The Quetzal is the official currency of Guatemala, a country in Central America. Guatemala is bordered by Mexico to the north and west, by the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, by Belize to the northeast, by the Caribbean Sea to the east, and by Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast.
The Guatemalan Quetzal is named after Guatemala's national bird. In ancient Mayan culture, the feathers of the quetzal bird were used as currency. The Quetzal is divided into 100 centavos, called cents in standard Spanish or lenes in Guatemalan slang.
Economy
According to the CIA World Factbook, Guatemala's GDP (PPP) per capita is USD $ 5,000; however, this developing country still faces many social problems and is one of the poorest countries in Latin America.
Income distribution remains highly unequal, with over half the population living below the national poverty line and just over 400,000 (3.2%) unemployed.
The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 58.7%, followed by agriculture at 22.1%, and the industrial sector at 19.1% (2006 estimates). Mines produce gold, silver, zinc, cobalt and nickel.
The agricultural sector accounts for approximately one quarter of GDP, two-fifths of exports and half of the workforce. Organic coffee, sugar, textiles, fresh vegetables, and bananas are the main exports.
History
The Guatemalan Quetzal was introduced in 1925 during the tenure of President Jose Maria Orellana, whose image still appears on the obverse of the one-quetzal notes.
The first banknotes were issued by the Central Bank of Guatemala, in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 100 quetzals; and coins in denominations of 1, 5, 10 cents, ¼, ½ and 1 quetzal.
50-quetzal bills were introduced in 1967, and ½ and one-quetzal coins reintroduced in 1990.
Until 1987, the quetzal was pegged to the US Dollar.
