Cadastred territory and the registry-cadastre mismatch

The Guatemalan Institute of Notarial Law describes Guatemala as a “country of possessors, not of owners”: less than 20% of the territory is cadastred — the article (20 Nov 2023, checked in audit) puts 14.6% of the national territory (~108,000 km²) under cadastre and 959.9 km² surveyed in 2023 — and only a small fraction is recorded in the registries. The article does not identify the primary source of that figure and the RIC publishes no consolidated official percentage. The consequence for the investor: the register (legal) and the cadastre (physical) are not reconciled across most of the country, the recorded property may not match the actual polygon, and in rural areas an independent topographic survey plus verification at the RIC, where a cadastred zone exists, is advisable.

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.