Cuilapa, also known as Santa Rosa Cuilapa, is a town, with a population of 41,359 (2018 census), in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. It serves as the capital of the department of Santa Rosa and as the administrative seat for the surrounding municipality of Cuilapa. Cuilapa marks the geographic center of the Americas.

History

1913 earthquake

On Saturday 8 March 1913, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Santa Rosa, destroying its department capital, Cuilapa. Both the initial quake and the aftershocks destroyed a lot of private homes, and also the cathedral and the prison, leaving behind significant human losses; similar destruction occurred at Barberena, Cerro Redondo, Llano Grande and El Zapote.

Fraijanes Fraijanes is a town, with a population of 60,288 (2018 census), and a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala. It is known for its fine tasting coffee, which is slightly more acidic than that of Antigua Guatemala. History Archbi ...

Pueblo Nuevo Viñas Pueblo Nuevo Viñas is a municipality in the Santa Rosa department in southeastern Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast ...

, Coatepeque and

Jalpatagua Jalpatagua () is a town and municipality in the Jutiapa department of Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, t ...

were also affected. Around Cuilapa, there were landslides and road blockades, and even a long crack was reported at Los Esclavos hill.

Climate

Cuilapa has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Aw'').

Geographic location

Cuilapa is surrounded by Santa Rosa Department municipalities, except by East where it borders

Jutiapa Jutiapa is a city and a municipality in the Jutiapa department of Guatemala. Located 124 km from the city of Guatemala City, at an altitude of 892 m (2,926 ft), it is the capital of the department of Jutiapa. Its Catedral San Crist ...

Notes and references

References

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control Municipalities of the Santa Rosa Department, Guatemala