Quetzaltenango Department
| Quetzaltenango | |
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| Capital | Quetzaltenango |
| population | 882,600 (Ber. 2016) |
| surface | 1,951 km² |
| Population density | 452 inhabitants / km² |
| structure | 24 |
| Highest elevation | 3772 |
| ISO 3166-2 | GT-QZ |
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Quetzaltenango is one of 22 departments in Guatemala and is located in the southwest of the country (Region VI). It extends to 1,951 km² and has around 882,600 inhabitants. The capital is the city of the same name Quetzaltenango .
The Departamento Quetzaltenango borders in the north on the Departamento Huehuetenango , in the east on Totonicapán and Sololá , in the south on Suchitepéquez and Retalhuleu , in the west on San Marcos .
National nature
The north and center of the department lie in the highlands of the Sierra Madre , in the southwest it extends down into the Pacific lowlands, but without access to the coast. The capital Quetzaltenango is located in the middle of the department in a large basin that extends from Olintepeque in the west to Totonicapán in the east at an altitude of about 2400 m for almost 30 km. It is surrounded by several mountains, in the southwest by the volcanoes Santa María with the Santiaguito (3,772 m), Cerro Quemado (3,027 m), Siete Orejas (3,370 m), Chicabal (2,900 m) and Lacandón (2,747 m). From under nature conservation standing volcanoes very fruitful, crisscrossed by several rivers land slopes gently down to the Pacific coast. The plateau crosses the Río Samalá , which finds its way to the Pacific at Zunil and later crosses the Retalhuleu department. The area of Zunil, on the southeastern edge of the plateau, is known for its numerous thermal springs . The climate in the highlands is temperate to cold; temperatures can drop below freezing in the dry season, especially December and January . In the south-west, which extends down to about 350 m, it is tropical hot, in the rainy season (May to October) there is also a high level of humidity . Both the mountain forest in the highlands, as well as the subtropical and tropical wet forest in the southwest, were partly ruthlessly cut down to make space for agriculture , with correspondingly negative effects on the formerly abundant fauna . For a number of years the government has been trying to put a stop to this development by establishing nature reserves.
population
The approximately 740,000 inhabitants of the department are concentrated in the highlands in and around Quetzaltenango, the southwest and especially the north are less densely populated. About 150,000 people live in the capital. Around 60% of the department's population are of indigenous descent, the remaining part are Ladinos with European and German ancestry. In addition to the Spanish colonial language, the Mayan languages Quiché and Mam are spoken:
- Quiché in Quetzaltenango, Almolonga, Cantel, El Palmar, La Esperanza, Olintepeque, Salcajá, San Carlos Sija, San Francisco La Unión, San Mateo, Sibilia and Zunil.
- Mam in the towns of Cabricán, Cajolá, Coatepeque, Colomba, Concepción Chiquirichapa, Flores Costa Cuca, Génova, Huitán, Palestina de Los Altos, San Juan Ostuncalco, San Martín Sacatepéquez and San Miguel Sigüilá.
The department is divided into a total of 24 municipalities ( large municipalities or districts ):
The Municipios are independent regional authorities with elected mayors and representatives of the people and are subdivided into Aldeas and Pueblos (rural communities) as well as Caseríos, Parajes, Fincas, Rancherías ( hamlets and farms ). As a state administrative district , the department is headed by a governor sent by the central government .
Quetzaltenango has a rural character, but regards itself as the cultural center of the southwestern highlands. European influences can be seen, among other things, in the neoclassical architecture in the larger towns. Quetzaltenango long saw itself as a competitor of Guatemala City for political and intellectual supremacy in the country and was a center of separatism in the 19th century . Every now and then, this historical legacy can still be felt today.
Economy and Transport
Agriculture is favored by the fertile volcanic soils. Corn , wheat , various types of fruit and vegetables, as well as coffee and sugar cane are grown . Smaller industrial and handicraft businesses manufacture products from wood, glass and leather and produce food and spirits. There is also an emerging construction industry. The service sector is important, and increasingly also tourism . In addition to Antigua Guatemala , Quetzaltenango is also known for its language schools, where mainly North Americans and Europeans learn Spanish .
Via the national roads 1 and 9, Quetzaltenango is well connected to the neighboring parties Totonicapán and Retalhuleu, through which the Interamericana in the highlands and the Pacific highway CA 2 in the lowlands lead. Both routes lead to Guatemala City, which is about 200 km east-south-east. The road network on the plateau is well developed, less good in the southwest and rather poor in the sparsely populated north. The railway connection from Quetzaltenango to Retalhuleu ( Ferrocarril de Los Altos ), inaugurated in 1930, was only in operation for a few years. The railway museum in Quetzaltenango ( Museo del Ferrocarril de Los Altos ) is a reminder of the technically very demanding railway line, which had to be abandoned due to landslides and for economic reasons . The city has a small, recently modernized commercial airport .
history
The area of today's Quetzaltenango Department was settled by Mam long before the arrival of the Spaniards . The Quiché , advancing from the east in the 15th century, pushed the Mam to the northwest, where they are still concentrated today. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Quetzaltenango plateau was densely populated. The Quiché offered bitter resistance to the Spanish conquerors under Pedro de Alvarado . On February 20, 1524 it came on the Río Xequijel ("blood flow") at Olintepeque to the decisive battle in which the Quiché were defeated. Their legendary leader Tecún Umán is said to have fallen here. On the eastern outskirts of Quetzaltenango you can visit a monument that was erected in his honor. The Quiché called the city Xelajú (probably "under the 10 mountains"), from which the short name "Xela", which is still in use today, is derived. The Spaniards named it Quetzaltenango on May 15, 1524 ( Pentecost ), which means Quetzal place . Conquering the strategically important area enabled the Spanish to control the entire southwestern highlands.
During the colonial period with its encomienda system , planned villages in the Spanish colonial style were built in place of the Quiché settlements , including Quetzaltenango, which soon developed into a regional trading center, but only received city rights in 1825 . After independence from Spain, the population in what is now the Departamentos Quetzaltenango, Totonicapán, San Marcos and in parts of Sololá, Huehuetenango, Quiché, Retalhulehu and Suchitepéquez expressed dissatisfaction with the authoritarian policies of the central government in Guatemala City. In protest against arbitrary state rule and to better represent their interests, they formed the República del Sexto Estado de Los Altos , the so-called sixth state of the Central American Confederation, on February 2, 1838 . The new state was proclaimed in Quetzaltenango, where the provisional government was also constituted. At the beginning of 1840, General Rafael Carrera put an end to this state with military means. Numerous Los Altos political leaders and officials were executed. Until 1849 there were a few more attempts to split off in Quetzaltenango, but all of them failed. The government in Guatemala City established the department of the same name on September 16, 1845. On January 9, 1885, by order of the government in Guatemala City, it received the municipality of Coatepeque in the southwestern lowlands from the neighboring San Marcos party.
At the end of the 19th century, immigrants from Germany, Austria and Italy contributed to the economic development of the department, but often also through unrestrained exploitation of the indigenous workforce. In 1902, a devastating eruption of the Santa María volcano put an end to Quetzaltenango's decades-long quest to surpass Guatemala City economically and culturally.
Web links
Alta Verapaz | Baja Verapaz | Chimaltenango | Chiquimula | El Progreso | Escuintla | Guatemala | Huehuetenango | Izabal | Jalapa | Jutiapa | Petén | Quetzaltenango | Quiché | Retalhuleu | Sacatepéquez | San Marcos | Santa Rosa | Sololá | Suchitepéquez | Totonicapán | Zacapa
Coordinates: 14 ° 47 ′ N , 91 ° 43 ′ W