Asentamientos are shanty town

Shanty town

A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...

s inside and around Guatemala City

Guatemala City

Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...

. Most of them were established in the last 20 years, and are a result of economic inequalities between rural and metropolitan areas in Guatemala

Guatemala

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...

. People living there usually came from small towns in remote rural areas, and came to the city looking for a better opportunity. They usually are located in what used to be government land, usually places which would not normally be habitable areas (steep canyons, unstable side of hills, etc).

Traditionally, these places have been "red zones" inside Guatemala City, because of their high crime

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

 rate. In some of them, local police will not even go inside, because the local gang

Gang

A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...

s control the areas, and are usually better armed than the police.

The most famous asentamientos in Guatemala are:

• La Limonada, population 60,000 - the largest slum in Latin America outside of Brazil
• El Mezquital
• Carolingia