Chimaltenango | |
|---|---|
Municipality and city | |
 Chimaltenango | |
  Chimaltenango Location in Guatemala | |
| Coordinates:14°39′44″N90°49′15″W / 14.66222°N 90.82083°W /14.66222; -90.82083 | |
| Country |  Guatemala |
| Department |  Chimaltenango |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Carlos Alexánder Simaj[1] |
| Area | |
• Municipality and city | 33 sq mi (86 km2) |
| Population (2018 census)[2] | |
• Municipality and city | 96,985 |
| • Density | 2,900/sq mi (1,100/km2) |
| • Urban | 96,985 |
| Climate | Cwb |
Chimaltenango is a city inGuatemala with a population of 96,985 (2018 census).[3] It serves as both the capital of thedepartment ofChimaltenango and the municipal seat for the surroundingmunicipality of the same name. Chimaltenango stands some 56 kilometres (35 mi) west ofGuatemala City, on thePan-American Highway. The municipal capital producestextiles andpottery.
InPre-Columbian times, what is now the city of Chimaltenango was known to its native inhabitants asB'oko'. Like many other cities in the area, theSpanishConquistadores used the name given by theirNahuatl speaking allies from centralMexico. TheNahuatl name wasChīmaltenānco, meaning "Shield City". The current town was founded in 1526 by Spanish conquistadorPedro de Portocarrero, and shortly after it was assigned by BishopFrancisco Marroquín to theOrder of Preachers, along with Jocotenango,Jilotepeque,Sumpango, Candelaria,Amatitlán, Petapa,Mixco, and Pinula.[5] These were the general areas under the jurisdiction of "Valle de Pasuya" (English: Pasuya Valley) in those days (which had nine valleys), among them the Chimaltenango Valley.[6] This valley bordered with Xilotepeque valley on the northwest, with Mixco valley on the East, with Guatemala on the North, and withSololá Prinvice on the West.[6] Furthermore, the Valle of Pasuya had two mayor municipalities: Chimaltenango (which included the Chimaltenango,Xilotepeque, and Alotenango valleys), and Sacatepéquez (which included the remainder).[7]
After independence from Spain in 1821, the town was elevated to "Villa" status in 1825 but apparently lost some luster, as one can infer from archeologistAlfred Percival Maudslay wife's description from a trip there in 1895. Anne Cary Maudslay, wrote: "We were not tempted to loiter for long, and rode on again over the dull plain to the uninteresting town of Chimaltenango, where we proposed to spend the night. The hotel was dirty and the bedrooms so unpleasant that we would have none of them, and sent Gorgonio to hunt for an empty room in which we could put up our own beds. This he found in a "meson", or caravanserai, attached to the hotel, where there was a good-sized room and a rough kitchen opening on a patio in which we could turn the beasts loose for the night. A sprinkling with water, a good sweeping, and a free use ofKeating's powder, soon made the room habitable. The supper at the hotel was, however, far above the average, and the only thing to complain of was the poor forage supplied to the mules."[8]
América de Chimaltenango football club has played the 2009 - 2010 season inGuatemala's second division. They play their home games in theEstadio Municipal de Chimaltenango.
Chimaltenango has asubtropical highland climate (Köppen:Cwb).
| Climate data for Chimaltenango | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 22.0 (71.6) | 22.9 (73.2) | 24.7 (76.5) | 25.1 (77.2) | 24.9 (76.8) | 23.1 (73.6) | 23.3 (73.9) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.0 (73.4) | 22.2 (72.0) | 22.3 (72.1) | 22.1 (71.8) | 23.3 (73.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 15.6 (60.1) | 16.3 (61.3) | 17.7 (63.9) | 18.8 (65.8) | 19.1 (66.4) | 18.5 (65.3) | 18.3 (64.9) | 18.4 (65.1) | 18.1 (64.6) | 17.4 (63.3) | 16.7 (62.1) | 15.9 (60.6) | 17.6 (63.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 9.3 (48.7) | 9.7 (49.5) | 10.7 (51.3) | 12.6 (54.7) | 13.4 (56.1) | 14.0 (57.2) | 13.4 (56.1) | 13.1 (55.6) | 13.3 (55.9) | 12.6 (54.7) | 11.2 (52.2) | 9.7 (49.5) | 11.9 (53.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 3 (0.1) | 4 (0.2) | 4 (0.2) | 37 (1.5) | 106 (4.2) | 259 (10.2) | 186 (7.3) | 178 (7.0) | 242 (9.5) | 125 (4.9) | 32 (1.3) | 7 (0.3) | 1,183 (46.7) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[10] | |||||||||||||
It is completely surrounded byChimaltenango Department municipalities:
Places adjacent to Chimaltenango | |
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Media related toChimaltenango at Wikimedia CommonsCapital:Chimaltenango | ||
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