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Chiquimula is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala, in Central America.[1] The departmental capital is also called Chiquimula.[3] The department was established by decree in 1871, and forms a part of the southeastern region of Guatemala. Physically, it is mountainous, with a climate that varies between tropical and temperate, depending on the location.
At the time of Spanish contact, Chiquimula was part of the indigenous kingdom of Chiquimulha, or Payaqui, governed from its capital at Copanti (now Copan, in Honduras). This kingdom also included portions of Honduras and El Salvador.[4] The name Chiquimula is derived from the Nahuatlchiquimoltlān, from chiquimolin meaning "finches" with the locative suffix -tlān, to mean "place of many finches".[5]
Chiquimula de la Sierra ("Chiquimula in the Highlands"), occupying the area of the modern department, was inhabited by Ch'orti' Maya at the time of the conquest.[6] The first Spanish reconnaissance of this region took place in 1524 by an expedition that included Hernando de Chávez, Juan Durán, Bartolomé Becerra and Cristóbal Salvatierra, amongst others.[7] In 1526 three Spanish captains, Juan Pérez Dardón, Sancho de Barahona and Bartolomé Becerra, invaded Chiquimula on the orders of Pedro de Alvarado. The indigenous population soon rebelled against excessive Spanish demands, but the rebellion was quickly put down in April 1530.[8] However, the region was not considered fully conquered until a campaign by Jorge de Bocanegra in 1531–1532 that also took in parts of Jalapa.[7] The afflictions of Old World diseases, war and overwork in the mines and encomiendas took a heavy toll on the inhabitants of eastern Guatemala, to the extent that indigenous population levels never recovered to their pre-conquest levels.[9]
The modern department was created by executive decree on 10 November 1871. The decree reduced the area covered by the administrative division of Chiquimula by removing that portion that now forms the modern department of Zacapa and part of the department of Izabal.[3]
Geography
Chiquimula is located in the southeastern region of Guatemala. It is bordered by the department of Zacapa to the north and the departments of Jalapa and Zacapa to the west. To the south, Chiqimula is bordered by the department of Jutiapa and the republic of El Salvador. To the east, the department is bordered by the republic of Honduras.[10]
Mountains cross the department from north to south, crossing from the border with Jalapa and joining the Sierra del Merendón range, which extends into neighbouring Honduras and El Salvador. Chiquimula possesses two drainage basins, one flowing towards the Atlantic Ocean, the other towards the Pacific Ocean. The principal river in the department is the Río Grande, or Camotán River, which flows in from Honduras, before becoming the Jocotán River, and flowing into the Motagua River to eventually drain into the Caribbean Sea. In the south of the department, the most important rivers are the Anguiatú and the Ostúa.[12]
The department has numerous mineral deposits, and silver has been mined there since the Spanish colonial period.[12]
Climate
Chiquimula is divided into two climatic zones; the municipalities of Concepción Las Minas, Esquipulas, Ipala, Olopa and Quetzaltepeque are temperate, while Camotán, Chiquimula, Jocotán, San Jacinto, San José La Arada and San Juan Ermita are tropical.[13] In the temperate areas, the average temperature is 27–28°C (81–82°F); in the tropical areas it reaches 36–38°C (97–100°F). Climate change has notably affected the department, with maximum temperatures reaching 42°C (108°F), and a decrease in rainfall contributing to scarcity of foodstuffs.[14] The lowest recorded temperature between 2009 and 2013 was 7.6°C (45.7°F) in 2010; during the same period, relative humidity varied between 74.5% and 76.6%.[15] Average annual precipitation is 1,036 millimetres (40.8in).[14]
Population
At the 2018 census, the population of Chiquimula was 415,063.[2] In 2002, 83.33% of the population was non-indigenous and 16.67% was indigenous.[16] The majority of the indigenous population are Ch'orti' Maya,[17] with a very small number of Xinka and Garifuna.[18] In 2006, 59.5% of the population of the department was living in poverty, with 27.7% of the population living in extreme poverty (included within the former percentage).[16] Poverty levels tend to be higher in the northern portions of the department, and lower in the south.[19] In 2002, the department of Chiquimula contained 2.7% of the national population,[20] with a population density of 127 per square kilometre (329 per square mile), ranking it 10th of 22 departments for population density.[21] In 2013, 25.5% of the population were recorded as illiterate, demonstrating a year-on-year reduction in illiteracy rates over the previous five years.[22]
In 2002, 26% of the population of the department lived in urban areas, and 74% in rural areas.[24] There were an average of 5.1 people per household; averaging 4.5 people per household in urban areas and rising to an average of 5.3 people per household in rural areas.[25]
Breakdown of population by ethnicity for the whole departmental population, and first language in those aged three and above, as recorded in the 2002 census.[18]
Category
Group
Population (2002)
Ladino (Spanish)
Maya
Xinka
Garifuna
Other
Ethnicity
Whole population
302,485
255,921
45,558
76
20
910
Ethnicity
%
100%
84.6%
15.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
First language
Aged 3+
275,222
263,486
11,548
31
39
118
First language
%
91% of pop.
95.7%
4.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Mortality
In 2013, 2095 deaths were registered in the department, demonstrating a 1% drop on the previous year, and 2.9% of the national total:[26]
Principle products of the department of Chiquimula are cattle, rice, maize, beans, potato, coffee, cacao, peanuts and tropical fruits, ceramics, rope, leather and palm products.[3] Palm handicrafts include the manufacture of a variety of baskets for different purposes.[28]
Esquipulas is one of the most important centres for religious pilgrimage in Central America, focused upon the Black Christ of Esquipulas contained in the basilica church,[29] which has been venerated due to miracles attributed to the image.[30]
In the news 2021
In January 2021, a caravan of between 7,000- 9,000 migrants from Honduras, who had departed from San Pedro Sula was heading towards the United States and broke through police lines at Vado Hondo, a village near the city of Chiquimula.[31]
Esquipulas, officially Municipality of Esquipulas, whose original name was Yzquipulas, is a town, with a population of 18,667, and a municipality located in the department of Chiquimula, in eastern Guatemala. Esquipulas' main attraction is the beautiful Black Christ located in the Basilica of Esquipulas, making the town an important place of Catholic pilgrimage for Central America. It is also one of the most important towns of the country and one that has had the most economic and cultural growth.
Santa Bárbara is one of the 18 departments (departamentos) into which Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Santa Bárbara.
Yoro is one of the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. The department contains rich agricultural lands, concentrated mainly on the valley of the Aguan River and the Sula Valley, on opposite ends. The departmental capital is Yoro. The department covers a total surface area of 7,939 km² and, in 2005, had an estimated population of 503,886 people. It is famous for the Lluvia de Peces, a tradition by which fish fall from the sky during very heavy rains.
Jutiapa Department is a department of Guatemala that borders along El Salvador and the Pacific Ocean. The capital is the city of Jutiapa. As of 2018, it has a population of 488,395. The department is divided into seventeen municipalities. Jutiapa is the country's southeasternmost department and officially the only department with no Mayan descendants native to the region. The main crops are sorghum, tobacco, onion and corn. The climate is dry. An important attraction is the cattle fair. It is at 405 m above sea level.
El Progreso is a department in Guatemala. The departmental capital is Guastatoya. The Spanish established themselves in the region by 1551, after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. El Progreso was declared a department in 1908, but was dissolved in 1920 before being reestablished in 1934. Guastatoya was badly affected by the 1976 Guatemala earthquake.
Totonicapán is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. The capital is the city of Totonicapán.
Zacapa is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. It lies in eastern Guatemala with its capital in the city of Zacapa, approximately 112 kilometers from Guatemala City.
Doroteo Vasconcelos Vides y Ladrón de Guevara was President of El Salvador 7 February 1848 - 1 February 1850 and 4 February 1850 – 1 March 1851. Vasconcelos was close friend of Honduran general Francisco Morazán. He tried to invade Guatemala and defeat general Rafael Carrera on 2 February 1851 but he was defeated. After defeat, he retired from public life.
Ocotepeque is a municipality in the Honduran department of Ocotepeque. The town of Nueva Ocotepeque is the municipal seat and the capital of the department.
Concepción Las Minas is a municipality in southern Chiquimula department of Guatemala in Central America. It has a population of 11,693 (2018) and cover an area of 222 km2.
Jocotán is a town and municipality in the Chiquimula department of Guatemala.
Olopa is a municipality in the Chiquimula department of Guatemala. The municipality comprises an area of 112 km2, distributed in 1 town (Olopa) and 29 villages, with a total population of 27,511.
Mataquescuintla is a town and municipality in the Jalapa department of south-east Guatemala. It covers 262 square kilometres (101 sq mi).
The Chʼortiʼ people are one of the indigenous Maya peoples, who primarily reside in communities and towns of southeastern Guatemala, northwestern Honduras, and northern El Salvador. Their indigenous language, also known as Chʼortiʼ, is a survival of Classic Choltian, the language of the inscriptions in Copan. It is the first language of approximately 15,000 people, although the majority of present-day Chʼortiʼ speakers are bilingual in Spanish as well.
The Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Guatemala. It is a primatial metropolitan see with six suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiastical province.
The Diocese of Jalapa is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Guatemala. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Zacapa (y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas) is a Latin suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Guatemala.
Intibucá is a city, with a population of 28,220, and a municipality in the department of Intibucá, Honduras. The urban area of Intibucá is an important transit and commercial site in the South-West region of Honduras. Located 1,850 meters above sea level, Intibucá has a cool and often foggy climate, hence the nickname "La ciudad del manto blanco". Potato production, celebrated by the annual Festival de la Papa, is the principal basis of the economy for the municipality.
San Jorge is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Zacapa, located approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of the departmental capital, also called Zacapa.
ALMG. Comunidad Lingüística Ch'orti' (in Spanish). Jocotán, Guatemala: Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala. Retrieved 2019-01-04. Archived from the original on 2008-02-24.
Franco Sandoval, Judith Adalgisa del Carmen (2003). Monografía de Chiquimula Educación y Cultura (in Spanish). Guatemala: Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala: Facultad de Humanidades. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
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