Lake Güija is a lake in Central America. The lake is situated on the border between Guatemala and El Salvador and has an area of , of which approximately lies in El Salvador.
History The Lenca, Xinca, Chʼortiʼ, and Pipil inhabited the region around the lake. wrote in the 16th century that two rocks near the lake were used by the indigenous population for sacrifice and religious worship. Twenty archaeological sites dating to the Late Preclassic (400 BC–200 AD) and Postclassic (900–1550 AD) have been recorded in the area.
Guatemala and El Salvador placed their border across Lake Güija in 1938, with 7/10ths of the lake inside El Salvador and the remainder in Guatemala. Of the lake's drainage basin, is inside Guatemala. The two countries signed an agreement on sharing the water resources of the lake in 1957.
This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on September 21, 1992, in the Mixed (Cultural + Natural) category.
Geography As of 1959, the area of the lake was and the drainage basin was . The Ostúa and Cusmapa rivers are the principal tributaries to the lake.
The lake is of volcanic origin and was formed by a large basaltic lava flow from Volcán de San Diego in the San Diego volcanic field which blocked the Güija depression's original drainage.
Important Bird Area The lake and its surrounds has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of range-restricted birds, including white-bellied chachalacas, orange-fronted parakeets, Nutting's flycatchers and white-throated magpie-jays.
References
Works cited
External links Lago de Güija San Diego Volcano Tentative list UNESCO World Heritage Sites Metapán