Raxruha

Raxruhá on the map of Guatemala

Raxruhá (erroneously written Raxrujá ) is a city in Guatemala and administrative seat of the greater community ( municipality ) in the department of Alta Verapaz. In the 533 km ² large municipality of about 35,000 people live in Raxruhá about 3000.

Geography

Raxruhá is located in the northern lowlands of Alta Verapaz to about 200 m altitude. The climate is tropical and hot.

The municipality is bordered to the east by the municipality of Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, in the south on San Pedro Carcha, on the west by Chisec and the north by the department of Petén.

Population

The population is mostly of Mayan ethnic group Kekchi, the rest are Ladinos. The municipality comprises 17 rural communities ( " Aldeas "), which are subdivided into 44 hamlets.

History

Raxruhá was until 2008 part of the municipios Chisec. A law of 20 February 2008 Raxruhá was spun off from Chisec and raised to an independent municipality. Chisec lost while a third of its municipal area and is now only about 900 km ². The Kekchi name Raxruhá means " green water " and refers to the many springs in the area.

Economy and Transport

Raxruhá is located about 120 km north-east of Coban, the capital of Alta Verapaz. From there it can be reached via the sometimes very poorly developed national road 5, which continues then until after Petén. From Izabal from the highway Franja Transversal del Norte leads in a westerly direction until after Raxruhá and further east ( under construction). The most important industry is agriculture and livestock. From touristic importance are the Cuevas de Candelaria with an underground river.