Cobán ( Kekchí : Kob'an ), fully Santo Domingo de Cobán , is the capital of the department of Alta Verapaz in central Guatemala . It also serves as the administrative center for the surrounding Cobán municipality. It is located 219 km from Guatemala City .
92-525: As of the 2018 census, the population of the city of Cobán was 212,047 and that of the municipality was 212,421. Cobán lies at an altitude of 1,320 metres or 4,330 feet above sea level and covers a total area of 1,974 km. It is located at the center of a major coffee -growing area. The name "Cobán" comes from Q'eqchi' (between clouds) Between 1530 and 1531, captain Alonso de Ávila [ es ] on his way to Ciudad Real accidentally discovered
184-588: A subtropical climate highland ( Köppen : Cfb/Cwb ). 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 beauty contest for Guatemala's indigenous women, the winner of which is crowned with the title "Rabin Ahau", which means "the Daughter of the King" in Q'eqchi' . The dominant ethnicity here
276-535: A business point of view in the high reputation that the Vera Paz coffee holds in the market, and the very considerable commercial importance which their industry and foresight has brought to the district; and, from a personal point of view, in the enjoyment of a delicious climate in which their rosy-cheeked children can be reared in health and strength, and in all the comforts which pertain to a life half European and half tropical. Hotels or fondas appear to be scarce; but
368-492: A decline of 68% to over 96%. Historian Andrés Reséndez contends that enslavement in gold and silver mines was the primary reason why the Native American population of Hispaniola dropped so significantly, as the conditions that native peoples were subjected to under enslavement, from forced relocation to hours of hard labour, contributed to the spread of disease. For example, according to anthropologist Jason Hickel ,
460-409: A defined barometric pressure . Generally, the pressure used to set the altimeter is the barometric pressure that would exist at MSL in the region being flown over. This pressure is referred to as either QNH or "altimeter" and is transmitted to the pilot by radio from air traffic control (ATC) or an automatic terminal information service (ATIS). Since the terrain elevation is also referenced to MSL,
552-432: A few metres, in timeframes ranging from minutes to months: Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by 15–25 cm (6–10 in), with an increase of 2.3 mm (0.091 in) per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had ever risen over at least the past 3,000 years. The rate accelerated to 4.62 mm (0.182 in)/yr for the decade 2013–2022. Climate change due to human activities
644-581: A few weeks he came back to Guatemala. On May 2, 1537, governor Alonso de Maldonado granted him the Tezulutlán Capitulations - a written commitment ratified on July 6, 1539, by Antonio de Mendoza , México Viceroy- in which everybody agreed that Tezulutlán natives, once conquered, would not be given as encomienda but would be King's subjects. Las Casas, along with friars Rodrigo de Landa, Pedro Angulo and Luis de Cancer , looked for four Christian natives and taught them Christian hymns where
736-618: A genocidal system which "had driven many millions of native peoples in Central and South America to early and agonizing deaths". Yale University's genocide studies program supports this view regarding abuses in Hispaniola. The program cites the decline of the Taíno population of Hispaniola in 1492 to 1514 as an example of genocide and notes that the indigenous population declined from a population between 100,000 and 1,000,000 to only 32,000
828-720: A military campaign in Tezulutlán [...] gave all the natives in encomiendas . This flagrant violation of the Capitulations enraged Las Casas, who traveled to Spain to denounce it before king Charles V . On January 9, 1540, a royal document was issues which the Tezulutlán Capitulations [ es ] were ratified and gave the region to the protection of the Order of Preachers . On October 17 of that year, Cardinal García de Loaysa -then president of
920-476: A military expedition, but Las Casas was able to postpone it by a couple of years after he notified queen Isabel de Portugal , wife of Carlos V . Given the authorities' hostility, Las Casas left Nicaragua and went to Guatemala. In November 1536, Las Casas settled in Santiago de Guatemala , then the capital of Guatemala; a few months later, his friend, bishop Juan Garcés, invited him to move to Tlascala, but after
1012-457: A native chief responsible for keeping track of the labourers in his community. The encomienda system did not grant people land, but it indirectly aided in the settlers' acquisition of land. As initially defined, the encomendero and his heirs expected to hold these grants in perpetuity. After a major Crown reform in 1542, known as the New Laws , encomendero families were restricted to holding
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#17328021796621104-517: A profound conversion after seeing the abuse of the native people. He dedicated his life to writing and lobbying to abolish the encomienda system, which he thought systematically enslaved the native people of the New World. Las Casas participated in an important debate , where he pushed for the enactment of the New Laws and an end to the encomienda system. The Laws of Burgos and the New Laws of
1196-408: 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. 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. The decree literally said: "It is of public interest and national emergency,
1288-438: A reference datum for mean sea level (MSL). It is also used in aviation, where some heights are recorded and reported with respect to mean sea level (contrast with flight level ), and in the atmospheric sciences , and in land surveying . An alternative is to base height measurements on a reference ellipsoid approximating the entire Earth, which is what systems such as GPS do. In aviation, the reference ellipsoid known as WGS84
1380-470: A sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, this may increase to hundreds of millions in the latter decades of the century. Local factors like tidal range or land subsidence will greatly affect the severity of impacts. For instance, sea level rise in the United States is likely to be two to three times greater than the global average by the end of the century. Yet, of the 20 countries with
1472-509: A small church; however, Cobán, another cacique, burned the church. Don Juan, along sixty men, Las Casas and Pedro Angulo , went to talk to Cobán's people and convinced them of their good intentions; Don Juan even took the initiative to marry one of his daughters with cacique Cobán by the Catholic Church. In 1539 pope Paul III authorized the diocese of Ciudad Real; that year, Alonso de Maldonado—under pressure by Spanish settlers—began
1564-651: A third of Arawak workers died every six months from forced labour in the mines. Skepticism towards accusations of genocide linked to the encomienda and the Spanish conquest and settlement of the Americas typically involve arguments like those of Noble David Cook, wherein scholars posit that accusations of genocide are a continuation of the Spanish Black Legend . Writing about the Black Legend and
1656-515: Is Q'eqchi' Mayan and the language of Q'eqchi' is widely spoken in town, especially in and around the markets where farmers from the surrounding hills sell their products. The departmental fair is held in Cobán and begins on the last Sunday in July and continues for a week. Every year, the international half- marathon of Cobán is held during the month of May; 4,000 runners gather in Cobán to take part of
1748-639: 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. The investors are trying to turn Guatemala into one of
1840-405: Is a type of vertical datum – a standardised geodetic datum – that is used, for example, as a chart datum in cartography and marine navigation , or, in aviation, as the standard sea level at which atmospheric pressure is measured to calibrate altitude and, consequently, aircraft flight levels . A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard
1932-457: Is also known for their basketball history. The youth leagues are the best in the country. Cobán is surrounded by mountains laden with orchids . The rare Monja blanca orchid is the departmental symbol. Nature reserves in or near Cobán include Las Victorias National Park , San José la Colonia National Park , Laguna Lachuá National Park , and Biotopo Mario Dary Rivera . There can be found multiple caves, waterfalls and forests which are home to
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#17328021796622024-488: Is because the sea is in constant motion, affected by the tides, wind , atmospheric pressure, local gravitational differences, temperature, salinity , and so forth. The mean sea level at a particular location may be calculated over an extended time period and used as a datum . For example, hourly measurements may be averaged over a full Metonic 19-year lunar cycle to determine the mean sea level at an official tide gauge . Still-water level or still-water sea level (SWL)
2116-427: Is due to change in either the volume of water in the world's oceans or the volume of the oceanic basins . Two major mechanisms are currently causing eustatic sea level rise. First, shrinking land ice, such as mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets, is releasing water into the oceans. Second, as ocean temperatures rise, the warmer water expands. Many factors can produce short-term changes in sea level, typically within
2208-483: Is increasingly used to define heights; however, differences up to 100 metres (328 feet) exist between this ellipsoid height and local mean sea level. Another alternative is to use a geoid -based vertical datum such as NAVD88 and the global EGM96 (part of WGS84). Details vary in different countries. When referring to geographic features such as mountains, on a topographic map variations in elevation are shown by contour lines . A mountain's highest point or summit
2300-408: Is instead a long-term average of tide gauge readings at a particular reference location. Sea levels can be affected by many factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales . Current sea level rise is mainly caused by human-induced climate change . When temperatures rise, mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets melt, increasing the amount of water in the oceans, while
2392-450: Is the level of the sea with motions such as wind waves averaged out. Then MSL implies the SWL further averaged over a period of time such that changes due to, e.g., the tides , also have zero mean. Global MSL refers to a spatial average over the entire ocean area, typically using large sets of tide gauges and/or satellite measurements. One often measures the values of MSL with respect to
2484-727: Is the main cause. Between 1993 and 2018, melting ice sheets and glaciers accounted for 44% of sea level rise , with another 42% resulting from thermal expansion of water . Sea level rise lags behind changes in the Earth 's temperature by many decades, and sea level rise will therefore continue to accelerate between now and 2050 in response to warming that has already happened. What happens after that depends on human greenhouse gas emissions . If there are very deep cuts in emissions, sea level rise would slow between 2050 and 2100. It could then reach by 2100 slightly over 30 cm (1 ft) from now and approximately 60 cm (2 ft) from
2576-418: Is the most effective and thorough method of destroying culture, of desocializing human beings". Economic historian Timothy J. Yeager argued the encomienda was deadlier than conventional slavery because of an individual labourer's life being disposable in the face of simply being replaced with a labourer from the same plot of land. University of Hawaii historian David Stannard describes the encomienda as
2668-531: Is typically illustrated with the AMSL height in metres, feet or both. In unusual cases where a land location is below sea level, such as Death Valley, California , the elevation AMSL is negative. It is often necessary to compare the local height of the mean sea surface with a "level" reference surface, or geodetic datum, called the geoid . In the absence of external forces, the local mean sea level would coincide with this geoid surface, being an equipotential surface of
2760-520: Is when the Order of Preachers tried to convert the Tezulutlán "War Zone" into a peaceful region. In the meantime, after a series of setbacks in La Española , the island Audiencia allowed Bartolomé de las Casas to accept Friar Tomás de Berlanga's invitation to go to Nueva Granada in 1534, where he had just been appointed as Bishop. Both sailed toward Panamá , to then continued to Lima , but during
2852-530: The New Laws of 1542, the encomienda ended upon the death of the encomendero , and was replaced by the repartimiento . Encomiendas devolved from their original Iberian form into a form of communal slavery . In the encomienda , the Spanish Crown granted a person a specified number of natives from a specific community but did not dictate which individuals in the community would have to provide their labour. Indigenous leaders were charged with mobilising
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2944-526: The Spanish East Indies . Conquered peoples were considered vassals of the Spanish monarch . The Crown awarded an encomienda as a grant to a particular individual. In the conquest era of the early sixteenth century, the grants were considered a monopoly on the labour of particular groups of indigenous peoples , held in perpetuity by the grant holder, called the encomendero ; starting from
3036-546: The adelantado captured the caciques involved and had most of them hanged. Later, a chieftain named Guarionex laid havoc to the countryside before an army of about 3,090 routed the Ciguana people under his leadership. Although expecting Spanish protection from warring tribes, the islanders sought to join the Spanish forces. They helped the Spaniards deal with their ignorance of the surrounding environment. As noted,
3128-399: The conquest of the Americas , Cook wrote, "There were too few Spaniards to have killed the millions who were reported to have died in the first century after Old and New World contact" and instead suggests the near total decimation of the indigenous population of Hispaniola as mostly having been caused by diseases like smallpox . He argues that the Spanish unwittingly carried these diseases to
3220-537: The encomenderos of early colonial Mexico, Robert Himmerich y Valencia divides conquerors into those who were part of Hernán Cortés ' original expedition, calling them "first conquerors", and those who were members of the later Narváez expedition, calling them "conquerors". The latter were incorporated into Cortes' contingent. Himmerich designated as pobladores antiguos (old settlers) a group of undetermined number of encomenderos in New Spain, men who had resided in
3312-404: The encomienda bond was a right reserved to full subjects to the crown. In 1503, the crown began to formally grant encomiendas to conquistadors and officials as rewards for service to the crown. The system of encomiendas was aided by the crown's organizing the indigenous into small harbors known as reducciones , with the intent of establishing new towns and populations. Each reducción had
3404-552: The encomienda system was devised to meet the needs of the early agricultural economies in the Caribbean. Later it was adopted to the mining economy of Peru and Upper Peru . The encomienda lasted from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the seventeenth century. Philip II enacted a law on 11 June 1594 to establish the encomienda in the Philippines, where he made grants to the local nobles ( principalía ). They used
3496-480: The encomienda to gain ownership of large expanses of land, many of which (such as Makati ) continue to be owned by affluent families. In 1501 Isabella I of Castile declared Native Americans as subjects to the Crown, and so, as Castilians and legal equals to Spanish Castilians. This implied that enslaving them was illegal except under very specific conditions. It also allowed the establishment of encomiendas , since
3588-462: The encomienda was abolished in 1782. In the rest of Chile it was abolished in 1789, and in the whole Spanish empire in 1791. The encomienda system was generally replaced by the crown-managed repartimiento system throughout Spanish America after mid-sixteenth century. Like the encomienda , the new repartimiento did not include the attribution of land to anyone, rather only the allotment of native workers. But they were directly allotted to
3680-622: The geoid of the Earth, which approximates the local mean sea level for locations in the open ocean. The geoid includes a significant depression in the Indian Ocean , whose surface dips as much as 106 m (348 ft) below the global mean sea level (excluding minor effects such as tides and currents). Precise determination of a "mean sea level" is difficult because of the many factors that affect sea level. Instantaneous sea level varies substantially on several scales of time and space. This
3772-418: The height above mean sea level (AMSL). The term APSL means above present sea level, comparing sea levels in the past with the level today. Earth's radius at sea level is 6,378.137 km (3,963.191 mi) at the equator. It is 6,356.752 km (3,949.903 mi) at the poles and 6,371.001 km (3,958.756 mi) on average. This flattened spheroid , combined with local gravity anomalies , defines
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3864-562: The 1690s. Satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES , TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001 and the Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite in 2008. Height above mean sea level ( AMSL ) is the elevation (on the ground) or altitude (in the air) of an object, relative to
3956-973: The 19th century. With high emissions it would instead accelerate further, and could rise by 1.0 m ( 3 + 1 ⁄ 3 ft) or even 1.6 m ( 5 + 1 ⁄ 3 ft) by 2100. In the long run, sea level rise would amount to 2–3 m (7–10 ft) over the next 2000 years if warming stays to its current 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) over the pre-industrial past. It would be 19–22 metres (62–72 ft) if warming peaks at 5 °C (9.0 °F). Rising seas affect every coastal and island population on Earth. This can be through flooding, higher storm surges , king tides , and tsunamis . There are many knock-on effects. They lead to loss of coastal ecosystems like mangroves . Crop yields may reduce because of increasing salt levels in irrigation water. Damage to ports disrupts sea trade. The sea level rise projected by 2050 will expose places currently inhabited by tens of millions of people to annual flooding. Without
4048-526: The Caribbean region prior to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire . In the New World, the Crown granted conquistadores as encomendero , which is the right to extract labour and tribute from natives who were under Spanish rule. The encomienda system was established on the island of Hispaniola by Nicolás de Ovando , the third governor of the Spanish colony, in 1502. Some women and some indigenous elites were also encomenderos . Maria Jaramillo,
4140-424: The Crown, who, through a local Crown official, would assign them to work for settlers for a set period of time, usually several weeks. The repartimiento was an attempt "to reduce the abuses of forced labour". As the number of natives declined and mining activities were replaced by agricultural activities in the seventeenth century, the hacienda , or large landed estates in which labourers were directly employed by
4232-458: The Crown. The encomienda system was the subject of controversy in Spain and its territories almost from its start. In 1510, an Hispaniola encomendero named Valenzuela murdered a group of Native American leaders who had agreed to meet for peace talks in full confidence. The Taíno cacique Enriquillo rebelled against the Spaniards between 1519 and 1533. In 1538, Emperor Charles V , realizing
4324-448: The Earth's gravitational field which, in itself, does not conform to a simple sphere or ellipsoid and exhibits gravity anomalies such as those measured by NASA's GRACE satellites . In reality, the geoid surface is not directly observed, even as a long-term average, due to ocean currents, air pressure variations, temperature and salinity variations, etc. The location-dependent but time-persistent separation between local mean sea level and
4416-452: The Gospel's basic principles were explained. Luis de Cancer visited the cacique of Sacapulas and was able to perform the first baptisms among his people. Later, Las Casas lead a retinue to bring girts to the cacique, who was so impressed that he decided to convert and become his people preacher. The cacique was baptized with the name of Don Juan and the natives granted permission to build
4508-532: The Indias Council- ordered the México Audiencia to comply with these laws. The Capitulations were officially published on January 21, 1541, in the church of Sevilla . Las Casas was appointed bishop of Chiapas in 1544, but he tried to apply the new ways in his diocese, they were flatly rejected by the encomenderos . In 1545, Guatemala bishop Francisco Marroquín visited Tezulutlán and met with
4600-533: The Indies failed in the face of colonial opposition and, in fact, the New Laws were postponed in the Viceroyalty of Peru . When Blasco Núñez Vela , the first viceroy of Peru, tried to enforce the New Laws, which provided for the gradual abolition of the encomienda , many of the encomenderos were unwilling to comply with them and revolted against him. When the news of the abuse of the institution reached Spain,
4692-521: The Lacandon Jungle would not be conquered for another two century, becoming the rebel maya people favorite hideout. 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. Cobán received
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#17328021796624784-705: The Marégraphe in Marseilles measures continuously the sea level since 1883 and offers the longest collated data about the sea level. It is used for a part of continental Europe and the main part of Africa as the official sea level. Spain uses the reference to measure heights below or above sea level at Alicante , while the European Vertical Reference System is calibrated to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, which dates back to
4876-530: The Maudslays visited Verapaz, a German colony had settled in the area thanks to generous concessions granted by liberal presidents Manuel Lisandro Barillas Bercián , José María Reyna Barrios and Manuel Estrada Cabrera . The Germans had a very united and solid community and had several activities in the German Club (Deutsche Verein), in Cobán, which they had founded in 1888. Their main commercial activity
4968-599: The Moorish defeat in the Granada War . It was a method of rewarding soldiers and moneymen who defeated the Moors. The encomienda established a system similar to a feudal relationship, in which military protection was traded for certain tributes or specific work. It was especially prevalent among military orders that were entrusted with the protection of frontier areas. The king usually intervened directly or indirectly in
5060-466: The New Laws were passed to regulate and gradually abolish the system in America, as well as to reiterate the prohibition of enslaving Native Americans. By the time the new laws were passed, in 1542, the Spanish crown had acknowledged their inability to control and properly ensure compliance of traditional laws overseas, so they granted to Native Americans specific protections not even Spaniards had, such as
5152-455: The Spanish crown which ended with the execution of those encomenderos involved. In most of the Spanish domains acquired in the 16th century the encomienda phenomenon lasted only a few decades. However, in Peru and New Spain the encomienda institution lasted much longer. In Chiloé Archipelago in southern Chile, where the encomienda had been abusive enough to unleash a revolt in 1712 ,
5244-469: The assessed tribute and labour. In turn, encomenderos were to ensure that the encomienda natives were given instruction in Catholicism and the Spanish language , to protect them from warring tribes or pirates ; to suppress rebellion against Spaniards, and maintain infrastructure . The natives provided tributes in the form of metals, maize , wheat, pork, and other agricultural products. With
5336-529: The bond, by guaranteeing the fairness of the agreement and intervening militarily in case of abuse. The encomienda system in Spanish America differed from the Peninsular institution. The encomenderos did not own the land on which the natives lived. The system did not entail any direct land tenure by the encomendero ; native lands were to remain in the possession of their communities. This right
5428-606: The change of requiring the encomendado to be returned to the crown after two generations was frequently overlooked, as the colonists did not want to give up the labour or power. According to the Codice Osuna , one of many colonial-era Aztec codices (indigenous manuscripts) with native pictorials and alphabetic text in Nahuatl , there is evidence that the indigenous were well aware of the distinction between indigenous communities held by individual encomenderos and those held by
5520-401: The conquest also sought and were granted encomiendas . The encomienda was essential to the Spanish crown's sustaining its control over North, Central and South America in the first decades after the colonization. It was the first major organizational law instituted on the continent, which was affected by war, widespread epidemics caused by Eurasian diseases, and resulting turmoil. Initially,
5612-431: The daughter of Marina and conqueror Juan Jaramillo, received income from her deceased father's encomiendas . Two of Moctezuma's daughters, Isabel Moctezuma and her younger sister, Leonor Moctezuma, were granted extensive encomiendas in perpetuity by Hernán Cortés. Leonor Moctezuma married in succession two Spaniards, and left the encomiendas to her daughter by her second husband. Vassal Inca rulers appointed after
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#17328021796625704-497: The enslaved and breakup of communities and family units, but in New Spain , the encomienda ruled the free vassals of the crown through existing community hierarchies, and the natives remained in their settlements with their families. The meaning of encomienda and encomendero stems from the Spanish verb encomendar , "to entrust". The encomienda was based on the reconquista institution in which adelantados were given
5796-583: The establishment of Agrarian Development Zones in the area included within the municipalities: San Ana Huista, San Antonio Huista, Nentón , Jacaltenango, San Mateo Ixtatán , and Santa Cruz Barillas in Huehuetenango ; Chajul and San Miguel Uspantán in Quiché; Cobán, Chisec , San Pedro Carchá , Lanquín , Senahú , Cahabón and Chahal, in Alta Verapaz and the entire department of Izabal." There
5888-546: The event that has become the landmark event for the region. The annual religious festival (fiesta titular) is on August 4 and dedicated to Santo Domingo de Guzman . Cobán Imperial Football Club is one of the traditional clubs of Guatemala and became Guatemala League champions for the first time in 2004. The club plays in the Guatemalan national league. They play their home games in the Estadio Verapaz . Cobán
5980-415: The existing seawater also expands with heat. Because most of human settlement and infrastructure was built in response to a more-normalized sea level with limited expected change, populations affected by sea level rise will need to invest in climate adaptation to mitigate the worst effects or, when populations are at extreme risk, a process of managed retreat . The term above sea level generally refers to
6072-482: The geoid is referred to as (mean) ocean surface topography . It varies globally in a typical range of ±1 m (3 ft). Several terms are used to describe the changing relationships between sea level and dry land. The melting of glaciers at the end of ice ages results in isostatic post-glacial rebound , when land rises after the weight of ice is removed. Conversely, older volcanic islands experience relative sea level rise, due to isostatic subsidence from
6164-488: The grant for two generations. When the Crown attempted to implement the policy in Peru, shortly after the 1535 Spanish conquest, Spanish recipients rebelled against the Crown, killing the viceroy, Blasco Núñez Vela . In Mexico, viceroy Antonio de Mendoza decided against implementing the reform, citing local circumstances and the potential for a similar conqueror rebellion. To the crown he said, "I obey crown authority but do not comply with this order." The encomienda system
6256-574: The greatest exposure to sea level rise, twelve are in Asia , including Indonesia , Bangladesh and the Philippines. The resilience and adaptive capacity of ecosystems and countries also varies, which will result in more or less pronounced impacts. The greatest impact on human populations in the near term will occur in the low-lying Caribbean and Pacific islands . Sea level rise will make many of them uninhabitable later this century. Pilots can estimate height above sea level with an altimeter set to
6348-411: The hacienda owners ( hacendados ), arose because land ownership became more profitable than acquisition of forced labour. Raphael Lemkin (coiner of the term genocide ) considered Spain's abuses of the native population of the Americas to constitute cultural and even outright genocide, including the abuses of the encomienda system. He described slavery as "cultural genocide par excellence" noting "it
6440-555: The height of planetary features. Local mean sea level (LMSL) is defined as the height of the sea with respect to a land benchmark, averaged over a period of time long enough that fluctuations caused by waves and tides are smoothed out, typically a year or more. One must adjust perceived changes in LMSL to account for vertical movements of the land, which can occur at rates similar to sea level changes (millimetres per year). Some land movements occur because of isostatic adjustment to
6532-481: The hospitality of the foreign residents is proverbial." 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 . In 1888 a German club was founded and in 1935 a German school opened its doors in Cobán. Until 1930, about 2000 Germans populated the city. In 1941, all Germans were expelled by the Guatemalan government , led at
6624-663: The lagoon and hill of Lacam-Tún [ es ] . People of that place had historically traded with all the people that the Spaniards had conquered, so, knowing what was coming, they sought refuge in the jungle. The Spaniards tried in vain to conquer the lacandones : from Nueva España Juan Enríquez de Guzman tried; from the Yucatán Peninsula , Francisco de Montejo tried; Pedro de Alvarado attempted it from Guatemala along with captain Francisco Gil Zapata and, finally, Pedro Solórzano from Chiapas. That
6716-591: The land; hence a change in relative MSL or ( relative sea level ) can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates, or both. In the UK, the ordnance datum (the 0 metres height on UK maps) is the mean sea level measured at Newlyn in Cornwall between 1915 and 1921. Before 1921, the vertical datum was MSL at the Victoria Dock, Liverpool . Since
6808-831: 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. Cobán has
6900-481: The melting of ice sheets at the end of the last ice age . The weight of the ice sheet depresses the underlying land, and when the ice melts away the land slowly rebounds . Changes in ground-based ice volume also affect local and regional sea levels by the readjustment of the geoid and true polar wander . Atmospheric pressure , ocean currents and local ocean temperature changes can affect LMSL as well. Eustatic sea level change (global as opposed to local change)
6992-518: The native population and deemed the indigenous to be "free vassals of the crown". Various versions of the Laws of the Indies from 1512 onwards attempted to regulate the interactions between the settlers and natives. Both natives and Spaniards appealed to the Real Audiencias for relief under the encomienda system. Encomiendas have often been characterized by the geographical displacement of
7084-472: The ousting of Christopher Columbus in 1500, the Spanish Crown had him replaced with Francisco de Bobadilla . Bobadilla was succeeded by a royal governor, Fray Nicolás de Ovando , who established the formal encomienda system. In many cases natives were forced to do hard labour and subjected to extreme punishment and death if they resisted. However, Queen Isabella I of Castile forbade slavery of
7176-489: The pilot can estimate height above ground by subtracting the terrain altitude from the altimeter reading. Aviation charts are divided into boxes and the maximum terrain altitude from MSL in each box is clearly indicated. Once above the transition altitude, the altimeter is set to the international standard atmosphere (ISA) pressure at MSL which is 1013.25 hPa or 29.92 inHg. Encomienda The encomienda ( Spanish pronunciation: [eŋkoˈmjenda] )
7268-468: The preachers. Back in the city of Gracias a Dios , where the Audiencia de los Confines had its main office- met with Las Casas and with Nicaragua bishop Antonio de Valdivieso . There was a lot of tension between Marroquín and Las Casas in this meeting The conflict moved on to Ciudad de México and finally everybody agreed to favor the freedom of the natives; however, this could not be accomplished for
7360-405: The prohibition of enslaving them even in the case of crime or war. These extra protections were an attempt to avoid the proliferation of irregular claims to slavery. The liberation of thousands of Native Americans held in bondage throughout the Spanish empire by the new viceroy, Blasco Núñez Vela , on his journey to Peru, led to his eventual murder and armed conflict between the encomenderos and
7452-637: The rare Quetzal . Thus, Cobán has become a popular spot for eco-tourism. 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. States Sea level Mean sea level ( MSL , often shortened to sea level ) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth 's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL
7544-624: The right to extract tribute from Muslims or other peasants in areas that they had conquered and resettled. The encomienda system traveled to America with the implantation of Castilian law in Spanish territories. The system was created in the Middle Ages and was pivotal to allow for the repopulation and protection of frontier land during the reconquista . This system originated in the Catholic south of Spain to extract labour and tribute from Muslims (Moors) before they were exiled in 1492 after
7636-555: The seriousness of the Taíno revolt, changed the laws governing the treatment of people labouring in the encomiendas . Conceding to Las Casas's viewpoint, the peace treaty between the Taínos and the audiencia was eventually disrupted in four to five years. The crown also actively prosecuted abuses of the encomienda system, through the Laws of Burgos (1512–13) and the New Laws of the Indies (1542). The priest of Hispaniola and former encomendero Bartolomé de las Casas underwent
7728-739: The time by Jorge Ubico because of pressure from the United States ; it has also been suggested Ubico's motivation was to seize control of the vast amounts of land Germans owned in the area. 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 ,
7820-518: The times of the Russian Empire , in Russia and its other former parts, now independent states, the sea level is measured from the zero level of Kronstadt Sea-Gauge. In Hong Kong, "mPD" is a surveying term meaning "metres above Principal Datum" and refers to height of 0.146 m (5.7 in) above chart datum and 1.304 m (4 ft 3.3 in) below the average sea level. In France,
7912-458: 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. As of 1850, Cobán population was estimated to be at 12000. Ca. 1890, British archeologist Alfred Percival Maudslay and his wife moved to Guatemala, and visited Cobán. Around the time
8004-548: The trip a storm tossed their ship to Nicaragua , where Las Casas chose to remain in the Granada convent. in 1535, he proposed to the King and the Council of the Indies to start a peaceful colonization of the unexplored rural zones in the Guatemala region; however, in spite of Bernal Díaz de Luco and Mercado de Peñaloza intentions to help him, his suggestion was rejected. In 1536 Nicaraguan governor Rodrigo de Contreras organized
8096-411: The weight of cooling volcanos. The subsidence of land due to the withdrawal of groundwater is another isostatic cause of relative sea level rise. On planets that lack a liquid ocean, planetologists can calculate a "mean altitude" by averaging the heights of all points on the surface. This altitude, sometimes referred to as a "sea level" or zero-level elevation , serves equivalently as a reference for
8188-473: Was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including military protection and education. The encomienda was first established in Spain following the Christian Reconquista , and it was applied on a much larger scale during the Spanish colonization of the Americas and
8280-592: Was coffee plantations. Maudslay described the Germans like this: "There is a larger proportion of foreigners in Coban than in any other town in the Republic: they are almost exclusively Germans engaged in coffee-planting, and some few of them in cattle-ranching and other industries; although complaints of isolation and of housekeeping and labour troubles are not unheard of amongst them, they seemed to me to be fortunate from
8372-402: Was ended legally in 1720, when the crown attempted to abolish the institution. The encomenderos were then required to pay remaining encomienda labourers for their work. The encomiendas became very corrupt and harsh. In the neighborhood of La Concepción, north of Santo Domingo, the adelantado of Santiago heard rumors of a 15,000-man army planning to stage a rebellion. Upon hearing this,
8464-642: Was formally protected by the crown of Castile because the rights of administration in the New World belonged to this crown and not to the Catholic monarchs as a whole. The first grantees of the encomienda system, called encomenderos , were usually conquerors who received these grants of labour by virtue of participation in a successful conquest. Later, some receiving encomiendas in New Spain (Mexico) were not conquerors themselves but were sufficiently well connected that they received grants. In his study of
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