Ixchiguán
Ixchiguán | ||
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Coordinates: 15 ° 10 ′ N , 91 ° 56 ′ W Ixchiguán on the map of Guatemala
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Basic data | ||
Country | Guatemala | |
Department | San Marcos | |
City foundation | August 9, 1933 as a Municipio | |
Residents | 27,176 (2010) | |
Detailed data | ||
surface | 184 km 2 | |
Population density | 148 inhabitants / km 2 | |
height | 3200 m | |
Post Code | 12023 | |
Time zone | UTC −6 | |
City patron |
Feast of Jesús Nazareno : 5th Sunday of Lent |
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Ixchiguán is a place and a municipality in the department of San Marcos in Guatemala . The place is about 300 km northwest of Guatemala City and almost 40 km northwest of the departmental capital San Marcos in the highlands of the Sierra Madre at an altitude of 3,200 meters. Ixchiguán is the highest mountain village in Guatemala and Central America. The place was founded around 1750 by shepherds from neighboring Tajumulco and raised to a municipality in 1933.
Ixchiguán can be reached from San Marcos via a country road that leads east of the Tajumulco volcano via La Grandeza and Serchil and the 3,400-meter-high pass Cumbre de Cotzil in the remote north of the department. The Río Suchiate rises near the pass , which forms the border between Guatemala and Mexico from the border crossing at Unión Juárez to the Pacific coast .
Around 30,000 people live in the 184 km² municipality of Ixchiguán, the majority of whom are Mam - Mayas . In addition to the main town, the municipality consists of the rural communities (Aldeas) Calapte, Choapequez, San Antonio and Tuichan with a total of around 45 hamlets. Because of the remote location in the highlands, the economy is underdeveloped; many residents have emigrated to other departments, to Mexico and the United States, particularly to Worthington , Minnesota .
Adjacent municipalities are Tacaná and San José Ojetenam in the north, Tejutla in the east, San Marcos and Tajumulco in the south, and Sibinal in the west.