Chimaltenango
| Chimaltenango | ||
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Chimaltenango
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 Chimaltenango
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| Coordinates: 14°39′44″N 90°49′15″W / 14.66222°N 90.82083°WCoordinates: 14°39′44″N 90°49′15″W / 14.66222°N 90.82083°W | ||
| Country |
 Guatemala
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| Department |
 Chimaltenango
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| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Carlos Alexánder Simaj | |
| Population (2002) | ||
| • Total | 43,900 | |
| Climate | Cwb | |
Chimaltenango is a town in Guatemala of some 43,900 people (as of 2002). It serves as both the capital of the department of Chimaltenango and the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. Chimaltenango stands some 35 miles west of Guatemala City, on the Pan-American Highway. The municipal capital produces textiles and pottery and is also the home of the Rose Education Foundation, a non-profit organization working to make educational opportunities available to children living in rural areas in Guatemala.
In Pre-Columbian times what is now the city of Chimaltenango was known to its native inhabitants as B'oko' . Like many other cities in the area, the Spanish Conquistadores used the name given by their Nahuatl speaking allies from central Mexico. The Nahuatl name was Chīmaltenānco, meaning "Shield City." The current town was found in 1526 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Portocarrero, and shortly after it was assigned by bishop Francisco Marroquín to the Order of Preachers, along with Jocotenango, Jilotepeque, Sumpango, Candelaria, Amatitlán, Petapa, Mixco and Pinula. The general areas with under the jurisdiction of "Valle de Pasuya" (English: Pasuya Valle) in those days, which had nine valleys, among them the Chimaltenango Valley; this valley bordered with Xilotepeque valle on the northwest, with Mixco valley on the East, with Guatemala on the North and with Sololá Prinvice on the West. Furthermore, the Valle of Pasuya had to mayor municipalities: Chimaltenango —which covered Chimaltenango, Xilotepeque and Alotenango valleys—, and Sacatepéquez —which covered the rest.
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Wikipedia