Petén Department

Coordinates: 16°54′N 89°54′W / 16.900°N 89.900°W / 16.900; -89.900
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Petén Department
Departmento de Petén
From top to left: View of the island, City neighborhood, Tikal I Temple, City street, Island from Lake Petén, Tikal V Temple, Sunset.
From top to left: View of the island, City neighborhood, Tikal I Temple, City street, Island from Lake Petén, Tikal V Temple, Sunset.
UTC-6
ISO 3166 codeGT-PE
LanguagesSpanish

Petén (from the

Flores. The population at the mid-2018 official estimate was 595,548.[3]

Geography

The Petén department is bordered on the east by

Alta Verapaz and Izabal.[5] Much of the western border with Mexico is formed by the Usumacinta River and its tributary the Salinas River.[5] Portions of the southern border of the department are formed by the rivers Gracias a Dios and Santa Isabel.[5]

The Petén lowlands are formed by a densely forested low-lying

above mean sea level with karstic ridges reaching an average altitude of 300 metres (980 ft). The savannah is surrounded by hills with unusually steep southern slopes and gentler northern approaches; the hills are covered with dense tropical forest. To the north of the lakes region bajos become more frequent, interspersed with forest. In the far north of the Petén the Mirador Basin forms another interior drainage region.[9] To the south Petén reaches an altitude of approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) as it rises towards the Guatemalan Highlands and meets Paleozoic metamorphic rocks.[10]

The main bodies of standing water in the department are the lakes

Petexbatún in the southwest, and Perdida, Larga, La Gloria, San Diego, Mendoza, El Repasto and Lacandón in the west.[5]

Climate

The climate of Petén is divided into

Flores. The extreme southeast of Petén experiences the largest variations in temperature and rainfall, with precipitation reaching as much as 3,000 mm (120 in) in a year.[12]

History

For the early history of the region, see Petén Basin, Maya civilization and Spanish conquest of Petén.

Ferry crossing the Pasión River at Sayaxché.

The Petén department was created by decree of the Guatemalan government on 8 May 1866.[13]

Starting in the 1960s the Guatemalan government offered land in Petén to any citizen willing to settle on it and pay a fee of $25. A road was opened up to Flores, although it was unpaved, and the notorious bus trip to Flores was known to take up to 24 hours to travel the 500 kilometres (300 mi). Small airports were built at Flores and Tikal, bringing tourists to the region. In the early 1970s a road was opened from Tikal to Belize. The first paved road in Petén was built in 1982.

Since the 1990s many new settlers have come to Petén. The area is also experiencing severe deforestation in its southern half. Deforestation has been particularly rapid near Laguna del Tigre National Park in western Petén.[14] To combat deforestation, Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom proposed dramatically expanding ecotourism around Maya archaeological sites, especially El Mirador, and trying to further develop an agricultural system in the southern portion of the Maya Biosphere Reserve that would prevent further northward migration.[15] He called his plan "Cuatro Balam".

The Mundo Maya International Airport, in Santa Elena, is the second largest in Guatemala.

Municipalities

Map of Petén showing its principal settlements, roads, watercourses and archaeological sites. Click to enlarge.

Petén consists of the following 14 municipalities, listed below with their populations in 2002 and 2018.[16] Las Cruces was separated from La Libertad in 2011, and El Chal was separated from Dolores in 2014.[citation needed]

Name Area
(km2)
Population
Census 2002
Population
Estimate
2018 [17]
Dolores
1,374 32,404 29,406
El Chal 947 (a) 15,095
Flores
2,934 30,897 41,166
La Libertad
4,986 67,252 80,597
Las Cruces
1,834 (b) 36,652
Melchor de Mencos 4,208 18,872 29,339
Poptún 1,480 35,663 63,854
San Andrés
8,513 20,295 34,160
San Benito
129 29,926 50,701
San Francisco
581 8,917 15,889
San José
1,792 3,584 7,034
San Luis
2,541 48,745 74,813
Santa Ana
1,191 14,602 22,630
Sayaxché 3,550 55,578 94,212
Total Petén 35,854 366,735 595,548

Notes: (a) the 2002 population of El Chal municipality was included in the figure for Dolores municipality.
(b) the 2002 population of Las Cruces municipality was included in the figure for La Libertad municipality.

Museums

Archaeological sites

The Petén department includes a large number of archaeological sites belonging to the ancient Maya civilization, many of which have only received minimal attention by archaeologists.

The sites with some level of restoration include

.

Other archaeological sites include: Altar de Sacrificios, La Amelia, Arroyo de Piedra, Bejucal, Cancuén, El Caribe, El Chal, Cival, La Corona, Dos Pilas, Holmul, Holtun, Itzan, Ixkun, Ixlu, Ixtonton, Ixtutz, La Joyanca, Kinal, Machaquila, El Mirador, Motul de San José, La Muerta, Muralla de León, Naachtun, Nakbe, Naranjo, El Peru, Piedras Negras, Polol, El Porvenir, Punta de Chimino, Río Azul, Sacul, San Bartolo, La Sufricaya, Tamarindito, Tayasal, El Tintal, Tres Islas, Ucanal, Xultun, Zacpeten, Zapote Bobal and El Zotz.[18]

Notes

  1. ^ "XI Censo Nacional de Poblacion y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002)". Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Guatemala [es] (in Spanish). 2002. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  2. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Guatemala (web).
  3. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Guatemala (web).
  4. ^ GeoCenter
  5. ^ a b c d ITMB Publishing Ltd. 2005.
  6. ^ Lovell 2005, p. 17.
  7. ^ Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 46.
  8. ^ Sharer and Traxler 2006, pp. 46–47.
  9. ^ Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 47.
  10. ^ Rice and Rice 2009, p. 5.
  11. ^ a b Schwartz 1990, p. 17.
  12. ^ a b Schwartz 1990, p. 18.
  13. ^ Hernández & González.
  14. ^ Michael Stoll. "A Visit to Beef National Park". Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Archived from the original on 2017-12-22.
  15. ^ Ricardo Quinto. "Turismo: Gobierno lanza proyecto Cuatro Balam". Prensa Libre. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29.
  16. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Guatemala.
  17. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Guatemala (web).
  18. ^ ITMB Publishing Ltd., 1998. ITMB Publishing Ltd., 2005.

References

External links