Baja Verapaz in the context of "Purulhá"

The Poqomchiʼ are a Maya people in Guatemala. Their indigenous language is also called Poqomchiʼ, and is related to the Quichean–Poqom branch. Poqomchí is spoken in Baja Verapaz (Purulhá) and in Alta Verapaz: Santa Cruz Verapaz, San Cristóbal Verapaz, Tactic, Tamahú and Tucurú. It is also spoken in Chicamán (El Quiché).

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, Belize and Mexico. Their Indigenous language is the Qʼeqchiʼ language.

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). While most notably present in northern Alta Verapaz and southern Petén, contemporary Qʼeqchiʼ language-speakers are the most widely spread geographically of all Maya peoples in Guatemala.

The Río Negro massacres were a series of killings of villagers by the government of Guatemala between 1980 and 1982.

In 1978, in the face of civil war, the Guatemalan government proceeded with its economic development program, including the construction of the Chixoy hydroelectric dam. Financed in large part by the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, the Chixoy Dam was built in Rabinal, a region of the department of Baja Verapaz historically populated by the Maya Achi. To complete construction, the government undertook voluntary and forcible relocations of dam-affected communities from the fertile agricultural valleys to the much harsher surrounding highlands. When hundreds of residents refused to relocate, or returned after finding the conditions of resettlement villages were not what the government had promised, these men, women, and children were kidnapped, raped, and massacred by paramilitary and military officials. More than 440 Maya Achi were killed in the village of Río Negro alone. The string of extrajudicial killings that claimed up to 5,000 lives between 1980 and 1982 became known as the Río Negro massacres. The government officially declared the acts to be counterinsurgency activities – although local church workers, journalists and the survivors of Rio Negro deny that the town ever saw any organized guerrilla activity.

Cubulco is a small town, with a population of 10,681 (2018 census), located in the Guatemalan department of Baja Verapaz, at 15°6′30″N 90°37′50″W / 15.10833°N 90.63056°W / 15.10833; -90.63056. It serves as the administrative seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality covers an area of 711 km² and has a population of 54,869 (2018).

Rabinal is a small town, with a population of 15,157 (2018 census), located in the Guatemalan department of Baja Verapaz, at 15°5′4.70″N 90°29′20.50″W / 15.0846389°N 90.4890278°W / 15.0846389; -90.4890278. It serves as the administrative seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality covers an area of 336 km with a population of 40,797 (2018 census). The local people are predominantly Achi Maya Native Americans who speak the Achi Maya language.

San Miguel Chicaj (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsam miˈɣel tʃiˈkax]) is a town and municipality in the Baja Verapaz department of Guatemala. San Miguel Chicaj has an area of 280 Km², which makes one of the largest municipality of Baja Verapaz Department. It has a population of 33,131 (2018 census), mostly of achí background.

Salamá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Baja Verapaz and it is situated at 940 m above sea level. The municipality of Salamá, for which the city of Salamá serves as the administrative centre, covers a total surface area of 764 km with a population of 65,275 inhabitants at the 2018 census.

San Jerónimo (Spanish pronunciation: [saŋ xeˈɾonimo]) is a town and municipality in the Baja Verapaz department of Guatemala. The municipality is situated at 940 metres above sea level and has a population of 25,459 (2018 census). It covers an area of 275 km². The annual festival is September 28 – September 30.

The predominant language is Spanish. There is a party and main fair held from 27 to 30 September each year, in honor of the patron Saint Jerome.

Granados is a municipality in the Baja Verapaz department of Guatemala. It was named after former Guatemalan president Miguel García Granados in 1893.

Santa Cruz El Chol (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsanta ˈkɾus el tʃol]) is a municipality in the Baja Verapaz department of Guatemala. It is situated at 1008 m above sea level and contains about 8817 people. It covers a terrain of 140 km² and its annual festival is held from December 6-December 8.

Achi (Achí in Spanish) is a Mayan language very closely related to Kʼicheʼ (Quiché in the older orthography). It is spoken by the Achi people, primarily in the department of Baja Verapaz in Guatemala.

There are two Achi dialects. Rabinal Achi is spoken in the Rabinal area, and Cubulco Achi is spoken in the Cubulco area west of Rabinal.

Poqomchiʼ (Pokomchi: Poqomchiiʼ) is a Mayan language spoken by the Poqomchiʼ Maya of Guatemala, and is very closely related to Poqomam. Its two main dialects, eastern and western, were spoken by 90,000 or so people in the year 2000, in Purulhá, Baja Verapaz, and in the following municipalities of Alta Verapaz: Santa Cruz Verapaz, San Cristóbal Verapaz, Tactic,Tamahú and Tucurú. It is also the predominant language in Aldea Belejú, in the municipality of Chicamán (El Quiché), which borders Alta Verapaz.

15°30′N 90°20′W / 15.500°N 90.333°W / 15.500; -90.333

Alta Verapaz (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalta βeɾaˈpas]) is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and Baja Verapaz, and to the west by El Quiché.