San Andrés Sajcabajá () is a

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

in the

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

n department of

El Quiché EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

. The municipality is formed by the town San Andrés Sajcabajá, and 62 rural communities. The majority (89%) of its population is ethnic K'iche'.

History

In pre-colonial times, the area was known as Sajcabajá and was populated by one of the lineages of the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj. After the defeat of the K'iche', the Spanish colonial presence in Sajcabajá began between 1552 and 1580, when the Dominican convent in

Sacapulas Sacapulas is a town and Municipalities of Guatemala, municipality in the Guatemalan Departments of Guatemala, department of Quiché Department, El Quiché. History Pre Hispanic era Worried about the defection of the aj K’ub’ul family chi ...

was put in charge of the conversión of its population, through the colonial

reducciones Reductions (, also called ; ) were settlements established by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such reductions were also c ...

system.Jean PIEL. ''Sajcabaja: Muerte y resurreccion de un pueblo de Guatemala, 1500-1970''. Mexico/Guatemala, CEMCA/SISG, 1989. During the colonial era, San Andrés Sajcabajá functioned as a staging place, between

Joyabaj Joyabaj () is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. It is located about 50 kilometers from Santa Cruz del Quiché, in the Sierra de Chuacús mountains. Joyabaj was an important part of the royal route to Mexico ...

and

, on the road ( camino real) connecting the Guatemalan capital (then located in Tecpán) to

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

. San Andrés Sajcabajá was established as a municipality in 1892. In recent history, San Andrés Sajcabajá suffered the consequences of the 36 year

Guatemalan civil war The Guatemalan Civil War was fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various Left-wing politics, leftist rebel groups. The Guatemalan government forces committed Guatemalan genocide, genocide against the Maya population o ...

(1960–1996). These consequences were especially hard felt in the years 1981-1984, when the Guatemalan army established a military garrison in the town's Catholic convent, and began a campaign of unprecedented repression against the population.

Geography

The municipality of San Andrés Sajcabajá is situated in the

Sierra de Chuacús The Sierra de Chuacús is situated in the Guatemalan highlands, central highlands of Guatemala, and runs southeast from El Quiché to Baja Verapaz. Its northwestern border is marked by the Chixoy River basin in Uspantán, which separates it from t ...

mountain range. The town and its rural communities are located at an altitude between 1,000 and 2,000 m. Its climate is temperate, with mean temperatures oscillating between 12 °C and 24 °C, and an annual precipitation between 1,000 – 2,000 mm. As a result of its mountainous character, over 77% of the municipality's territory is too steep to be of any other agricultural use than forestry. The principal agricultural products are maize and beans, which are cultivated for local consumption. Horticulture is only practiced in a small number of communities with access to irrigation. Horticultural products, like tomatoes, onions, cabbage, squash and

güisquil Chayote (; previously placed in the obsolete genus ''Sechium''), also known as christophine, mirliton, güisquil, and choko, is an edible plant belonging to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. This fruit was first cultivated in Mesoamerica between ...

, are sold on the local market.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Municipal Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Andres Sajcabaja Municipalities of the Quiché Department