Alta Verapaz
Encyclopedia
Departments of Guatemala
||Guatemala is divided into 22 departments :#Alta Verapaz#Baja Verapaz#Chimaltenango#Chiquimula#Petén#El Progreso#El Quiché#Escuintla#Guatemala#Huehuetenango#Izabal#Jalapa#Jutiapa#Quetzaltenango#Retalhuleu#Sacatepéquez...
in the north central part of Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán
Cobán
The city of Cobán is the capital of the department of Alta Verapaz in central Guatemala. It also serves as the administrative center for the surrounding Cobán municipality. It is located 219 km from Guatemala City....
. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén
Petén (department)
Petén is a department of the nation of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest in size — at it accounts for about one third of Guatemala's area. The capital is Flores...
, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa
Zacapa (department)
Zacapa is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. The capital is the city of Zacapa.- Municipalities :# Cabañas# Estanzuela# Gualán# Huité# La Unión# Río Hondo# San Diego# Teculután# Usumatlán# Zacapa-External links:***...
, El Progreso, and Baja Verapaz
Baja Verapaz
Baja Verapaz is a department in Guatemala. The capital is Salamá.Baja Verapaz houses the Mario Dary Biotope Preserve, preserving the native flora and fauna of the region, especially the endangered national bird of Guatemala, the Resplendent Quetzal....
, and to the west by El Quiché.
Also in Alta Verapaz are the towns of Chisec
Chisec
Chisec is a municipality in the north of the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz that was founded in 1813. It is situated at 230m above sea level at . The municipality covers a territory of 1488 km². Approximately 95% of the municipality's inhabitants are Mayan, spread over the town of...
, San Pedro Carchá
San Pedro Carchá
San Pedro Carchá, usually referred to as Carchá, is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 1282 m above sea level. It has an estimated population 245,000 people.It covers a terrain of 1082 km².-Sports:...
and San Cristóbal Verapaz
San Cristóbal Verapaz
San Cristóbal Verapaz is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz....
.
History
In Pre-ColumbianPre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
times this area was part of the Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
. When the Spanish Conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
es came in the 1520s they conquered the central and southern highlands of Guatemala, but were driven back from this region by fierce native resistance. Spanish friars asked the unsuspicious natives for a chance to "peacefully" convert
Convert
The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...
the land to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, which they succeeded in, giving the area the name "Verapaz" meaning "True Peace" since it was so cunningly brought to Christianity and control of the King of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
without warfare. In the 19th century this became an important coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
producing region.
As a result of the Mexican Drug War
Mexican Drug War
The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces who seek to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was...
, the Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
members overtook much of the department and occupied many towns in December 2010. The Guatemalan government declared a state of siege
State of Siege
State of Siege is a 1972 French film directed by Costa Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori.-Summary:...
on December 19 to reclaim the department, allowing the military and police forces to search and arrest any suspects without a warrant, and at least sixteen buildings were searched.
Municipalities
- ChahalChahal, GuatemalaChahal is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. The name originates from the Mayans....
- ChisecChisecChisec is a municipality in the north of the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz that was founded in 1813. It is situated at 230m above sea level at . The municipality covers a territory of 1488 km². Approximately 95% of the municipality's inhabitants are Mayan, spread over the town of...
- Cobán
- Fray Bartolomé de las CasasFray Bartolomé de las CasasFray Bartolomé de las Casas is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 170m above sea level. It contains 31,611 people. It covers a terrain of 1229km2. The annual festival is April 30-May 4. It is named after the 15th century Spanish priest, bishop, and writer...
- LanquínLanquínLanquín is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 380 m above sea level. It contains 16,500 people, many of Q'eqchi' Maya descent...
- PanzósPanzósPanzós is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz.On 29 May 1978, the village of Panzós was the site of a massacre in which between 30 and 60 local inhabitants were killed by the army....
- RaxruhaRaxruhaRaxruha is a municipality in the north of the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. The municipality, which was formerly part of Chisec, was founded in 2008....
- San Cristóbal VerapazSan Cristóbal VerapazSan Cristóbal Verapaz is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz....
- San Juan ChamelcoSan Juan ChamelcoSan Juan Chamelco is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 135 m above sea level. It covers a terrain of 80 km². The annual festival is on June 24.-External links:*...
- San Pedro CarcháSan Pedro CarcháSan Pedro Carchá, usually referred to as Carchá, is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 1282 m above sea level. It has an estimated population 245,000 people.It covers a terrain of 1082 km².-Sports:...
- Santa Cruz VerapazSanta Cruz VerapazSanta Cruz Verapaz is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 1406 m above sea level. It contains 19,000 people. It covers a terrain of 48 km². The annual festival is May 1-May 5.-External links:*...
- Santa María CahabónSanta María CahabónCahabón is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 250m above sea level. It contains 31,425 people. It covers a terrain of 900km2. The annual festival is September 1-September 8.-External links:*...
- SenahúSenahúSenahú is a municipality of the Department of Alta Verapaz in the Republic of Guatemala.The community of San Antonio Senahú was founded by Q'eqchi' Mayan refugees from a series of 19th century conflicts in the Ishi Mountains of Central Guatemala...
- TacticTactic (municipality)Tactic is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is situated at 1,465 m above sea level. It has a population of 17,555, and covers a terrain of 85 km². The languages spoken in Tactic are predominantly Spanish, Poqomchí, and Q'eqchi'....
- TamahúTamahúTamahú is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz....
- TucurúTucurúTucurú is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz....
- Santa Catalina la TintaSanta Catalina la TintaSanta Catalina la Tinta is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is located in the hot Polochic River valley. It was originally part of the municipality of Panzós, but was given separate municipal status in 1999...