The city of Cobán is the capital of the department of Alta Verapaz in Guatemala. A city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... In politics a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... Alta Verapaz is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. ...

The city was founded by Dominican friars in 1543. In 2000 the estimated population was 70,000. Cobán is at the center of a region growing fine coffee. Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Coffee beans and a cup of coffee Coffee as a drink, usually served hot, is prepared from the roasted seeds (beans) of the coffee plant. ...

Each year at the end of August a festival of Guatemala's native peoples is held here, La Fiesta Nacional Indigena de Guatemala. The festivities include a beauty pagent for Guatemala's Native American women, the winner of which is crowned with the title "Rabin Ahau". Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition between people, based largely, though not always entirely, on the beauty of their physical appearance. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ...