Its complete name is the New Guatemala of Asuncio'n . It is the capital of Guatemala and the biggest city of the Republic. The population considered for the City of Guatemala goes from a million to more than two million and means of inhabitants. The city is located in a valley in the central South area of the country, which sometimes can cause that the contamination of the air is concentrated in the city.

History

Within the borders of the modern City of Guatemala it is the old Mayan city of Kaminal Juyú . Kaminal Juyú dates from about 2,000 years back and is known that it dealt with the distant Teotihuacán in central Mexico. The center of Kaminal Juyú was located to short distance of the oldest part of the City of Guatemala, and in century XX the city grew around the ruins (and in some cases on some of the peripheral ruins before they were protected). The ceremonial center of Kaminal Juyú is now a park within the City of Guatemala. In the days of the Spanish colony the Carmen, founded on 1620 was a small city with a called monastery . The capital of Central America colonial Spanish was changed to this place from the old Old capital Guatemala in 1775 , which induced to a great expansion of the city.

Characteristics of the City

Map of the city (2003)

The City of Guatemala is the capital economic, governmental, and cultural of the Republic, as well as the metropolis greatest in all Central America . The city has in addition to a great variety of restaurants, hotels and stores, 30 galleries and museums (including good collections of Pre-Columbian art ). There are 5 universities, including the University of San Carlos , the third older university of the New World