Sierra Madre (Guatemala)

Sierra Madre de Chiapas
Volcanoes of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in Guatemala
Highest point
Peak	Volcán Tajumulco (Guatemala)
Elevation	4,220 m (13,850 ft)
Coordinates	15°2′37″N 91°54′11″W / 15.04361°N 91.90306°W / 15.04361; -91.90306
Geography
Countries	Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras
Range coordinates	15°30′N 92°36′W / 15.5°N 92.6°W / 15.5; -92.6Coordinates: 15°30′N 92°36′W / 15.5°N 92.6°W / 15.5; -92.6
Geology
Orogeny	Central America Volcanic Arc

The Sierra Madre de Chiapas (as known in Mexico, with regional names in other countries) is a major mountain range in Central America. The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, and South America.

The range runs northwest–southeast from the state of Chiapas in Mexico, across western Guatemala, into El Salvador and Honduras. Most of the volcanoes of Guatemala, part of the Central America Volcanic Arc, are within the range.

A narrow coastal plain lies south the range, between the Sierra Madre and the Pacific Ocean. To the north lie a series of highlands and depressions, including the Chiapas Depression, which separates the Sierra Madre from the Chiapas Plateau, the Guatemalan Highlands, and Honduras' interior highlands.

The range forms the main drainage divide between the Pacific and Atlantic river systems. On the Pacific side the distance to the sea is short, and the streams, while very numerous, are consequently small and rapid. A few of the streams of the Pacific slopes rise in the Guatemalan Highlands, and force a way through the Sierra Madre at the bottom of deep ravines. On the eastern side a number of the rivers of the Atlantic slopes attain a considerable volume and size.

It is known near Guatemala city as the Sierra de las Nubes, and enters Mexico as the Sierra de Istatan. Its summit is not a well-defined crest, but is often rounded or flattened into a table-land. The direction of the great volcanic cones, which rise in an irregular line above it, is not identical with the main axis of the Sierra itself, except near the Mexican frontier, but has a more southerly trend, especially towards El Salvador.