Los Amates (Izabal)
| Los amates | ||
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Coordinates: 15 ° 16 ′ N , 89 ° 6 ′ W Los Amates on the map of Guatemala
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| Basic data | ||
| Country | Guatemala | |
| Department | Izabal | |
| Residents | 56,187 (2002) | |
| Detailed data | ||
| surface | 1615 km 2 | |
| Population density | 35 people / km 2 | |
| height | 77 m | |
| Waters | Río Motagua | |
| Post Code | 18005 | |
| Time zone | UTC −6 | |
| City patron | Santa Cruz | |
Los Amates is a small town in eastern Guatemala . It is the administrative seat of the large municipality of the same name ( Municipio ) in the department of Izabal . More than 60,000 people live in the 1,615 km² municipality.
geography
Los Amates is located south of Lake Izabal in the valley of the Río Motagua . Between the lake and the river, the foothills of the Sierra de las Minas run in a north-easterly direction , which still reach heights of around 1,000 m here. In the south, the Sierra del Merendón forms the border with Honduras . The municipality covers the entire southwestern part of the department of Izabal. In the north it borders on Lake Izabal, in the east on the Municipio Morales , in the south on Honduras, in the southwest on the Department of Zacapa and in the west on the Municipio El Estor . It is divided into 9 villages ( Aldeas ) and 190 hamlets ( Caseríos ). The climate is generally tropical hot.
history
The Los Amates area was not systematically settled until the end of the 19th century. The name of the place and the municipality comes from the Amate fig trees ( Ficus glabrata ) that shaped the area. The municipality was officially established in 1916. The small, relatively old town of Izabal on the south bank of the lake of the same name was the capital of the department of Izabal from 1888 to 1896. In 1944 the administrative seat of the municipality was temporarily relocated from Los Amates to the neighboring village of Quiriguá, a few kilometers to the northeast. The former Maya city of Quiriguá , east of the village, is of particular historical importance and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In 1910 the notorious United Fruit Company bought large pieces of land there for their banana plantations. The UFC dominated the economic and social life of the municipality for several decades in a not undisputed way. In 1976, an earthquake caused severe damage, and in 1998 Hurricane Mitch did so .
Economy and Transport
Los Amates is located on the CA 9 ( Carretera Interoceanica ) which leads from Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean coast via Guatemala City to Puerto San José on the Pacific. A currently unused railway line runs alongside CA 9, which is why Los Amates also has a disused train station . The city benefits from through traffic and also somewhat from the nearby tourist destination Quiriguá. On the southern shore of Lake Izabal, the beaches of Mariscos, Playa Dorada, El Morro, Guapinol, Río Blanco and Punta Brava are also of great tourist importance. In addition to bananas, agricultural products also include coffee , pineapples , beans , corn , okra and various other types of fruit and vegetables. Livestock breeding and the timber industry as well as the service sector also play an important role .
