Purulhá

Purulhá
Purulhá

Location in Guatemala

Coordinates: 15°16′00″N 90°12′00″W / 15.26667°N 90.20000°W / 15.26667; -90.20000
Country Guatemala
Department Baja Verapaz
Government[1]
 • Mayor Sebastián Castro García
Climate Cfb

Purulhá is a municipality in the Baja Verapaz department of Guatemala. It is situated at 1570 m above sea level. It contains 36,600 people. It covers a terrain of 248 km². The annual festival is June 10-June 13.

History

Verapaz Railroad

1
2
3
4
Ferrocarril Verapaz main stations in Alta Verapaz.
  1. Pancajché
  2. Santa Catalina La Tinta
  3. Panzós
  4. Cobán

The Verapaz Railroad began on 15 January 1894 with a contract for 99 years between Guatemala -then ruled by president José María Reina Barrios- and Walter Dauch, representative of the "Verapaz Railroad & Northern Agency Ltd." The contract settled the rules for the construction, maintenance and explotation of a 30 mile railroad line between Panzós and Pancajché. Passenger service travelled twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays; besides, mail arrived by ship every Wednesday and cargo came from Livingston, Izabal. Besides, there were train stops in Santa Rosita, Santa Catalina La Tinta, and Papalhá.[2]

In 1898, it was reported that given the coffee prosperity in Cobán, which in those days was the third largest city in Guatemala, the railroad was going to be extended to that city.[2] The railroad was in operation until 1965, when it was superseded by truck and highways.

Thomae family

The Thomae family, coming from German settlers from the 1880s, was the ruling family in Purulhá for the most part of the 20th century. By taking advantage of the pro-German policies of president Justo Rufino Barrios, Mauricio Thomae gathered the following coffee haciendas:[4]

Year Hacienda Location
1882 CubilgüitzCobán
1889 San IsidroPurulhá
1897 ComijaTamahú
1897 PopabajTucurú
1900 Nueve AguasPurulhá
1902 PanzalPurulhá
1902 RocjáTamahú
1902 PaijáTucurú
1905 ChimoxTucurú[4]

During general Jorge Ubico regime (1931-1944), Mauricio Thomae became one of the most influential German Verapaz landowners, along with the Sarg, Sapper and Diesseldorf families. He took advantage of his close relationship with president Ubico, who had been Cobán's governor during the presidency of Manuel Estrada Cabrera and befriended several German families, including Thomae's.[4]

For the most part of the 20th century, the Thomae family kept Puruhlá's under its control thanks to their large coffee plantations farm land and despite most Germans were expelled from Guatemala during World War II. After the coffee crisis in 2000, the Thomaes diversified their investments into the power, tourism and forest incentive business; in fact, by 2015 they were planning on building the Enerjá megaproject (25 MW) which will connect to their other power generation project, El Cafetal (8,36 MW) in Finca Bremen, also owned by the Thomaes.[4]

Climate

Purulhá has temperate climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb).

Climate data for Purulhá
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 18.8
(65.8)		 20.2
(68.4)		 21.7
(71.1)		 22.4
(72.3)		 22.8
(73)		 22.2
(72)		 21.5
(70.7)		 21.8
(71.2)		 22.0
(71.6)		 21.1
(70)		 20.3
(68.5)		 19.7
(67.5)		 21.21
(70.18)
Daily mean °C (°F) 14.6
(58.3)		 15.4
(59.7)		 16.7
(62.1)		 17.5
(63.5)		 18.2
(64.8)		 18.2
(64.8)		 17.8
(64)		 17.8
(64)		 17.9
(64.2)		 17.3
(63.1)		 16.2
(61.2)		 15.3
(59.5)		 16.91
(62.43)
Average low °C (°F) 10.4
(50.7)		 10.7
(51.3)		 11.8
(53.2)		 12.6
(54.7)		 13.6
(56.5)		 14.3
(57.7)		 14.1
(57.4)		 13.9
(57)		 13.9
(57)		 13.5
(56.3)		 12.1
(53.8)		 10.9
(51.6)		 12.65
(54.77)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 81
(3.19)		 48
(1.89)		 68
(2.68)		 68
(2.68)		 174
(6.85)		 325
(12.8)		 329
(12.95)		 245
(9.65)		 272
(10.71)		 205
(8.07)		 125
(4.92)		 66
(2.6)		 2,006
(78.99)
Source: Climate-Data.org[5]

Geographic location

Tactic, Alta Verapaz Department municipality Tactic, Tamahú y Tucurú, Alta Verapaz Department municipalities Santa Catalina La Tinta, Alta Verapaz Departament municipality
Santa Catalina La Tinta, Alta Verapaz Departament municipality[6]
   Purulhá  
Salamá, Baja Verapaz Department municipality

See also

Notes and references

    References

    1. ↑ "Byron Tejeda gana elección a alcalde de Salamá". Prensa Libre (in Spanish). Guatemala. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
    2. 1 2 La Ilustración del Pacífico 15 March 1898, p. 206
    3. 1 2 La Ilustración del Pacífico 15 March 1898, pp. 203–204
    4. 1 2 3 4 "Nepotismo y la decadencia de la familia Thomae". Centro de Medios Independiente de Guatemala (in Spanish). Guatemala. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on August 8, 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
    5. ↑ "Climate: Purulhá". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
    6. ↑ SEGEPLAN. "Municipios de Baja Verapaz, Guatemala". Secretaría General de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia de la República. Guatemala. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.

    Bibliography

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