Huehuetenango

Overview

Huehuetenango (originally called Xinabajul in the Mam language) was already a Maya 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. '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. The ruins are markedly distinct from other Maya 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 that includes statues and small artifacts found on the site.

Huehuetenango Airport is within the city and has a paved 825 m runway and a small terminal building. There are currently no scheduled airline flights.

Climate

The city has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb), with warm summers and mild winters.

| Jan record high C = 31.0 | Feb record high C = 33.8 | Mar record high C = 35.4 | Apr record high C = 35.0 | May record high C = 34.4 | Jun record high C = 32.4 | Jul record high C = 34.2 | Aug record high C = 29.8 | Sep record high C = 29.0 | Oct record high C = 28.6 | Nov record high C = 29.6 | Dec record high C = 30.2 | year record high C = | Jan record low C = -3.2 | Feb record low C = -0.7 | Mar record low C = 3.3 | Apr record low C = 4.5 | May record low C = 7.1 | Jun record low C = 9.1 | Jul record low C = 7.6 | Aug record low C = 7.9 | Sep record low C = 8.6 | Oct record low C = 6.0 | Nov record low C = 3.5 | Dec record low C = 1.0 | year record low C = -3.2 |access-date = 1 February 2024}}

Sports

The city currently boasts one Guatemalan top level football side Xinabajul in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala.

Notable people

Former president Efraín Ríos Montt was born in Huehuetenango (in 1926). His younger brother, Mario Enrique Ríos Montt the emeritus auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala in 1932.

Notes

References

1. [http://www.deguate.com/artman/publish/politica-eleccion2015-alcaldes/resultados-eleccion-de-alcaldes-en-huehuetenango.shtml Resultados de elección de Alcades Huehuetenango realizadas en el año 2015]
3. [https://www.citypopulation.de/en/guatemala/admin/ Citypopulation.de] Population of departments and municipalities in Guatemala
4. [https://www.citypopulation.de/en/guatemala/cities/ Citypopulation.de] Population of major cities in Guatemala
5. "Huehuetenango - Guatemala".
6. "Huehuetenango climate: Average Temperature, weather by month, Huehuetenango weather averages - Climate-Data.org".