Tejutla, San Marcos

Tejutla
Tejutla County Seat (Spanish: Cabecera Municipal)
Tejutla Location in Guatemala
Coordinates: 15°07′N 91°48′W / 15.117°N 91.800°W / 15.117; -91.800
Country	Guatemala
Department	San Marcos
Founded	July 25, 1672
Government
• Mayor of Tejutla	Humberto Gómez
Area
• Total	142 km2 (55 sq mi)
Elevation	2,500 m (8,200 ft)
Population (2004)
• Total	24,242
Time zone	GMT -6
Climate	Cwb

Tejutla (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈxutla]) is a municipality in the western highlands of Guatemala, in the department of San Marcos. Tejutla was officially founded on 25 July 1672, although it was already an important town within the Mam kingdom in 1524, at the time of the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. It is situated high in the mountains, the so-called "cold zone", at about 2500 m altitude.

Tejutla is primarily a Ladino municipality in that the majority of its inhabitants speak Spanish and are not indigenous. Tejutla has about 31,139 inhabitants, with about 6,000 living within the urban center (casco urbano). The municipio of Tejutla includes 67 communities, 20 of which are Aldeas and the rest are Caserios, Cantones and Colonias. The rivers Xolobaj and Del Molino flow through the town of Tejutla. The general climate in Tejutla during the winter, which runs from November through February, is about 10 degrees Celsius but temperatures can drop up to 5 degrees lower. Temperatures during the months of May through November can range anywhere from 18 to 30 degrees Celsius. The economy in Tejutla lives on agriculture, mainly apples and potatoes, although carrots, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and peaches are also grown locally within the municipality.

The name Tejutla is of uncertain origin, being variously attributed to the local Mam language, derived from twui c'ukal meaning "upon the hill of white sand", or from the Nahuatl language of Tlaxcala in Mexico, meaning "walled land" or "land of the dyers", or from the Chorti language in which it means "land of embers".

The "Villa de Tejutla', town's official name, is an old settlement that already existed when the Spaniards arrived to the region in 1524; it was an important commercial town for the Mam people due to the weaving that was done there. However, its foundation as a colonial town was not official until 25 July 1627, when the encomenderos founded a Spanish town called "Santiato Tenango next to the Indian town. each town had its own authorities and their own business leaders. Eventually, both towns merged and decided to call the resulting settlement "Santiago Tejutla" to remember the old names; Tenango was on the north side, and Tejutla on the South.