Santa Catalina la Tinta is a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the 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...

n department of Alta Verapaz

Alta Verapaz

Alta Verapaz is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and Baja Verapaz, and to the west by El Quiché.Also in Alta Verapaz...

. It is located in the hot Polochic River

Polochic River

The Polochic River is a 194 km long river in eastern Guatemala. It flows eastwards through a deep valley and flows into Lake Izabal at . The river is navigable for length of 30 km to Panzós. It was used many years ago to transport coffee and timber, but most commercial transport in the river valley...

 valley. It was originally part of the municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 of Panzós

Panzós

Panzós 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....

, but was given separate municipal status in 1999. La Tinta is the commercial center of the lower Polochic valley, and merchants and shoppers clog the town's streets especially on the official market days of Tuesdays and Thursdays. The town of Santa Catalina la Tinta is located at 110 km from 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....

 and 278 km from Guatemala City

Guatemala City

Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...

.