The rising sun illuminates the mountain ridge across the lake while Santiago Atitlan remains in the shadows in the early morning on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. The lake sits among the Sierra Madre mountain range at an elevation of 5,125 feet, 155 feet short of a mile above sea level. Santiago Atitlan is the largest of multiple small towns that dot the shores around the lake where the population is predominantly descendants of the Mayan people and still wear traditional clothing on a daily basis.
Lake Atitlán is a lake in Central America with a maximum depth of about 340 metres (1,120 ft)[1] with an average depth of 220 metres (720 ft). Its surface area is 130.1 km2 (50.2 sq mi). It is approximately 12 by 5 km with around 20 km3 of water. Atitlán is technically an endorheic lake, feeding into two nearby rivers rather than draining into the ocean. It is shaped by deep surrounding escarpments and three volcanoes on its southern flank. The lake basin is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed by an eruption 84,000 years ago. The culture of the towns and villages surrounding Lake Atitlán is influenced by the Maya people. The lake is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west-northwest of Antigua. It should not be confused with the smaller Lake Amatitlán.
