With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and a center for medicine. The city’s economy is also based on research, electronics, engineering, finance, and technology—principally biotechnology. Boston ranks first in the country in jobs per square mile ahead of New York City and Washington, D.C.

On January 12, 2010, at 21:53 UTC, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the country’s most severe earthquake in over 200 years. The epicenter of the quake was just off the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, sparking a tsunami watch for parts of the Caribbean, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Widespread damage resulted from the quake, with a majority of buildings collapsing due to poor structural design. The capital city was devastated. The Presidential Palace was badly damaged, with the second floor entirely collapsing onto the first floor; the Haitan Parliment building and the National Cathedral were also destroyed. The quake had a reported magnitude of 7.0, with the focus being about 6 miles (10 km) underground, according to the USGS. A tsunami watch was posted for Haiti and parts of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas, but the watch was later canceled.

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 square km with an estimated population of 14,000,000.

A representative democracy, its capital is Guatemala City. Guatemala’s abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica’s designation as a biodiversity hotspot.

 About 40% of the population is Ladino, also called Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and Spanish). Whites (primarily of Spanish, but also those of Italian, German, British and Scandinavian descent; includes Arabs of Lebanese and Syrian descent), make up about 16% of the population. Amerindian populations include the K’iche’ 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 7.9% and Q’eqchi 6.3%. 8.6% of the population is “other Mayan”, 0.2% is indigenous non-Mayan, making the indigenous community in Guatemala about 40% of the population. There are smaller communities present. The Garífuna, who are descended from Black Africans and indigenous peoples from St. Vincent’s, live mainly in Livingston and Puerto Barrios, and other blacks and mulattos. There are also Asians, mostly of Chinese descent. There is also a growing Korean community in Guatemala City and in nearby Mixco, currently numbering about 10,000. Guatemala’s German population is credited with bringing the tradition of a Christmas tree to the country.