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Quetzaltenango is second most populous city of Guatemala,
after Guatemala City, and is the capital of the department of Quetzaltenango. In 2000 it had an estimated population of 250,000. The population is about 50% indigenous or Indian, 49% Mestizo, and 1% other.
Quetzaltenango is located in a mountain valley at an altitude of 2,333 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level.
History
In Pre-Columbian times Quetzaltenango was a city of the Mam Maya people called Xelajú,
the name derived from "Xe laju' noj" meaning "place beside ten mountains". The city was said to already be over 300 years old
when the Spanish first arrived. Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado defeated and
killed Maya king Tecún Umán here. When Alvarado conquered the city for
Spain in the 1520s, he called it by the Nahuatl name used by his Central Mexican Indian allies, "Quetzaltenango", or "the place of the Quetzal bird", which became the city's official name in colonial times. However many people (especially but not only the indigenous population) continue to call the city
"Xelajú" or more commonly Xela for short.
From 1838 to 1840 Quetzaltenango was capital of
the state of Los Altos, one of the states or provinces of the United States of Central America. As the union broke up the army of Guatemala under
Rafael Carrera conquered Quetzaltenango making it again part of
Guatemala.
In the 19th century coffee was
introduced as a major crop in the area, and the economy of Xela prospered, and much fine Belle Epoque architecture can still be
found in the city.
Views of buildings flanking the Central Park Square, Quetzaltenango
See also:
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