Sipacapa

Sipacapa on the map of Guatemala

Sipacapa ( formerly San Bartolomé Sipacapa ) is a village and a municipality in the department of San Marcos in Guatemala. The village is located some 330 km north-west of Guatemala City and about 70 km north of the Departamentshauptstadt San Marcos in the highlands of the Sierra Madre 1,970 meters above sea level.

Sipacapa can be reached from San Marcos on a country road that leads east of the volcano on La Tajumulco Grandeza, Serchil and Tejutla in the remote north of the department. In the 152 km ² large municipality of about 18,000 inhabitants, of which the vast majority in the country. Almost half of the population belongs to a Mayan ethnic group that speaks Sipakapensisch. Subsistence farming is the norm. Also of importance is operated by the North American mining company ( Marlin mine, mining of gold and silver). In addition to the main town of the municipality consists of the rural communities ( Aldeas ) Cancil, Chual, Escupija, Estancia, Pie de La Cuesta, Poj, Pueblo Viejo, Queca, Quequesiguan, San Isidro Setiva Tres Cruces and with a total of 40 hamlets. The eastern part of the municipios crosses the headwaters of the Río Cuilco, which then empties into the Río Grijalva and thus the great Mexican hydroelectric power station La Angostura feeds.

Sipaca was founded around 1710 and wore during the colonial period, the name of San Bartolomé Sipacapa, which corresponded to the custom of the indigenous place name preceded by a Spanish name with a religious reference. Sipacapa 1765 was destroyed by an earthquake, but then rebuilt. Between 1937 and 1945 Sipacapa was as rural community ( Aldea ) for the municipality of Tejutla, since it is again an independent municipality.

Adjacent Municipalities are San Miguel Ixtahuacán in the northwest and Comitancillo in the southwest and the Municipalities Cabricán and San Carlos Sija the south and east (both in the neighboring department of Quetzaltenango ) and Malacantancito in the northeast ( Departamento Huehuetenango ).