city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and municipality in the
highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
s of western
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. It is also the capital of the department of
Huehuetenango
Huehuetenango () is a city and municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The city is situated from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American High ...
. The city is situated from
Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...
, and is the last departmental capital on the
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
before the Mexican border at
La Mesilla
La Mesilla is a village in La Democracia municipality, Huehuetenango Department, Guatemala. It is the home of Peñarol La Mesilla football club.
La Mesilla lies close to the border with Mexico, between Huehuetenango
Huehuetenango () is a ...
. Its primary export is coffee.
Overview
Huehuetenango (originally called ''Xinabajul'' in the
Mam language
Mam or MAM may refer to:
Places
* An Mám or Maum, a settlement in Ireland
* General Servando Canales International Airport in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (IATA Code: MAM)
* Isle of Mam, a phantom island
* Mam Tor, a hill near Castleton in the ...
) was already a
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
settlement before the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
conquest of the fortified city of
Zaculeu
Zaculeu or Saqulew is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the highlands of western Guatemala, about outside the modern city of Huehuetenango. Occupation at the site dates to the Early Classic period (AD 250–600) of Mesoamerica ...
, which was the
Pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
capital of the Mam kingdom situated just a few kilometers from Xinabahul. 'Huehuetenango' means ''place of the ancients (or ancestors)'' in
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
, which is the name
Gonzalo de Alvarado
Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and brother of Pedro de Alvarado who participated in campaigns in Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador (co-founding its present capital, San Salvador).
Gonzalo de Alvarado was a native of ...
adopted from his
Nahua
The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...
allies when Zaculeu and Xinabahul were conquered.
Many people of Mam descent still live in and around Huehuetenango, and the nearby ruins of Zaculeu have become a tourist attraction. The ruins are markedly distinct from other Maya archeological sites; the original unearthed stones, comprising only a small portion of the original structures, were coated with plaster during restoration works carried out in the 1940s. There is also a small museum at Zaculeu that includes statues and small artifacts found on the site.
Huehuetenango Airport is within the city and has a paved runway and a small terminal building. There are currently no scheduled airline flights.
Climate
The city has a
subtropical highland climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cwb''), with warm summers and mild winters.
Sports
The city currently boasts one Guatemalan top level football side Xinabajul in the
Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala
''Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala'' (National Football League of Guatemala), formerly known as Liga Mayor "A" (Major League "A") is a professional football division in Guatemala, the highest one in the country. It is sanctioned by the ''Feder ...
.
Notable people
Former
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Efraín Ríos Montt
José Efraín Ríos Montt (; 16 June 1926 – 1 April 2018) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as ''de facto'' President of Guatemala in 1982–83. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the bloodiest periods i ...
was born in Huehuetenango (in 1926). His younger brother,
Mario Enrique Ríos Montt
Mario Enrique Ríos Montt, Congregation of the Mission, C.M. (born March 17, 1932 in Huehuetenango, Guatemala) is an emeritus auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala, public figure and human rights activist. He is the brothe ...