San Pedro Carchá

San Pedro Carchá
Coordinates: 15 ° 29 ′  N , 90 ° 19 ′  W San Pedro Carchá​ San Pedro Carchá on the map of Guatemala
Basic data
Country	Guatemala
Department	Alta Verapaz
City foundation	1543
Residents	148,344  (2002)
- in the metropolitan area	11,941
Detailed data
surface	1082 km 2
Population density	137 inhabitants / km 2
height	1282  m
City structure	8 zonas, 10 settlements
Waters	Río Cahabón
Post Code	16009
Time zone	UTC −6
City patron	San Pedro Apóstol (Festival: June 24th to 29th)
Flooding in San Pedro Charchá by the Río Cahabón , 2007

San Pedro Carchá is a small town in Guatemala and the administrative seat of the large municipality of the same name ( Municipio ) in the Alta Verapaz department . Around 200,000 people live in the 1082 km² municipality and around 18,000 in San Pedro Carchá.

geography

San Pedro Carchá is located in the central highlands of Alta Verapaz on the upper reaches of the Río Cahabón at an altitude of about 1,200 m. The majority of the municipal area extends in the surrounding mountains between 600 and 2,100 m altitude and is characterized by cloud forest and a humid-temperate climate.

San Pedro Carchá borders the municipalities of Chisec and Raxruhá in the north, Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas in the northeast, Santa María Cahabón and Lanquín in the east, Senahú and San Juan Chamelco in the southeast and south, and Cobán in the west .

population

The majority of the population belongs to the Maya group Kekchí , a smaller part are Pocomchí , and around three percent are Ladinos . The city of Pan Pedro Carchá is divided into eight urban districts ("zones") and ten settlements. The municipality comprises 35 rural communities ("aldeas"), which are further subdivided into 238 smaller districts and hamlets.

history

San Pedro Carchá is one of the oldest settlements in Alta Verapaz. It is mentioned in the pre-colonial annals of the Cakchiquel and especially in the Popol Vuh , the holy book of the Quiché . The original name was Carchah , which probably referred to a well-known ball playground . Dominicans advancing peacefully into the Verapaz region - monks evangelized the around 400 inhabitants of the village in 1543 and from 1544 built a new village in the Spanish colonial style in the immediate vicinity, whose church is still worth seeing today. Even then, San Pedro Carchá became the administrative seat of one of ten municipalities in the Verapaz region. Towards the end of the colonial period, the place had about 2,000 inhabitants. The status as a Municipio was officially confirmed after independence from Spain on September 12, 1839.

Economy and Transport

San Pedro Carchá is about eight kilometers east of Cobán , the capital of Alta Verapaz. The place is quite well connected to the rest of the country via the national road 5 and the trunk road CA 14. After Guatemala City there are km on El Rancho around 220th The place benefits from tourism on the one hand through the Balneario Las Islas , a natural "swimming pool" created by a river, and on the other hand from the through traffic from Cobán to Lanquín, where the tourist attraction Semuc Champey is located. The most important branch of the economy is agriculture. The most important products include coffee , cardamom , corn and beans, as well as various types of vegetables. Livestock breeding also plays an important role. The service sector and handicrafts are important, especially the processing of silver .

Web links

Commons : San Pedro Carchá  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (span.)