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Chichicastenango | |
---|---|
Municipality | |
Nickname: Chichi | |
Coordinates: 14°56′N 91°07′W / 14.933°N 91.117°W | |
Country | Guatemala |
Department | El Quiché |
Municipality | Chichicastenango |
Government | |
• Type | Municipal |
Area | |
• Municipality | 270 km2 (100 sq mi) |
Elevation | 1,965 m (6,447 ft) |
Population (Census 2018)[2] | |
• Municipality | 141,567 |
• Urban | 71,394 |
• Ethnicities | K'iche' people (98.5%)[1] Ladino (1.5%) |
• Religions | Roman Catholicism Evangelicalism Maya |
Climate | Cwb |
Website | Chichicastenango online |
Chichicastenango, also known as Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, is a town, with a population of 71,394 (2018 census),[3] and the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name in the El Quiché department of Guatemala. It is located in a mountainous region about 140 km (87 mi) northwest of Guatemala City, at an altitude of 1,965 m (6,447 ft).[4] The Spanish conquistadors gave the town its name from the Nahuatl name used by their allied soldiers from Tlaxcala: Tzitzicaztenanco, or City of Nettles. Its original name was Chaviar.
Chichicastenango is a K'iche' Maya cultural centre. According to the 2012 census, 98.5% of the municipality's population is indigenous Mayan K'iche. Of the population, 21% speak only K'iche, 71% speak both K'iche and Spanish, and the remaining 8% speak only Spanish.[1]