. 1712, Venice—d. 1793, Venice)
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Rio dei Mendicanti, oil on canvas by Francesco Guardi; in the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy.
SCALA-ART RESOURCE/EB INC.
ership for the newspaper. Still owned by the trust, the paper takes an inde¬ pendent liberal stance in its editorials while maintaining great breadth and depth of news coverage.
Guare Vgwar\, John (b. Feb. 5, 1938, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. dra¬ matist. After studying at the Yale School of Drama he began staging short plays in New York City. In 1971 he earned critical acclaim for his farci¬ cal play The House of Blue Leaves. Two Gentlemen of Verona (1972, with Mel Shapiro), a rock-musical version of William Shakespeare’s comedy, won him Tony and New York Drama Critics Circle awards. His later works include Six Degrees of Separation (1990; film, 1993) and Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (1992).
Guarini \gwa-'re-ne\, (Giovanni) Battista (b. Dec. 10, 1538, Ferrara—d. Oct. 7, 1612, Venice) Italian poet. In 1567 he entered the ser¬ vice of Alfonso II, duke of Ferrara, as courtier and diplomat. In 1579 he replaced his friend Torquato Tasso as court poet. With Tasso, he is cred¬ ited with developing the genre of pastoral drama. Guarini retired in 1582 and wrote his best-known work, The Faithful Shepherd (1590), a pasto¬ ral tragicomedy that became one of the most famous and widely trans¬ lated works of the age.
Guarneri \gwar-'ner-e\, Andrea Italian musical-instrument maker. He apprenticed with Nicolo Amati from 1641 to 1654 (see Amati family). Setting up his own shop in Cremona, he made violas and cellos as well as violins. His sons Pietro (1655-1720) and Giuseppe (1666-1740?) worked with their father; by 1683 Pietro had moved to Mantua and set up his own business, though he made few instruments. Giuseppe inher¬ ited the Cremona business from his father in 1698. During his lifetime, Andrea Guarneri’s name was obscured by Antonio Stradivari’s, but his violins and cellos are today highly prized. His sons Pietro (1695-1762) and Bartolomeo (1698-1744) were also instrument makers; Bartolomeo, called Guarneri del Gesu, was one of the finest in history; his violins show the influence of both his father and Stradivari and are known for their full sound.
Guatemala \ l gwa-t3-'ma-b\ officially Republic of Guatemala
Country, Central America. Area: 42,130 sq mi (109,117 sq km). Popula¬ tion (2005 est.): 12,599,000. Capitaclass="underline" Guatemala City. Mestizos make up
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3 2002 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
about three-fifths of the population; most of the rest are American Indians. Language:
Spanish (official). Religion: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also Prot¬ estant). Currency: quetzal. Guatemala has
extensive lowlands in the Peten portion of the Yucatan Peninsula and along the littoral of the Caribbean Sea in the north. Mountains occupy much of the country and cut across its midsection. The northern tropical rainfor-
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
812 i Guatemala City ► Guernsey
ests of the Peten produce fine woods and rubber. Guatemala has a devel¬ oping market economy based largely on agriculture; coffee is its leading export, along with sugar and bananas. It is a republic with one legislative body; its head of state and government is the president. From simple farming villages dating to 2500 bc, the Maya of Guatemala and the Yucatan developed a sophisticated civilization. Its heart was the northern Peten, where the oldest Mayan stelae and the ceremonial centre of Tikal are found. Mayan civilization declined after ad 900, and the Spanish began subjugating the descendants of the Maya in 1523. Independence from Spain was declared by the Central American colonies in Guatemala City in 1821, and Guatemala was incorporated into the Mexican Empire until its collapse in 1823. In 1839 Guatemala became independent under the first of a series of dictators who held power almost continuously for the next century. In 1945 a liberal-democratic coalition came to power and instituted sweeping reforms. Attempts to expropriate land belonging to U.S. business interests (see United Fruit Co.) prompted the U.S. gov¬ ernment in 1954 to sponsor an invasion by exiled Guatemalans. In the following years Guatemala’s social revolution came to an end, and most of the reforms were reversed. Chronic political instability and violence henceforth marked Guatemalan politics; most of some 200,000 deaths that resulted from subsequent political violence were blamed on government forces. Thousands more died in 1976 when a powerful earthquake dev¬ astated the country. In 1991 Guatemala abandoned its long-standing claims of sovereignty over Belize, and the two countries established dip¬ lomatic relations. It continued to experience violence as guerrillas sought to seize power. A peace treaty was signed in 1996, but labour discontent, widespread crime and poverty, and violations of human rights continued into the 21st century.
Guatemala City City (pop., 1994: city, 823,301; 1999 est.: metro area, 3,119,000), capital of Guatemala. The largest city in Central America, it lies in the central highlands at an elevation of about 4,900 ft (1,490 m). Founded in 1776, it replaced earthquake-damaged Antigua Guatemala as the capital of the captaincy general of Guatemala. After independence from Spain, it served as capital of the province of Central America under the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide and later of the Republic of Guatemala. It is the country’s political, social, cultural, and economic centre and the site of San Carlos University of Guatemala (1676); its museums include the National Archaeological Museum, which houses a collection of rare Mayan artifacts. The modern city was largely rebuilt after a series of earthquakes in 1917-18; it was severely damaged again in 1976.
Guatimozin See Cuauhtemoc
guava Any of many trees and shrubs of the genus Psidium (myrtle fam¬ ily), native to the New World tropics. The two important species are com¬ mon guava (P. guajava ) and cattley, or strawberry, guava (P. littorale or P. cattleianum). The sweet pulp of the common guava fruit has a musky, sometimes pungent odour. The pulp of the strawberry guava fruit has a strawberry-like flavour. Guavas are processed into jams, jellies, and pre¬ serves. Fresh guavas are rich in vitamins A, B, and C; they are eaten raw or sliced and are served as desserts.
Guaviare \gwav-'ya-ra\ River River, central and eastern Colombia. It rises in the Andes Mountains in south-central Colombia and is known as the Guayabero in its upper course. It meanders northeast before joining the Orinoco River on the border of Colombia and Venezuela after a course of 963 mi (1,549 km). Frequent rapids obstruct navigation.
Guayaquil \,gwl-a-'kel\ in full Santiago de Guayaquil Largest city (pop., 2001 prelim.: 1,952,029) and chief port, Ecuador. It is situated on the Guayas River 45 mi (72 km) from the Pacific Ocean. Founded by the Spanish in 1537, it was frequently attacked by buccaneers. In 1822 it was the scene of a historic conference between revolutionary leaders Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin, after which Bolivar emerged as sole leader of the South American liberation movement. As the focus of Ecua¬ dor’s international trade and domestic commerce, it has become a major Pacific port. It is the site of three universities.