Qʼeqchiʼ
Maya people of Guatemala and Belize / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Qʼeqchiʼ (/qʼeqt͡ʃiʔ/) (Kʼekchiʼ in the former orthography, or simply Kekchi in many English-language contexts, such as in Belize) are a Maya people of Guatemala and Belize. Their indigenous language is the Qʼeqchiʼ language.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2017) |
Total population | |
---|---|
1,370,007[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Guatemala | 1,370,007[1] |
Belize | 11,143 |
Mexico | 834 |
El Salvador | 245 |
Honduras | ? |
Languages | |
Qʼeqchiʼ, Spanish, Kriol, English | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Mennonite, Maya religion, recent small communities of Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox in West Guatemala.[2] |
Before the beginning of the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in the 1520s, Qʼeqchiʼ settlements were concentrated in what are now the departments of Alta Verapaz and Baja Verapaz. Over the course of the succeeding centuries a series of land displacements, resettlements, persecutions and migrations resulted in a wider dispersal of Qʼeqchiʼ communities into other regions of Guatemala (Izabal, Petén, El Quiché), southern Belize (Toledo District), and smaller numbers in southern Mexico (Chiapas, Campeche).[3] While most notably present in northern Alta Verapaz and southern Petén,[4] contemporary Qʼeqchiʼ language-speakers are the most widely spread geographically of all Maya peoples in Guatemala.[5]