Santa Cruz El Chol

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El Chol
Coordinates: 14 ° 58 ′  N , 90 ° 29 ′  W
Map: Guatemala
marker
El Chol​
El Chol on the map of Guatemala
Basic data
Country Guatemala
Department Baja Verapaz
City foundation 1603
Residents 10,000 
Detailed data
surface 140 km 2
Population density 71 people / km 2
height 1009  m
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Image wanted BW

Santa Cruz El Chol (short form: El Chol , formerly: Santa Cruz Belén de los Indios Choles ) is a small town in the south of the Baja Verapaz department in Guatemala . Santa Cruz El Chol is the administrative seat of the large municipality of the same name , which extends over 140 km² and has almost 10,000 inhabitants. The municipality is divided into nine rural communities with a total of 53 small towns or settlements.

Location and climate

El Chol is located about 90 km north of Guatemala City and 45 km southwest of Salamá at the foot of the Sierra de Chuacús at 1,009 m altitude. You can get to El Chol on National Road 5, the old highway from Guatemala City to Salamá, Cobán and El Peten . The road is very winding and only partly asphalted.

The municipality is located in a mountainous area that slopes south to the valley of the Río Motagua ( Granados ). It is bordered by Rabinal to the north, Salamá to the east, Granados to the west and the Department of Guatemala to the south .

The average temperature is 22.8 ° C, but the temperatures can vary greatly depending on the location. The mean annual rainfall is around 1,200 mm. The rainy season lasts from May to October.

economy

Santa Cruz El Chol lives mainly from agriculture. The most important products are corn , beans and coffee , and various types of fruit and vegetables are grown for local needs. The soils are often difficult to order due to the pronounced slopes. The place is located in a very remote and undeveloped area, which is why trade and tourism are developing very slowly. El Chol is connected to the electricity and water supply, has primary and secondary schools , a small medical station and a police station .

In the center there is a remarkable colonial-style church. From December 6th to 8th there will be larger celebrations for the Conception of Mary .

history

Today's departments of Baja Verapaz and Alta Verapaz were peacefully evangelized in the 16th century by Dominicans under the leadership of Bartolomé de Las Casas . The place Santa Cruz Belén de los Indios Choles was created in 1603 in an area in which Chol -speaking Maya settled. They were evangelized from 1689 by newly settled Maya who came from the north of the Verapaz region. Around 1700 there were confused resettlement measures, which plunged the town and the families resettled to Rabinal and Cobán into economic hardship. In the 18th century, the Spanish colonial administration and also the church neglected the place where Mayans and Ladinos and Spaniards who had moved in mixed up in an unregulated manner. The Chol language and other indigenous languages ​​were very quickly replaced by Spanish.

After independence from Spain, El Chol became the administrative seat of a municipality in 1827. In 1935, as part of an administrative reform, the Municipio Granados came into being for one year . In 1973, as part of government development measures, El Chol received an adequate supply of drinking water (later also a sewage treatment plant ), an electricity and telephone connection and smaller health facilities.

See also

Web links