Uspantán

Uspantán
Municipality

Amphitheater and Cathedral overlooking parque central after a rain. (2007)
Uspantán

Location in Guatemala

Coordinates: 15°20′45″N 90°52′10″W / 15.34583°N 90.86944°W / 15.34583; -90.86944Coordinates: 15°20′45″N 90°52′10″W / 15.34583°N 90.86944°W / 15.34583; -90.86944
Country Guatemala
Department El Quiché
Municipality San Miguel Uspantán
Government
 • Type Municipal
 • Alcalde Víctor Hugo Figueroa
Area
 • Municipality 865 km2 (334 sq mi)
Elevation 1,825 m (5,988 ft)
Highest elevation 2,500 m (8,200 ft)
Lowest elevation 500 m (1,600 ft)
Population (Census 2002)[1]
 • Municipality 41,892
 • Urban 4,198
 • Ethnicities Uspantek, K'iche', Ixil, K'ekchi, Ladino
 • Religions Roman Catholicism, Evangelicalism, Maya
Climate Cwb

Uspantán is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. It is one of the largest municipalities of El Quiché and stretches from the mountainous highlands in the South to the tropical lowlands in the North. The municipal seat is in Villa de San Miguel Uspantán with a population of 2,800. The birthplace of Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, a community named Laj Chimel, is located Uspantán not far from the municipal seat. Completion of paving on the road in from Chichicastenango has brought a small tourist boom to the town.

The municipality includes the pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site of Chitinamit, believed to be Jakawitz, the first capital of the K'iche' Maya.[2][3]

Notes

  1. ↑ "XI Censo Nacional de Poblacion y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002)". INE. 2002.
  2. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.622.
  3. ↑ Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes. Item 1005.

References

Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes. "Base de Datos Sitios Arqueológicos" (PDF) (in Spanish). Guatemala: Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes. Retrieved 2010-01-23. 
Sharer, Robert J.; Loa p. Traxler (2006). The Ancient Maya (6th (fully revised) ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4817-9. OCLC 57577446. 


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