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The name of
Guatemala was derived from "Quauhtemallan", whish means "place of flowers" or from "Guauthemallan", which means "place of
trees" in the Aztec Nahuatl language. This name was given by the Tlaxcaltecas who came with Pedro de Alvarado to conquer Guatemala.
Guatemala
flourished with the Maya civilization and the region surrounding Guatemala, long before the Spanish arrived. Guatemala was already inefficient when
the Mayans were defeated by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. The first colonial capital, Ciudad Vieja, was ruined by floods and
an earthquake in 1542. A year later, survivors from Ciudad Vieja, founded the second capital called, Antigua. In 1776,
the third capital, Guatemala City was found. After becoming part of the Mexican Empire and later to a federation called the
United Provinces of Central America, Guatemala gained its independence from Spain on September 15, 1821.
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