Tecpán Guatemala is a municipality in the department of Chimaltenango

Chimaltenango (department)

Chimaltenango is a department of Guatemala. The capital is Chimaltenango. Located to the east are the departments of Guatemala, home to Guatemala City, and Sacatepéquez, while also bordered by the departments of El Quiché and Baja Verapaz to the north, Escuintla and Suchitepéquez to the south, and...

, in 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...

, on the Inter-American Highway

Inter-American Highway

The Inter-American Highway is the Central American section of the Pan-American Highway and spans 3,400 miles between Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Panama City, Panama....

 CA-1.

The climate is generally cold. It is characterized as a tourist destination, with some fame derived from its landscapes, varied vegetation and from being on an access route to Iximché

Iximche

Iximche is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandonment in 1524. The architecture of the site included a number of pyramid-temples, palaces and two...

 archaeological site.

History

Tecpán is known as the "first capital of Guatemala". This claim is based on the fact that the first permanent Spanish military center of the nation was based here. While not really a government center, the base was set here due to the difficulty that the Spanish had in defeating the Kaqchikel Maya. The remains of the Cakquikel capital city, Iximché

Iximche

Iximche is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandonment in 1524. The architecture of the site included a number of pyramid-temples, palaces and two...

, lie only a few kilometers away from the city on a high hill.

Demographics

Tecpán currently is one of the larger municipalities in the nation, due to its far geographical reach to the northeast corner of its department, Chimaltenango. Its population is over 90% indigenous, mostly descendants of the Kaqchikel Maya

Maya peoples

The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...

.