Izabal () is one of the 22

departments of Guatemala Guatemala is divided into 22 Department (country subdivision), departments (Spanish language, Spanish: ''departamentos'') which are in turn divided into 340 Municipalities of Guatemala, municipalities. In addition, Guatemala has claimed that all ...

. Its coastal areas form part of the homeland of the

Garifuna people The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian ...

. Izabal is bordered to the north by

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, to the north east by the

Gulf of Honduras The Gulf or Bay of Honduras is a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea, indenting the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. From north to south, it runs for approximately 200 km (125 miles) from Dangriga, Belize, to La Ceiba, Honduras. ...

, and to the east by

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, and by the Guatemalan departments of Petén to the north west,

Alta Verapaz Alta Verapaz () is a Departments of Guatemala, 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 Petén (department), El Petén, to the east by Izabal ...

to the west, and

Zacapa Zacapa () is the departmental capital municipality of Zacapa Department, one of the 22 Departments of Guatemala. It is located approximately from Guatemala City. Sports Football club Deportivo Zacapa competes in Guatemala's top division and p ...

to the south. The Izabal Department surrounds

Lake Izabal Lake Izabal (), also known as the Golfo Dulce, is the largest lake in Guatemala with a surface area of 589.6 km² (145,693 acres or 227.6 sq mi) and a maximum depth is 18 m (59 ft). The Polochic River is the largest river that dra ...

(or Lago de Izabal), Guatemala's largest lake (about 48 km long and 24 km wide, with an area of about 590 km²). 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, Can ...

Colonial fort of San Felipe, now a Guatemalan national monument, overlooks the point where the lake flows into the Río Dulce. The small town of Izabal is on the south shore of the lake; before the construction of the ports of

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

and

Puerto Barrios Puerto Barrios () is a city in Guatemala, located within the Gulf of Honduras. The city is located on Bahia de Amatique. Puerto Barrios is the departmental seat of Izabal department and is the administrative seat of Puerto Barrios municipality. ...

in the 19th century this was Guatemala's main

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

port and was the original seat of Izabal department; nowadays, however, Izabal town is a remote village that gets little traffic. From the area around Lake Izabal, the Department of Izabal stretches along the Río Dulce to the coast of the

. The department of Izabal includes the ports of

(the departmental seat), Santo Tomás de Castilla,

and Guatemala's free trade zone Zolic. Izabal also includes 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 ...

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 ...

ruins of Quirigua.

Municipalities

El Estor El Estor is a town, with a population of 20,489 (2018 census), and a municipality in the Izabal department of Guatemala. The population of El Estor consists largely of Q’eqchi’ speaking indigenous people. History Before roads and railroad ...

Los Amates Los Amates is a municipality in the Izabal department of Guatemala. The population is about 61,000. The mayor is currently Marco Tulio Ramirez Estrada. Los Amates is located on the Motagua River, from the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Quiri ...

Morales Morales is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alfredo Morales (born 1990), American footballer * Alvaro Morales (disambiguation), several people * Amado Morales (born 1947), Puerto Rican javelin thrower * Bartolomé Mo ...

References

External links

Interactive department mapIzabal, Green Caribbean
{{Authority control Departments of Guatemala

Municipalities

See also

References

External links