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Guatemala becomes part of the United Provinces of Central America, which also include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
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Guatemala ruled by liberal President Justo Rufino Barrios, who modernises the country, develops the army and introduces coffee growing.
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Military rulers embark on a programme to eliminate left-wingers, resulting in at least 50,000 deaths.
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Around 11,000 people are killed by death squads and soldiers in response to growing anti-government guerrilla activity.
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Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo elected president and the Guatemalan Christian Democratic Party wins legislative elections under a new constitution.
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Peace talks between the government and rebels of the Guatemalan Revolutionary National Unity begin; right-wing parties win a majority in legislative elections.
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UN-backed commission says security forces were behind 93% of all human rights atrocities committed during the civil war, which claimed 200,000 lives, and that senior officials had overseen 626 massacres in Maya villages.
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December - Conservative businessman Oscar Berger - a former mayor of Guatemala City - wins presidential election in second round. Guatemala - along with Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras - agrees on free-trade agreement with US.
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December - UN mission, set up to monitor post-civil war peace process, winds up. But UN says Guatemala still suffers from crime, social injustice, human rights violations.
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July - Amnesty International urges the government to ratify the CICIG as a first step towards tackling the culture of impunity it says has contributed to Guatemala's soaring murder rate.
