Jutiapa Department

Jutiapa is a department of Guatemala and is located in the Southeast (Region IV) on the border with El Salvador. It covers over 3,200 square kilometers and has about 400,000 inhabitants. The capital of the department is the same Jutiapa.

The department Jutiapa bordered to the north by the departments Jalapa and Chiquimula, on the southeast by El Salvador, to the southwest by the Pacific Ocean and the west by the department of Santa Rosa.

Provincial nature

Jutiapa located predominantly in the central highlands. Especially in the north west, the Sierra Madre again reached heights of 2,000 meters. To the south, the hill country falls off the Pacific coast. The Highlands area is criss-crossed by deep valleys and rivers. Due to the different altitudes, there are a variety of different climate regions. In the highlands the climate is temperate, the Pacific tropical hot.

Population

The population speaks primarily Spanish, the few indigenous people also Xinka. Jutiapa is divided into seventeen municipios ( large municipalities or counties ):

The Department as state administrative district is headed by a delegated by the central government governor. The Municipalities are autonomous local authorities with elected mayors and elected assemblies and are divided into Aldeas ( rural communities ) and Caseríos, Parajes or fincas ( hamlets and farms ).

Economy

Agriculture generates due to the different altitudes a wide range of products, including coffee, potatoes, corn, beans, bananas, plantains, coconuts, cocoa, cassava, tobacco and sugar cane. Also of importance is the horses and livestock, as well as milk and cheese production. Tourism plays only a minor role. However, the Department benefited from through traffic on the three axes defined in El Salvador. Jutiapa has an airfield for general aviation.

Attractions

In Jutiapa there are eight volcanoes and several lakes, including Lake de Güija on the border with El Salvador. In the southern lowlands are the Mayan ruins of La Nueva and a few poorly -developed beaches.

History

In the colonial period, the area of present-day departments to Corregimiento de Chiquimula belonged. Jutiapa was collected on May 8, 1852 the department, but later lost some parts to its neighbors Santa Rosa, Jalapa and Chiquimula. The name Jutiapa comes from a Mayan word that means " Rising Sun ".