Transportation in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

includes roads, waterways, airports and a short cross-border rail line from Mexico. The

Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure, and Housing The Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure, and Housing ( or CIV) is a government ministry of Guatemala, headquartered in Zone 13 of Guatemala City. The current minister is Félix Alvarado. List of ministers References External links ...

oversees the planning, maintenance and development of infrastructure and transport systems. The General Directorate of Roads is responsible for the planning, design and supervision of construction works and maintenance of the country's roads.

Roads

Guatemala has an extensive road network, where 12.72% of the roads connect with Mexico and Central America, 17.27% are National Roads, 43.84% are Departmental and 26.17% are Rural. All the country's roads have

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

as their point of origin. Among the busiest international routes in the country are the

Pan-American highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

that connects Mexico with Central America and the CA-9 highway that connects

Puerto Barrios Puerto Barrios () is a city in Guatemala, located within the Gulf of Honduras. The city is located on Bahia de Amatique. Puerto Barrios is the departmental seat of Izabal department and is the administrative seat of Puerto Barrios municipality. ...

in the Guatemalan Caribbean with Puerto Quetzal in the Pacific.

Urban transportation

The urban transport system began in Guatemala City in the 1990s and since then it has been one of the most used means of transport within metropolitan areas. Bus services such as Transmetro and Transurbano differ from other means of transportation, such as private or departmental public transport as they are regulated by lines with defined stops and are primarily used for short-distance transportation.

Intercity transportation

The Intercity system connects various cities, departments, and countries. It is mainly used for long-distance travel. In Guatemala, it is common to see Chicken buses, which are recycled and often colorfully painted former US school buses. There are also Pullman buses that offer different destinations within Guatemalan territory.

Streets

Guatemalan streets tend to be one-ways to ease congestion and move traffic.

Highways

*''Total:'' 14,095 km *''Paved:'' 4,863 km (including 75 km of expressways) *''Unpaved:'' 9,232 km (1999 est.)

Airports

ATR 72-500 TAG Airlines La Aurora Int Airport

Guatemala has a total of 402 airports and airstrips. Among these, three are international:

La Aurora International Airport La Aurora International Airport (, ) serves Guatemala City, Guatemala. It is located south of Guatemala City's center and from Antigua Guatemala. It is administered by the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Guatemala), General Directora ...

located in Guatemala City,

Mundo Maya International Airport Mundo Maya International Airport (, ), formerly Flores International Airport as indicated by its IATA code, is an international airport located in the suburb of Santa Elena, in the city of Flores, Guatemala. It serves national and internation ...

in Santa Elena de la Cruz, and Western International Airport in

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...

. The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) is the state agency responsible for regulating civil aviation throughout the country. Its primary functions include: managing the airports of Guatemala, controlling traffic in the national airspace, and overseeing the operation and acquisition of aircraft throughout the republic.

Named airports

*La Aurora International Airport *Mundo Maya International Airport * San José Airport * Quetzaltenango Airport * Puerto Barrios Airport

Airports - with paved runways

*''total:'' 11 *''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 3 *''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 2 *''914 to 1,523 m:'' 4 *''under 914 m:'' 2 (2006 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

*''total:'' 439 *''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 1 *''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 8 *''914 to 1,523 m:'' 111 *''under 914 m:'' 319 (2006 est.)

Railways

' ''total:'' * cross border link from Mexico to Tecun Uman rebuilt as standard gauge in 2019 * operated by the

Railroad Development Corporation The Railroad Development Corporation is an American railroad holding company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It operates several short line railroads outside the United States and acts as an investor, with management and institutional investor ...

until September 2007, now closed Central America going nowhere
''

Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a British monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by tran ...

'' August 2007. * closed ''

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

:'' 884 km gauge (single track)

Railway links with adjacent countries

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

- short link since 2019, previously

break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally canno ...

/ *

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

- None *

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

- none in use -

/ (?) *

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

- currently closed

Waterways

260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season

Pipelines

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

480 km

Ports and harbors

Atlantic Ocean

Santo Tomás de Castilla Santo Tomás de Castilla, officially known as Mátías de Gálvez though it popularly retains its former name, is a port city in the Izabal Department, Guatemala. It lies at Amatique Bay off the Gulf of Honduras and is administratively a part of ...

Pacific Ocean

Champerico Champerico is a town and municipality in the Retalhuleu department in southwestern Guatemala. It is a popular vacation spot for Guatemalans in the region. The picturesque beach town was founded on the Pacific Ocean in 1872, and the paved road to ...

, Puerto Quetzal,

Puerto San José Puerto San José is a town on Guatemala's Pacific Ocean coast, in the department of Escuintla. It has a population of 23,887 (2018 census),

Merchant marine

None (1999 est.)

Boats

Ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

serve as a mode of transportation in certain regions, such as

Sayaxché Sayaxché () is a municipality in the El Petén department of Guatemala, on the Río La Pasión River. It covers an area of , and had 55,578 inhabitants at the 2002 Census; the latest official estimate (as at mid-2012) was 114,781 inhabitants. T ...

and for traveling between the cities of

and Livingston. They are also used to connect multiple coastal towns in

Lake Atitlán Lake Atitlán (, ) is a lake in the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre mountain range. The lake is located in the Sololá Department of southwestern Guatemala. It is known as the deepest lake in Central America. Name Atitlán means "betwe ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Guatemala