 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 65,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Guatemala | 54,237[1] |
 Mexico | 480 (2020)[2] |
| Languages | |
| Jakaltek (Poptí),Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic,Evangelicalist,Maya religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kanjobal - (Maya peoples) | |
TheJakaltek people[pronunciation?] are aMaya people who lives alongside the border of the State ofChiapas in southernMexico and theDepartment ofHuehuetenango in northwesternGuatemala. Since pre-Columbian times they have lived alongside the modernMexico-Guatemala border near the foothills of the Cuchumatán Mountains, mainly centered on the municipality ofJacaltenango.[3]
The name Jakaltek comes from theNahuatl language meaning “people of thejacal”.[4]
TheJakaltek language also known as Popti' is aMayan language from theQ'anjobalan branch closely related to theAkatek andQ'anjob'al languages.[5]
Located on a plateau overlookingMexico, Jacaltenango is 1,437 m above sea level and its surrounding villages are located at both higher and lower elevations. The town of Jacaltenango is a governmental, religious, and market center of the region. In theJakaltek language the town of Jacaltenango is called "Xajlaj",[pronunciation?] or “place of the big white rock slabs.”
For many years, this area was physically and culturally the most remote from Spanish centers in the country. The 72-km trip from Huehuetenango, the capital of the department, was a two-day walk. Since 1974, when an unpaved road was built from the Pan-American Highway to Jacaltenango, it has been a five-hour bus ride from Huehuetenango to Jacaltenango. Electricity came to town in 1979.[6] This relative isolation has resulted in the preservation of many customs in the community which have been lost elsewhere. For example, a few Jakaltek people still use theblowgun[7] for hunting small animals and birds. The Jakaltek also maintain a belief system which involvesNaguals andTonals.[8]
There is a sizable Jacalteco population in SouthFlorida, specifically inJupiter which is where most Jacaltecos in theUnited States live, as well asIndiantown (where most Guatemalans first settled in Florida),West Palm Beach,Lake Worth (home to the largest Guatemalan Maya community in Florida), andHomestead.[9]
Ancestral background ofGuatemalan citizens | |
| Guatemalan native groups (Maya and others) | |
| Former and extinct | |
| Guatemalan mestizo | |
| Descendants of Europeans (white orCriollo) | |
| Descendants of Asians | |
| Afro-descendants | |
| Americas | |
| More than 100,000 people | ||
|---|---|---|
| 20,000 – 100,000 people | ||
| 1,000 – 20,000 people | ||
| Less than 1,000 people | ||
