Retalhuleu () is a
department located in the south-west of
Guatemala, extending from the mountains to the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
coast. It has an area of 1856 km
2. In 2018 the population of the Department of Retalhuleu was 326,828.
Its capital,
Retalhuleu City, mixes ancient and modern architecture, and it is also known for being a commercial city.
The largest
Native American group in the state is the
K'iche' (Quiché) Maya people. The department contains a number of
Pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
ruins, including
Takalik Abaj, and it also contains numerous amusement parks, the most important and known are
Xetulul
Xetutul is a theme park in Guatemala. It is located in the Retalhuleu Department in the southwest of the country. Opening in 2002, Xetutul is the third largest amusement park in Latin America, after Beto Carrero World in Penha, Santa Catarina, Br ...
and
Xocomil.
Municipalities
The department is divided into nine municipalities:
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Champerico
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El Asintal
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Nuevo San Carlos
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Retalhuleu
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San Andrés Villa Seca
San Andrés Villa Seca is a town and municipality in the Retalhuleu Department of Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to ...
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San Felipe
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San Martín Zapotitlán
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San Sebastián
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Santa Cruz Muluá Santa Cruz Muluá is a municipality in the Retalhuleu department of Guatemala. Its name comes from the ancient mayan word " Mulaja " which means " Land Between Rivers, " because its between the Samalá River, the Rio Muluá and many other small rive ...
Geography
Tropical savanna climates have monthly mean temperature above 18 °C (64 °F) in every month of the year and typically a pronounced dry season, with the driest month having precipitation less than 60mm (2.36 in) of precipitation. The
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
subtype for this climate is "
Aw". (Tropical Savanna Climate).
Climate Summary
/ref>
Climate
References
Departments of Guatemala
{{Guatemala-geo-stub