Departments of Guatemala

Guatemala is divided into 22 administrative districts ( departments ).

Organs

At the top of each departments is an appointed governor by the president. The Governor represents the central government on the spot and supervised the activities of the decentralized administrative bodies as well as the self-governing bodies of the lower authorities. The Governor presides over the Council of the department ( Consejo Departamental ), composed of the mayors of the municipalities and representatives from the public and private sectors. These meetings are only advisory functions.

The departments are divided into municipios ( large municipalities ). The total of 334 Municipalities of Guatemala, in contrast to the departments independent authorities with elected mayors and elected assemblies. Urban embossed Municipalities are divided generally into Zonas and Colonias ( municipalities and settlements ), Rural Municipalities in Aldeas, Caseríos or Parajes ( rural municipalities and hamlets).

List of departments

By far the largest department of Petén in Guatemala is in the north of the country.

History

Guatemala was in 1825 divided into seven departments: Guatemala Escuintla, Chimaltenango - Sacatepéquez, Suchitepéquez - Solola, Quetzaltenango Soconusco, Totonicapán - Huehuetenango, Chiquimula and Verapaz. In addition there were two of the government directly imputed areas: Izabal and Petén. The departments were divided further into districts and these in municipios. The districts were later overturned; of them were partly new departments. Many of the original departments were divided.

Regions in Guatemala

The 22 departments are grouped together for statistical purposes and for economic planning in eight regions. These regions are not administrative districts of the central government still independent authorities. However, you have referred to in Article 226 of the Constitution of Guatemala through a respective "regional cities and Landesentwicklungsrat " ( Consejo Regional de Desarrollo Urbano y Rural). This, which meets under the chairmanship of a representative of the President councils belong to the governors of the respective departments, and representatives of local government and the public and private sector. The chairman of the Regional Development Councils are also members of the "National Urban and Regional Development Council ", headed by the president.