Cobán

Cobán Kob'an ( Kekchí)
Above, from left to right: Central Park of Cobán, Governing Palace, City Streets, Lachuá Lagoon, Santo Domingo de Guzmán Cathedral and the biodiversity in Cobán.
Cobán Location
Coordinates: 15°29′0″N 90°22′0″W / 15.48333°N 90.36667°W / 15.48333; -90.36667
Country	Guatemala
Department	Alta Verapaz
Founded	August 4, 1543
Government
• Mayor	Koky Córdova (LDR)
Elevation	1,320 m (4,330 ft)
Population  (2018 census)[1]
• Urban	212,047
Time zone	GMT -6
Climate	Cfb

Cobán (

As of the 2018 census, the population of the city of Cobán was 212,047 and that of the municipality was 212,421.[4] Cobán lies at an altitude of 1,320 metres or 4,330 feet above sea level and covers a total area of 1,974 km². It is located at the center of a major coffee-growing area.

Etymology

The name "Cobán" comes from

History

Order of Preachers in the Vera Paz

In 1539 pope

Las Casas and Angulo founded Rabinal, and the city of Cobán was the center of the new Catholic doctrine. A few years later, the natives started settling following the Spanish model and several towns were settled, like Tactic. The name "War zone" was change for "Vera Paz" (true peace), name that became official in 1547.^[5] Cobán received the title of an imperial city by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and in 1599 Cobán became bishop's see. It was briefly known during this period as Ciudad Imperial (Spanish for "Imperial City") in Charles's honor.^[3]

Independence and German settlers

As of 1850, Cobán population was estimated to be at 12000.

Cobán in the 1890s

Central park church

Street market

Calvary church

The city was developed by German coffee growers towards the end of the 19th century and was operated as a largely independent dominion until WWII.^[16] In 1888 a German club was founded^[17] and in 1935 a German school opened its doors in Cobán. Until 1930, about 2000 Germans populated the city.^[17] In 1941, all Germans were expelled by the Guatemalan government, led at the time by Jorge Ubico because of pressure from the United States;^[18] it has also been suggested Ubico's motivation was to seize control of the vast amounts of land Germans owned in the area.^[18] Many ended up in internment camps in Texas and were later traded for American POW's held in Germany. A sizable resident German population persists though most having been completely assimilated into the Guatemalan culture through intermarriage. Multiple German architectonic elements can still be appreciated throughout Cobán.

The Germans also set up Ferrocarril Verapaz, a railway which connected Cobán with Lake Izabal, operated from 1895 until 1963 and was a symbol for the wealth in this coffee-growing region those days.^[16]

Franja Transversal del Norte

Cobán

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Location of Cobán in Franja Transversal del Norte

The Northern Transverse Strip was officially created during the government of General Carlos Arana Osorio in 1970, by Legislative Decree 60-70, for agricultural development.

There is a large demand within Guatemala and some of its neighbors for edible oils and fats, which would explain how the African oil palm became so prevalent in the country in detriment of other oils, and which has allowed new companies associated to large capitals in a new investment phase that can be found particularly in some territories that form the Northern Transversal Strip of Guatemala.^[22] The investors are trying to turn Guatemala into one of the main palm oil exporters, in spite of the decline on its international price. The most active region is found in Chisec and Cobán, in Alta Verapaz Department; Ixcán in Quiché Department, and Sayaxché, Petén Department, where Palmas del Ixcán, S.A. (PALIX) is located, both with its own plantation and those of subcontractors. Another active region is that of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas and Chahal in Alta Verapaz Department; El Estor and Livingston, Izabal Department; and San Luis, Petén, where Naturaceites operates.^[22]

Climate

Cobán has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cfb).

Culture

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Each year at the end of July, a festival of Guatemala's native peoples is held here, La Fiesta Nacional Indígena de Guatemala (Festival Folklórico). The festivities include a

Sports

Cobán is surrounded by mountains laden with

Additional popular tourist spots in the city of Cobán include the El Calvario Church, the Dieseldorff coffee plantation, Plaza Magdalena Shopping Center and Coban's central plaza.

Geographic location

States^[25]

See also

•  Guatemala portal
•  Geography portal
• Alta Verapaz
• Franja Transversal del Norte

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Anabitarte, Héctor (1991). Grandes Personajes. Bartolomé de las Casas (in Spanish) (Colaborativa del 75 Aniversario ed.). Labor.
  ISBN 84-335-7100-1
  .
• Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878). "Cobán" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 83.
• Bucheli, Marcelo (2006). "The United Fruit Company in Latin America: Business Strategies in a Changing Environment". In Jones, Geoffrey; Wadhwani, R. Daniel (eds.). Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism. Vol. 2. Cheltenham, Inglaterra: Edward Elgar. pp. 342–383. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cobán" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 605–606.
• Corte internacional de La Haya (1955). "Nottebohm case (second phase). Judgement of April 6th, 1955" (PDF). I.C.J. Reports (in English and French): 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
• ISBN 970-07-1217-6
  .
• Martínez Peláez, Severo (1988). Racismo y análisis histórico de la definición del indio guatemalteco (in Spanish). Guatemala: Universitaria.
• Maudslay, Alfred Percival; Maudslay, Anne Cary (1899). A glimpse at Guatemala, and some notes on the ancient monuments of Central America
  (PDF). London (UK): John Murray.
• Solano, Luis (February 2012). Contextualización histórica de la Franja Transversal del Norte (FTN) (PDF) (in Spanish). Centro de Estudios y Documentación de la Frontera Occidental de Guatemala, CEDFOG. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
• Solano, Luis (15 July 2015). "Palma Africana" (PDF). Revista Enfoque (in Spanish) (36). Guatemala. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Cobán.

• Media related to Cobán at Wikimedia Commons