Guatemala History Quiz: Events, Leaders & Heritage

1. In what year did Guatemala gain independence from Spain?

1811

1821

1838

1850

2. Which ancient Mesoamerican civilization built major cities in Guatemala?

Aztec

Maya

Olmec

Toltec

3. Tikal, one of Guatemala's most important archaeological sites, was a major center of which civilization?

Inca

Maya

Pueblo

Chibcha

Submit

5. Which Spanish conquistador led the conquest of Guatemala in the 1520s?

Hernán Cortés

Pedro de Alvarado

Francisco Pizarro

Diego Velázquez

Submit

7. Guatemala's civil war lasted approximately how many years?

26 years

36 years

46 years

56 years

8. Which president of Guatemala was known for land reforms and was overthrown in a 1954 coup?

Juan José Arévalo

Jacobo Árbenz

Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes

Carlos Castillo Armas

9. The Popol Vuh is an important literary work of which civilization in Guatemala?

Spanish colonial

Maya

Modern Guatemalan

Indigenous Nahuatl

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12. Which Maya site in Guatemala features the tallest pyramid in the Petén region?

Caracol

Tikal

Copán

Calakmul

Submit

14. Guatemala's current capital, Guatemala City, was established after the earthquake of 1773 destroyed La Antigua. True or False?

True

False

15. Which country supported the 1954 coup that overthrew Jacobo Árbenz?

Soviet Union

United States

Mexico

Nicaragua

Guatemala History Quiz: Key Events, Leaders & Heritage

1. In what year did Guatemala gain independence from Spain?

2. Which ancient Mesoamerican civilization built major cities in Guatemala?

3. Tikal, one of Guatemala's most important archaeological sites, was a major center of which civilization?

4. Guatemala was part of the Federal Republic of Central America until it dissolved in ____.

5. Which Spanish conquistador led the conquest of Guatemala in the 1520s?

6. La Antigua Guatemala served as the capital until it was destroyed by an earthquake in ____.

7. Guatemala's civil war lasted approximately how many years?

8. Which president of Guatemala was known for land reforms and was overthrown in a 1954 coup?

9. The Popol Vuh is an important literary work of which civilization in Guatemala?

10. Rigoberta Menchú won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work advocating for ____ rights.

11. Guatemala's civil war ended with a peace accord signed in ____.

12. Which Maya site in Guatemala features the tallest pyramid in the Petén region?

13. The Q'eqchi' and K'iche' are major ____ groups in Guatemala.

14. Guatemala's current capital, Guatemala City, was established after the earthquake of 1773 destroyed La Antigua. True or False?

15. Which country supported the 1954 coup that overthrew Jacobo Árbenz?