Country Guatemala | Mayor Augusto Gomez (PAN) | |
Huehuetenango is a city and a municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The municipalitys population was over 81,000 people in 2002. The city is located 269 km from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American Highway before reaching the Mexican border at La Mesilla.
Contents
- Map of Huehuetenango
- Overview
- Sports
- Notable people
- The western highlands of guatemala gregadriennes photos around huehuetenango guatemala
- Santiago chimaltenangohuehuetenangoguatemalavictor martin aguilar avi
- References
Map of Huehuetenango
Overview
Huehuetenango (originally called Xinabahul in the Mam language) was already a Mayan settlement before the Spanish conquest of the fortified city of Zaculeu, which was the Pre-Columbian capital of the Mam kingdom situated just a few kilometers from Xinabahul. The name Huehuetenango means place of the ancients (or ancestors) in Nahuatl which is the name Gonzalo de Alvarado adopted from his Nahua 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. These ruins are markedly distinct from other Mayan 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 which includes statues and small artifacts found on the site.
Huehuetenangos primary export is coffee.
There is a small airport (code HUG) with a paved 850 meter runway and a small terminal building. There are currently no scheduled airline flights.
Sports
The city currently boasts one Guatemalan top level football side with Penarol La Mesilla (Halcones now) in the Liga Nacional de Futbol de Guatemala.
Notable people
Former president Efrain Rios Montt was born in Huehuetenango.