A vast lowland region stretches northward for approximately 700
kilometers from the highlands of Guatemala to the Gulf of Mexico. The
northern two-thirds of this low plain is bordered on three sides by seas
and forms the Yucatan Peninsula. The lowlands at the base of the
Yucatan Peninsula make up the Departamento El Peten of Guatemala. The
area with which this report is concerned consists of the south-central
part of El Peten.