Wednesday, January 9, 2008

The Relief Map of Guatemala

Well we picked up my parents in the City. Their plane was only 2 hours late! Of course the new airport is still under construction so there aren't any monitors to let you know what is happening. So we stood in a large room for 2 hours waiting. They are worth the wait!








We did some traveling in the City and one of the places that we went was the Relief Map of Guatemala. In 1905 by Francisco Vela. The open air map of Guatemala shows the country at a scale of 1:10,000. The vertical scale is exaggerated to 1:2000 to make the volcanoes and mountains appear dramatically higher and steeper than they really are. The map was fully restored and repainted in 1999. Viewing towers afford a panoramic view. Curiously the map still show Belize as part of Guatemala. This phenomenon can be found on many maps of Guatemala. Because of a long standing dispute over ownership and a Spanish Land Grant, Belize and Guatemala both claim ownership of the small country formerly known as British Honduras.


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