Perfil etnodemográfico de la Audiencia de Guatemala

Abstract

This is a short history of the population evolution in the «Audiencia de Guatemala» from the years previous to the Conquest through the early 19th Century. As a consequence of historical research conducted in the latest decades, the authors focus on topics such as the Indigenous population following a span that covers the years before the Conquest and the decline of their numbers up to their slow recovery in the North and West of Central America. Other topics discussed are the voluntary migration of Spaniards and the forced migration of Africans, as well as interrelations between these groups and the Natives, in particular the impact of metissage and the genesis of the castes, including the «ladinos». It is particularly interesting the surprising impact, both socioeconomical and demographical, of the groups of African origins in the «Audiencia de Guatemala».