El Progreso ( Spanish pronunciation: [el pɾoˈɣɾeso] ) is a department in Guatemala . The departmental capital is Guastatoya . The Spanish established themselves in the region by 1551, after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala . El Progreso was declared a department in 1908, but was dissolved in 1920 before being reestablished in 1934. Guastatoya was badly affected by the 1976 Guatemala earthquake .
21-729: The department is located in northeastern Guatemala. It is bordered by the departments of Alta Verapaz , Baja Verapaz , Guatemala , Jalapa , and Zacapa . The department occupies an intermediate zone between the hot lowlands and the cooler Guatemalan Highlands , and has a generally hot climate. The most important river is the Motagua . To the north, the department is crossed by the Sierra de las Minas mountain range. The main population centres in El Progreso are Guastatoya, Sanarate and San Agustín Acasaguastlán . The CA-9 Atlantic Highway links
42-497: A variety of other fruits. Tomato production is especially important in El Progreso, representing 6% of the national total. Local craft production includes basketwork , ropemaking, leatherwork , items fashioned from palm, and tulle netting. Sanarate has the greatest economic production in the department, followed by Guastatoya, then San Agustín Acasaguastlán. Local tourist attractions include thermal baths near Sanarate and San Antonio La Paz. The best preserved archaeological site in
63-404: Is Guastatoya . The department occupies an intermediate zone between the hot lowlands and the cooler Guatemalan Highlands . It has a surface area of approximately 1,922 square kilometres (742 sq mi). The terrain is varied, with altitude varying between 245 and 1,240 metres (804 and 4,068 ft) above mean sea level . The department has a generally hot climate. The most important river
84-480: Is a department in the north central part of Guatemala . The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán . Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén , to the east by Izabal , to the south by Zacapa , El Progreso , and Baja Verapaz , and to the west by El Quiché . Also in Alta Verapaz are the towns of Chisec , San Pedro Carchá and San Cristóbal Verapaz . In pre-Columbian times, this area
105-642: Is the Motagua . Other rivers in El Progreso include the Hato, Huija, Huyús, Las Ovejas, Morazán, Plátanos, and Sanarate rivers. To the north of the Motagua, the department is crossed by the Sierra de las Minas mountain range. The highest point in the department is Cerro El Pinalón, in the Sierra de las Minas, at 2,962 metres (9,718 ft). The main population centres in El Progreso are Sanarate, Guastatoya, and San Agustín Acasaguastlán. The CA-9 Atlantic Highway crosses
126-653: The Dominican Order ; at the time of the conquest the area was inhabited by Poqomchi' Maya and by the Nahuatl-speaking Pipil. In the 1520s, immediately after conquest, the inhabitants paid taxes to the Spanish Crown in the form of cacao, textiles, gold, silver and slaves. Within a few decades taxes were instead paid in beans, cotton and maize. Acasaguastlán was first given in encomienda to conquistador Diego Salvatierra in 1526. The region
147-425: The 1870s, the territory was divided between the departments of Guatemala, Zacapa and Chiquimula. The department of El Progreso was created by executive decree on 13 April 1908, to include the municipalities of Acasaguastlán, Cabañas, Guastatoya (which was renamed as El Progreso), Morazán, Sanarate, Sansaria (now known as Sansare), San Antonio La Paz, and San José El Golfo. For a short time from December 1919 to June of
168-658: The Spanish conquest, can trace back their Mayan features and curly hair to that local oral history. Majority of pre-Columbian heritage is seen with straight black hair throughout Guatemala. The department was called Vera Paz by the British in the 19th century. In 1850, the department had an estimated population of 66,000. As a result of the Mexican Drug War , the Los Zetas drug cartel members overtook much of
189-456: The corregimiento of Chiquimula. Acasaguastlán was one of few pre-conquest centres of population in the middle Motagua River drainage, due to the arid climate. In El Progreso it included San Agustín de la Real Corona (modern San Agustín Acasaguastlán ) and La Magdalena, but covered a broad area that also included parts of Baja Verapaz and Zacapa. San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán and the surrounding area were reduced into colonial settlements by friars of
210-497: The department and occupied many towns in December 2010. The Guatemalan government declared a state of siege on December 19, 2010, to reclaim the department, allowing the military and police forces to search and arrest any suspects without a warrant, and at least sixteen buildings were searched. [REDACTED] Media related to Alta Verapaz Department at Wikimedia Commons Guatemala Department Guatemala Department
231-566: The department from west to east, en route from Guatemala City to the Atlantic port of Puerto Barrios . Other principal highways are the CA-17 from El Rancho towards Cobán , and the RN-19 from Sanarate towards Jalapa . According to the 2018 census, the population of El Progreso was 176,632. In 2013, the non-indigenous proportion of the population was 98.2% against 1.8% indigenous. The majority of
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#1732788018708252-492: The department with Guatemala City and the Atlantic port of Puerto Barrios . The vast majority of the population of the department are Spanish-speaking Ladinos . The population is growing, but at a rate below the national average. At the same time, the illiteracy rate is falling. Historically, the area now included in the department of El Progreso was known as Guastatoya or Huastatoya , derived from Nahuatl huäxyötl or huäxin (" calabash ") and atoyac ("last"), meaning
273-463: The following year, the department was renamed Estrada Cabrera at the request of its constituent municipalities, in order to honour the then-president. On 9 June 1920, after the president was overthrown, the department was dissolved by the government. The municipalities that it had incorporated were returned to their previous jurisdictions. The department was reestablished on 3 April 1934 by the legislative assembly. The departmental capital of Guastatoya
294-410: The last place that calabashes grow, a reference to the change in altitude that occurs in the department, and corresponding climatic change from cold to hot. The Spanish colonial corregimiento of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán was established in 1551 with its seat in the town of that name, in what is now the eastern portion of the modern department. Most of the area of the modern department fell within
315-451: The local indigenous people to fight and maintain their freedom. Spanish friars succeeded in converting the area to Christianity, and named the area "Verapaz" meaning "True Peace". In the 19th century this became an important coffee producing region as well as a sugar cane plantation during prior centuries. A museum exists today highlighting the sugar plantation history. In this region of Guatemala, families that trace back their heritage before
336-430: The population consists of Spanish-speaking Ladinos , although some traces of indigenous culture survive, such as in modes of dress, linguistic traces, and local customs and beliefs. By 2013 the total population had grown to 163,537. The 2012–2013 population growth rate was 1.73%, below the national average of 2.32%. By gender, 51.9% of the population are female, and 48.1% male. The majority of the population, 59.8%, lives in
357-728: The region is Guaytán , which was inhabited from the Late Preclassic to the Late Classic periods of Mesoamerican chronology (approximately from 250 BC to 900 AD), and was an important centre for the distribution of jade . El Progreso is divided into eight municipalities: 14°51′14″N 90°04′07″W / 14.85389°N 90.06861°W / 14.85389; -90.06861 Alta Verapaz Department 15°30′N 90°20′W / 15.500°N 90.333°W / 15.500; -90.333 Alta Verapaz ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalta βeɾaˈpas] )
378-499: The rural portion of the department. The predominant language in El Progreso is Guatemalan Spanish . In 2013, 89.2% of the population were recorded as literate, with a year-on-year drop in illiteracy from 16.1% in 2009. In 2013, 930 deaths were registered in the department, demonstrating a 3.5% drop on the previous year, and 1.3% of the national total: Agricultural products include coffee , sugar cane , tobacco , maize , beans , cacao , annatto , tomatoes , vanilla , cotton , and
399-421: Was badly affected by the 1976 Guatemala earthquake , which completely destroyed all historic architecture in the town. The department of El Progreso is located in northeastern Guatemala. It is bordered to the southwest by the department of Guatemala , to the southeast by Jalapa , to the east by Zacapa , to the west by Baja Verapaz , and to the north by the department of Alta Verapaz . The departmental capital
420-616: Was part of the Maya civilization . When the Spanish Conquistadores came in the 1520s they conquered the central and southern highlands of Guatemala, but were driven back from this region by fierce native resistance. Unknown to the history books of this region, local oral history speaks of a former slave ship capsizing prior to the Spaniards arriving upon this area. The former African slaves moved inland, and joined forces with
441-658: Was subject to a strong influx of Spanish colonists due to its location on the route between the colonial capital and the Caribbean Sea , and hence to Spain, resulting in the hispanicisation of the territory. Guastatoya was mentioned as a village in an edict issued in Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala , the colonial capital, in 1758. In 1825, various settlements were integrated into the Acasagustlán district that would later be included in El Progreso department. In
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