Chichicastenango

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Chichicastenango
Municipality
Iglesia de Santo Tomás
Nickname:  Chichi
Chichicastenango Location in Guatemala
Coordinates: 14°56′N 91°07′W / 14.933°N 91.117°W / 14.933; -91.117
Country	Guatemala
Department	El Quiché
Municipality	Chichicastenango
Government
• Type	Municipal
Area
• Municipality	270 km2 (100 sq mi)
Elevation	1,965 m (6,447 ft)
Population  (Census 2018)[2]
• Municipality	141,567
• Urban	71,394
• Ethnicities	K'iche' people (98.5%)[1] Ladino (1.5%)
• Religions	Roman Catholicism Evangelicalism Maya
Climate	Cwb
Website	Chichicastenango online

Chichicastenango, also known as Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, is a town, with a population of 71,394 (2018 census),^[3] and the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name in the El Quiché department of Guatemala. It is located in a mountainous region about 140 km (87 mi) northwest of Guatemala City, at an altitude of 1,965 m (6,447 ft).^[4] The Spanish conquistadors gave the town its name from the Nahuatl name used by their allied soldiers from Tlaxcala: Tzitzicaztenanco, or City of Nettles. Its original name was Chaviar.

Chichicastenango is a K'iche' Maya cultural centre. According to the 2012 census, 98.5% of the municipality's population is indigenous Mayan K'iche. Of the population, 21% speak only K'iche, 71% speak both K'iche and Spanish, and the remaining 8% speak only Spanish.^[1]