Languages of Guatemala

Spanish is the official language of Guatemala. As a first and second language, Spanish is spoken by 93% of the population. Guatemalan Spanish is the local variant of the Spanish language.

A language map of languages of Guatemala, according to the Comisión de Oficialización de los Dialectos Indígenas de Guatemala. The "Castilian" areas represent Spanish.

Twenty-one 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.[1]

List of languages of Guatemala
LanguageFamilyBranchMaternal speakers % of total populationNotes
SpanishIndo-EuropeanRomance9,481,907 54.9254Although Spanish is the official language, it is not spoken by the entire population, or else is used as a second language. There are twenty-four distinct indigenous languages spoken in Guatemala.
K’iche’MayanKiche'1,000,000 5.7927Language spoken in six departments: in five municipalities of Sololá, Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, El Quiché, Suchitepéquez and Retalhuleu. Spoken by 11.31% of the population.[2]
Q'eqchi'MayanKiche'555,461 3.2176Spoken in Alta Verapaz, El Petén, Izabal and in El Quiché. It is spoken by 7.58% of the population.[3]
KaqchikelMayanKiche'500,000 2.8963Spoken in six departments: Guatemala, Chimaltenango, Escuintla, Suchitepéquez, Baja Verapaz and Sololá. It is spoken by 7.41% of the population.[3]
MamMayanMam480,000 2.7805Spoken in three departments: Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, and Huehuetenango. Spoken by 5.49% of the population of Guatemala.[3]
PoqomchiMayanKiche'92,000 0.5329Spoken in Baja Verapaz and in Alta Verapaz. Spoken by 1.02% of the population.[3]
Tz’utujilMayanKiche'88,300 0.5115Spoken in two departments: Sololá, Suchitepéquez. It is only spoken by 0.7% of the population.[3]
AchíMayanKiche'85,552 0.4956Spoken in five municipalities of Baja Verapaz. Only spoken by 0.94% of the population.[3]
Q’anjob’alMayanQ'anjob'al77,700 0.4501Spoken in four municipalities of the Huehuetenango department, by 1.42% of the population of Guatemala.[3]
IxilMayanMam70,000 0.4055Spoken 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.[3]
AkatekMayanQ'anjob'al48,500 0.2809Spoken in two municipalities in Huehuetenango: San Miguel Acatán y San Rafael La Independencia, by 0.35% of the population of Guatemala.[3]
JakaltekMayanQ'anjob'al40,000 0.2317Spoken in Huehuetenango, by 0.42% of the population of the country.[3]
ChujMayanQ'anjob'al40,000 0.2317Spoken in three municipalities of Huehuetenango, by 0.57% of the population of Guatemala.[3]
PoqomamMayanKiche'30,000 0.1738Spoken in Guatemala, Jalapa, and Escuintla. Spoken only by 0.37% of the population.[3]
Ch'orti'MayanChol30,000 0.1738Spoken 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.[3]
AwakatekMayanMam18,000 0.1043Primarily spoken in the municipality of Aguacatán in the Huehuetenango department. Spoken by 0.10% of the population of Guatemala.[3]
SakapultekMayanKiche'9,763 0.0566Spoken in the municipality of Sacapulas in El Quiché. Only spoken by 0.09% of the population.[3]
SipakapaMayanKiche'8,000 0.0463Only spoken in the Sipacapa municipality in the department of San Marcos.
GarífunaArawakanCaribeña5,860 0.0339A 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.[3]
UspantekMayanKiche'3,000 0.0174Spoken in the municipalities of Uspantán and Chicamán in the El Quiché department. Spoken only by 0.07% of the population.[3]
TektitekMayanMam2,265 0.0131Spoken in the municipality of Tectitán in Huehuetenango, by 0.02% of the population of Guatemala.[3]
MopanMayanYucateca2,000 0.0116Spoken in El Petén, by 0.03% of the population of Guatemala.[3]
Xincan languagesIsolateXincan languages16 0.0001A 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.[3]
ItzaMayanYucateca12 0.0001Spoken in six municipalities of the El Petén department, by 0.02% of the population of Guatemala

References
  1. "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.
  2. Datos de los Censos XI de población y VI de Habitación, 2002 Archived 2008-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Datos de los Censos arriba mencionados
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