Huehuetenango

Its primary export is coffee.

• Official Name — Huehuetenango • Native Name — Xinabahul • Settlement Type — Municipality • Nickname — Huehue • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Guatemala • Subdivision Type1 — Department • Subdivision Name1 — Huehuetenango • Subdivision Name2 — Huehuetenango • Leader Party — Lider • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Gustavo Cano • Area Total Km2 — 222 • Elevation M — 1901 • Population Demonym — Huehueteco • Population As Of — census 2018 • Population Total — 117818 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Population Urban — 117818 • Demographics1 Title2 — Languages • Demographics1 Info2 — * Spanish • Mam • Demographics1 Title1 — Ethnicities • Demographics1 Info1 — * Mam • Ladino • Demographics Type1 — Demographics • Demographics1 Info3 — * Roman Catholicism • Evangelicalism • Maya • Eastern Orthodoxy • Demographics1 Title3 — Religions • Blank Name — Climate • Blank Info — Cwb

section Huehuetenango (originally called Xinabajul in the Mam language) was already a Maya settlement before the Spanish conquest of the fortified city of Zaculeu, which was the Pre-Columbian capital of the Mam kingdom situated just a few kilometers from Xinabahul. 'Huehuetenango' means place of the ancients (or ancestors) in Nahuatl, which is the name Gonzalo de Alvarado adopted from his Nahua allies when Zaculeu and Xinabahul were conquered. Many people of Mam descent still live in and around Huehuetenango, and the nearby ruins of Zaculeu have become a tourist attraction. The ruins are markedly distinct from other Maya archeological sites; the original unearthed stones, comprising only a small portion of the original structures, were coated with plaster during restoration works carried out in the 1940s. There is also a small museum at Zaculeu that includes statues and small artifacts found on the site. Huehuetenango Airport MGHT is within the city and has a paved 825 m runway and a small terminal building. There are no scheduled airline flights.

The city has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb), with warm summers and mild winters.

The city boasts one Guatemalan top level football side Xinabajul in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala.

Former president Efraín Ríos Montt was born in Huehuetenango in 1926. His younger brother, Mario Enrique Ríos Montt, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala was born there in 1932.