Concepción Las Minas () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in southern

Chiquimula department Chiquimula is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala, in Central America.INE 2002, p. 12. The departmental capital is also called Chiquimula.Hernández and González 2004. The department was established by decree in 1871, and forms a part of the ...

of Guatemala in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. It has a population of 11,693 (2018)Citypopulation.de
Population of departments and municipalities in Guatemala and cover an area of 222 km².

History

Concepción Las Minas was recognized as a municipality on 8 June 1893 by decree of President José María Reyna Barrios; however the current municipality and its boundaries was created on 17 April 1972. The municipality owes its double-barreled name to the local mines, where in colonial times lead, copper, iron and silver were extracted, and to the local church which is dedicated to the Virgin of the Conception. The municipal fiesta is held at the end of February and is in honor of the Virgin.

Geography

Politically, the Concepción Las Minas municipality is bounded to the east by Honduras, to the south by El Salvador and to the west by the

Jutiapa Department Jutiapa Department is a department of Guatemala that borders along El Salvador and the Pacific Ocean. The capital is the city of Jutiapa. As of 2018, it has a population of 488,395. The department is divided into seventeen municipalities. Jut ...

of Guatemala. It is only to the north that it is connected with the rest of Chiquimula Department, namely the municipalities of Quetzaltepeque to the north and

Esquipulas Esquipulas (Nahuatl: Isquitzuchil, "place where flowers abound"), officially Municipality of Esquipulas, whose original name was Yzquipulas, is a town, with a population of 18,667 (2018 census), and a municipality located in the department of Chi ...

to the northeast. The municipality lies on the Montecristo Massif with its highest point being the Monte Cristo volcano, known as Trifino de Monte Cristo () which Guatemala shares with El Salvador and Honduras. It has five mountain ranges and nineteen peaks. Most of the streams in the area, like the Rio Seco, are

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

; however, even though their flow is considerably diminished in the dry season the Rio Frio, the Rio Anguiatú and the Rio Grande de Zacapa do not go completely dry. Most of the former forested areas in the municipality have been converted to grasslands for cattle raising, but some forests remain, particularly at the higher elevations. The forests are mostly pine, with some mixed hardwoods. The only protected area is the Trifinio Biosphere Reserve, which is also known as the ''Biosfera de la Fraternidad''.

Economy

The municipality exports cattle and other livestock, but relies heavily on remittances from emigres in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

References

External links

"Concepción las Minas, Chiquimula"
Official website
"Concep. Las Mina Google Satellite Map"
Maplandia World Gazetteer {{DEFAULTSORT:Concepcion Las Minas Municipalities of the Chiquimula Department