers incredible natural resources and world-famous tourist locations, many of the locals do not get to profit off of said resources. Nevertheless, Guatemalans are proud of their beautiful, unique nation.

Interesting Facts about Guatemala Geography

The sentences are translated into Spanish so you can practice impressing your friends with your Spanish skills!

The country is divided into 22 departments, each with its own unique climate and resources.
El país está dividido en 22 departamentos, cada uno con su clima y recursos únicos.

The mountain ranges provided natural barriers for different Mayan groups, protecting them from the Spanish conquistadors and maintaining their cultural integrity to this day.
Las cordilleras proveyeron barreras naturales para los pueblos Maya, protegiéndolos de los conquistadores españoles y manteniendo la integridad de su cultura hasta el día de hoy.

There are a total of 37 volcanoes in Guatemala.
Hay un total de 37 volcanes en Guatemala.

Most of the volcanoes are inactive or only expel gases. 
La mayoría de los volcanes son inactivos o sólo expulsan gases.

The three most active volcanoes are Fuego, Pacaya, and Santiaguito.
Los tres volcanes más activos son Fuego, Pacaya y Santiaguito.

The most recent large, horribly destructive eruption was in 2018, caused by Fuego.
La erupción más reciente y terriblemente destructiva fue en el 2018, causada por el volcán de Fuego.

The highest elevation in Guatemala is the Tajumulco Volcano, measuring 13,845 feet.
La elevación más alta en Guatemala es el volcán Tajumulco, midiendo 13,845 pies.

Lake Izabal is the fourth largest lake in Central America.
El Lago de Izabal es el cuarto lago más grande en Centroamérica.

Lake Atitlán is the deepest lake in Central America with depths of over 1,000 feet.
El Lago de Atitlán es el lago más profundo en Centroamérica con una profundidad de más de 1,000 pies.

Limestone is present throughout Guatemala, forming the beautiful Semuc Champey.
La piedra caliza está presente por toda Guatemala, formando el hermoso Semuc Champey.

The Guatemalan beaches on the Pacific coast have black sand, thanks to the volcanic residue.
Las playas guatemaltecas en la costa Pacífica tienen arena negra, gracias a los restos volcánicos.

The volcanic material also makes the soil rich in nutrients. You can see farms and plantations growing everything from coffee to bananas throughout the country.
El material volcánico también vuelve la tierra rica en nutrientes. Puedes ver granjas y fincas cultivando desde café hasta bananos por todo el país.

Even with all the natural resources, there aren’t many natural reserves in the country. One of the most famous reserves is the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the north.
A pesar de todas las riquezas naturales, no hay tantas reservas naturales en el país. Una de las más famosas es la Reserva de la Biosfera Maya en el norte.

Guatemala Geography Vocabulary

Guatemala is such a diverse nation, and there is so much geography we could talk about. To make the vocabulary a bit easier for you, we have separated it into seven sections. Take your time reviewing the vocabulary in each one, and write down any new or difficult words in your Spanish notebook. 

Pay attention to the pronunciation key and, if possible, practice using these words and phrases with your Spanish-speaking friends. 

Exploring Guatemala Geography: Ecosystems of Guatemala

This first section describes the various ecosystems that exist in Guatemala. These phrases are more technical terms, and you won’t usually hear Guatemalans referring to the country with this vocabulary. However, if you would like to do further research on the country’s plant and animal diversity, learning about these ecosystems is a fantastic place to start. 

For more details on these ecosystems and where they are located, check out the USAID Guatemala Tropical Forest and Biological Diversity Assessment.

English	Spanish
Ecosystem	El ecosistema
Cloud Forest (Montane humid broadleaf forests)	El bosque nuboso (bosque húmedo montano latifoliado)
Pine and pine-oak forests	El bosque de pino y pino-encino
Humid broadleaf forest	El bosque húmedo latifoliado
Dry deciduous forest and thorn scrub	El bosque seco caducifolio y el matorral espinoso
Mangroves	Los manglares

Exploring Guatemala Geography: Ecoregions

Each ecosystem is divided into smaller areas called ecoregions. Most of these ecoregions do not only exist in Guatemala but also extend into the nearby nations. 

English	Spanish
Ecoregion	La ecoregión
Central American Montane Forests	Los bosques montanos centroamericanos
Chiapas Montane Forests	Los bosques montanos de Chiapas
Central American Pine-Oak forests	Los bosques de pino-encino de Centroamérica
Central American Atlantic Humid Forest	El bosque húmedo Atlántico de Centroamérica
Petén-Veracruz Humid Forests	Los bosques húmedos de Petén-Veracruz
Sierra Madre of Chiapas Humid forests	Los bosques húmedos de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas
Yucatan Humid Forests	Los bosques húmedos de Yucatán
Central American Dry Forests	Los bosques secos de Centroamérica
Chiapas Depression Dry Forests	Los bosques secos de la depresión de Chiapas
Motagua Valley Thornshrub	El matorral espinoso de la valle Motagua
Mangroves of the Belizean Coast	Los manglares de la costa de Belice
Mangroves of the Dry Forests of the Pacific Coast	Los manglares de los bosques secos de la costa Pacífica
Tehuantepec-El Manchón Mangroves	Los manglares de Tehuantepec-El Manchón
Northern Honduras Mangroves	Los manglares del norte de Honduras

Exploring Guatemala Geography: Simple Regions of Guatemala

If you’re looking for simpler vocabulary describing the geographical regions of Guatemala, this is your list! Always remember to memorize the article with the vocabulary word to make future sentence formation much easier.

English	Spanish
Jungles	Las selvas
Rainforests	Las selvas tropicales
Mountains	Las montañas
Mountain chains	Las cadenas de montañas, la cordillera
Volcanoes	Los volcanes
Highlands	Las tierras altas
Lowlands	Las tierras bajas
Limestone lowlands	Las tierras bajas de piedra caliza
Flatlands	La llanura, la planicie
Beaches	Las playas
Swamplands	Los pantanos
Rivers	Los ríos
Wetlands	Los humedales
Watersheds	La cuenca
Mangroves	Los manglares
Swamps	El pantano
Lagoons	La laguna

Exploring Guatemala Geography: General Vocabulary

The previous list talked about specific areas and destinations in Guatemala, while these vocabulary words are general geographical terms. 

English	Spanish
Sea level	El nivel del mar
Elevation	La elevación
Borders	La frontera
Geographical zones	Las zonas geográficas
Precipitation	La precipitación
Tropics	Los trópicos
Landscape	El paisaje
Terrain	El terreno
Plantations	Las plantaciones, las fincas
Frontier	La frontera
Climate	El clima
Weather	El clima, el tiempo
Climate change	El cambio climático
Biodiversity	La biodiversidad
Natural resources	Los recursos naturales
Protected areas	Los áreas protegidas
Farms	Las granjas

Exploring Guatemala Geography: Adjectives

As you talk about the different regions in Guatemala, you’ll need plenty of adjectives to appropriately describe each area. Remember that the adjectives that end in –o much change to an -a for feminine nouns. The other adjectives don’t change, unless you are describing a plural noun, in which case you need to add an –s. 

There are three adjectives that start with de. These literally translate to “of (something).” As such, they do not change in form for feminine or plural nouns.

English	Spanish
Dry	seco
Wet	mojado
Wild	salvaje
Semiarid	semiárido
Black-sand	de arena negra
White-sand	de arena blanca
Mountainous	montañoso
Diverse	diverso
Freshwater	de agua dulce
Coastal	costero
Marine	marino
Terrestrial	terrestre

Exploring Guatemala Geography: Climate Activity

Unfortunately, there are a lot of factors that are hurting Guatemala geography. Everything from forest fires to deforestation is taking its toll on the country. As such, it is important to learn the vocabulary to engage people in conversation about the current geographical status.

English	Spanish
Pollination	La polinización
Decomposition	La descomposición
Pollution	La polución, la contaminación
Erosion prevention	La prevención de la erosión
Deforestation	La deforestación
Climate regulation	La regulación climática
Forest fires	Los incendios forestales
Forest loss	La pérdida de bosque
Agriculture	La agricultura

Exploring Guatemala Geography: Action Verbs

Now that you have key nouns and adjectives to describe Guatemala geography, it’s time to add some verbs! 

English	Spanish
To hike	subir
To explore	explorar
To travel	viajar
To experience	experimentar
To visit	visitar
To see	ver
To take pictures	tomar fotos
To plan	planear

Conversation Practice

Of course, the end goal to learning any type of vocabulary is to use it in real-life Spanish conversation. Start getting a feel for Spanish sentence structure with the following phrases. Don’t forget to practice whenever possible!

Mi amiga guatemalteca vive en los bosques húmedos de Petén-Veracruz.
My Guatemalan friend lives in the Petén-Veracruz Humid Forests.

Queremos visitar la laguna.
We want to visit the lagoon.

¿Ya has visto las playas de arena negra en Guatemala?
Have you seen the black-sand beaches of Guatemala yet?

Subimos a varios volcanes en Guatemala. 
We hiked various volcanoes in Guatemala.

Lastimosamente, la contaminación y deforestación están arruinando los ecosistemas de Guatemala. 
Unfortunately, pollution and deforestation are ruining the Guatemalan ecosystems.

El gobierno está implementando regulaciones climáticas para salvar a los bosques, manglares y playas de Guatemala. 
The government is implementing climate regulations to salve the forests, mangroves, and beaches of Guatemala.

Planeamos viajar a las tierras bajas de piedra caliza. 
We plan to visit the limestone lowlands.

Debes explorar los bosques diversos de Guatemala. 
You need to explore the diverse Guatemalan forests.

Tomé muchas fotos del paisaje guatemalteco. 
I took a lot of pictures of the Guatemalan landscape.

Experimentamos la biodiversidad y abundancia de recursos naturales en Guatemala. 
We experienced the biodiversity and abundance of natural resources in Guatemala. 

Keep Practicing!

Having example sentences to practice with is great, but it’s not the same as talking with a native Spanish speaker face-to-face. Even if you aren’t planning to travel to Guatemala just quite yet, you can still prepare for your trip and perfect your Spanish skills by taking classes with our Guatemalan Spanish teachers. 

Sign up for a free class today and discover for yourself how much our teachers can help you learn about Spanish and Guatemala! 

Don’t forget to leave a comment below about what you want to see in Guatemala. Whether it’s the volcanos or the black-sand beaches, we want to know! Comment below and we’ll be sure to respond!

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