Languages of Guatemala

Languages of Guatemala
A language map of languages of Guatemala, according to the Comisión de Oficialización de los Dialectos Indígenas de Guatemala. Castillian is merely another name for Spanish.
Official	Spanish
Indigenous	Several languages
Minority	Garifuna
Foreign	English

Spanish is the official language of Guatemala, and is spoken by 93% of the population. ^[1] Guatemalan Spanish is the local variant of the Spanish language.

Twenty-two Mayan languages are spoken, especially in rural areas, as well as two non-Mayan Amerindian languages: Xinca, an indigenous language, and Garifuna, an Arawakan language spoken on the Caribbean coast. According to the Language Law of 2003, the languages of Mayas, Xincas, and Garifunas are recognized as national languages. ^[2]

German is spoken by more than 5,000 Germans citizens living permanently in Guatemala, as well as several thousand Guatemalans of German descent. ^[3]

List of languages of Guatemala

Language	Family	Branch	Native speakers	% of total population	Notes
Spanish	Indo-European	Romance	9,481,907	69.9 [4]	Although 93% of Guatemalans can speak Spanish and it is the sole official language of the country, it is not spoken by the entire population, or even used as a second language. [1] There are twenty-four distinct indigenous languages spoken in Guatemala.
Kʼicheʼ	Mayan	Kiche'	1,000,000	5.79	Language spoken in six departments: in five municipalities of Sololá, Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, El Quiché, Suchitepéquez and Retalhuleu. Spoken by 11.31% of the population. [5]
Q'eqchi'	Mayan	Kiche'	555,461	3.22	Spoken in Alta Verapaz, El Petén, Izabal and in El Quiché. It is spoken by 7.58% of the population. [6]
Kaqchikel	Mayan	Kiche'	500,000	2.9	Spoken in six departments: Guatemala, Chimaltenango, Escuintla, Suchitepéquez, Baja Verapaz and Sololá. It is spoken by 7.41% of the population. [6]
Mam	Mayan	Mam	480,000	2.78	Spoken in three departments: Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, and Huehuetenango. Spoken by 5.49% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Poqomchiʼ	Mayan	Kiche'	92,000	0.53	Spoken in Baja Verapaz and in Alta Verapaz. Spoken by 1.02% of the population. [6]
Tz’utujil	Mayan	Kiche'	88,300	0.51	Spoken in two departments: Sololá, Suchitepéquez. Spoken by 0.7% of the population. [6]
Achí	Mayan	Kiche'	85,552	0.5	Spoken mainly in five municipalities of Baja Verapaz: Cubulco, Rabinal, San Miguel Chicaj, Salamá and San Jerónimo, and partially at El Chol and Granados, Baja Verapaz. Spoken by 0.94% of the population. [6]
Q’anjob’al	Mayan	Q'anjob'al	77,700	0.45	Spoken in four municipalities of the Huehuetenango department: San Juan Ixcoy (Yich Kʼox), San Pedro Soloma (Tzʼulumaʼ ), Santa Eulalia (Jolom Konobʼ ), Santa Cruz Barillas (Yalmotx), by 1.42% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Ixil	Mayan	Mam	70,000	0.41	Spoken in three municipalities of the El Quiché department, also known as the Ixil Triangle: Santa María Nebaj, San Gaspar Chajul, and San Juan Cotzal. Ixil is spoken by 0.85% of the Guatemalan population. [6]
Akatek	Mayan	Q'anjob'al	48,500	0.28	Spoken in two municipalities in Huehuetenango: San Miguel Acatán y San Rafael La Independencia, by 0.35% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Jakaltek	Mayan	Q'anjob'al	40,000	0.23	Spoken in Jacaltenango and the surrounding Huista region in Huehuetenango, by 0.42% of the population of the country. [6]
Chuj	Mayan	Q'anjob'al	40,000	0.23	Spoken in the municipalities of San Mateo Ixtatán, San Sebastián Coatán and Nentón in the Huehuetenango Department, by 0.57% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Poqomam	Mayan	Kiche'	30,000	0.17	Spoken in Guatemala, Jalapa, and Escuintla. Spoken only by 0.37% of the population. [6]
Ch'orti'	Mayan	Chol	30,000	0.17	Spoken in two municipalities of the Chiquimula department (Jocotán y Camotán). Also spoken in a part of the La Unión municipality in Zacapa. Spoken by 0.42% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Chalchitek	Mayan	Mam	21 550	0.10	It is spoken by the people of Chalchitán, now annexed as a neighborhood to the municipality of Aguacatán in the department of Huehuetenango. It is spoken by 0.16% of the country's population.
Awakatek	Mayan	Mam	18,000	0.10	Primarily spoken in the municipality of Aguacatán in the Huehuetenango department. Spoken by 0.10% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Sakapultek	Mayan	Kiche'	9,763	0.06	Spoken in the municipality of Sacapulas in El Quiché. Only spoken by 0.09% of the population. [6]
Sipakapa	Mayan	Kiche'	8,000	0.06	Only spoken in the Sipacapa municipality in the department of San Marcos.
Garífuna	Arawakan	Caribeña	5,860	0.03	A non-Mayan-derived language, this language, unique to the inhabitants of Izabal, is one of the languages imported into Guatemala via the black slaves Spanish colonists brought from other places. Spoken by 0.04% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Uspantek	Mayan	Kiche'	3,000	0.02	Spoken in the municipalities of Uspantán and Chicamán in the El Quiché department. Spoken by 0.07% of the population. [6]
Tektitek	Mayan	Mam	2,265	0.01	Spoken in the municipalities of Tectitán and Cuilco in Huehuetenango, by 0.02% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Mopan	Mayan	Yucateca	2,000	0.01	Spoken in San Luis, Poptún, Melchor de Mencos, and Dolores, El Petén, by 0.03% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Xincan languages	Xincan languages	at least four languages	16	0.0001	A language not derived from Mayan with unclear origins. Some hypotheses suggest that the Xincan languages may have arrived from the South. Xinca is spoken by only about two hundred people in the Santa Rosa and Jutiapa departments, and is currently an endangered language, spoken by 0.14% of the population of Guatemala. [6]
Itza	Mayan	Yucateca	12	0.0001	Spoken in six municipalities, mainly San José, of the El Petén department, by 0.02% of the population of Guatemala

References

1. Mil Milagros (2020). "Indigenous languages in Guatemala".
2. "Ley de Idiomas Nacionales, Decreto Número 19-2003" (PDF) (in Spanish). El Congreso de la República de Guatemala. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
3. Federal Foreign Office Auswärtiges-Guatemala.Retrieved on 7 November 2014.
4. "Guatemala - The World Factbook". 2018.
5. Datos de los Censos XI de población y VI de Habitación, (English: Numbers from the eleventh census of the population and the sixth of housing), 2002 Archived 2008-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
6. Numbers from the afore mentioned census.