Lake Petén Itzá (''Lago Petén Itzá'', ) is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the northern

Petén Department Petén is a department of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest by area at it accounts for about one third of Guatemala's area. The capital is Flores. The population at the mid-2018 o ...

in Guatemala. It is the third largest lake in Guatemala, after

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 ...

and

Lake Atitlán Lake Atitlán ( es, links=no, Lago de Atitlán, ) is a lake in the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre mountain range. The lake is located in the Sololá Department of southwestern Guatemala. It is known as the deepest lake in Central Ameri ...

. It is located around . It has an area of , and is some long and wide. Its maximum depth is . The lake area presents high levels of migration, due to the existence of natural resources such as wood, chewing gum, oil, and agricultural and pasture activities. Because of its archaeological richness, around 150,000 tourists pass through this region yearly. The city of Flores, the capital of the Petén Department, lies on an island near its southern shore. Several streams flow into Lake Petén Itzá, but it has no surface outflow. Although it loses water mostly by evaporation, it is not a salt lake.

Notable sites

There are at least 27

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 popul ...

sites around this lake and the archaeological remains of Tayasal, located across the lake on a peninsula close to the former Itza Maya capital, the last to be conquered in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

in 1697.

Fauna

This lake and its surroundings have more than 100 important indigenous species such as the cichlid fish '' Mayaheros urophthalmus'', '' Petenia splendida'' and '' Vieja melanurus'', crocodiles ('' Crocodylus moreletii'' and '' Crocodylus acutus''), jaguars (''Panthera onca''), pumas (''Puma concolor''),

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

(''Odocoileus virginianus''),

Central American red brocket The Central American red brocket (''Mazama temama'') is a species of brocket deer ranging from southern Mexico, through Central America, to northwestern Colombia. Taxonomy In 1792 Robert Kerr originally described it as a unique separate spe ...

(''Mazama temama''), and several bird species, including

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

s such as macaws, and

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five g ...

s. On its northeast shore is the Cerro Cahui Protected Biotope, a natural reserve for butterflies that covers and is home to toucans, Geoffroy's spider monkey (''Ateles geoffroyi''),

Guatemalan black howler Guatemalan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Guatemala * A person from Guatemala, or of Guatemalan descent. For information about the Guatemalan people, see Demographics of Guatemala and Culture of Guatemala. For spec ...

monkeys (''Alouatta pigra''), and many other rainforest species.

Notes

References

Photos of the lake Peten Itzá

ETH Zurich Climate Geology Project: Lago Peten Itza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Peten Itza Peten Itza, Lake Peten Itza Geography of the Petén Department