HUEHUETENANGO, a town in north-western Guatemala, capital of the province of the same name, 106 m. W.N.W. of Guatemala city. It is overwhelmingly Indian in population and is an important centre of the Guatemalan area known as "los altos" (the highlands). Pop. (192o) 9,513. Huehuetenango is on the river Salega, and lies at an altitude of 7,050 feet. It enjoys a semi-tropical climate and is surrounded by a fertile agricultural country raising wheat, maize, potatoes, beans, melons, fruits, etc. Sheep graze on the hills, and there is a considerable produc tion of hand-woven woollens in ancient patterns used by the local villagers for their typical costumes and also in conventional tweed patterns which are sold in Guatemala city. Coffee, cacao, sugar cane and tropical fruits are grown in neighbouring valleys. Hue huetenango is reached by automobile from San Felipe, the near est railway station, and from Quezaltenango (q.v.) and, via the latter city, from Guatemala city.
The name, Huehuetenango means "Place of the Ancients" and the town is located close to the ruins of an ancient Indian centre called Zaculeu. In Spanish times, the Dominican missionaries penetrated to Huehuetenango, and near by, at Chiantla, had a monastery richly equipped from the returns of a silver mine owned by the Dominicans and worked by the Indians; it was at one time one of the wealthiest religious communities in Central Amer ica. It was taken over by the government in 1873, and the mines were abandoned.