Q'eqchi' (Kekchí) is a Mayan language of the K'ichean branch, within the Eastern group of the Mayan family, and is regarded as the most divergent member of that group along with Poqom (Poqomchi' and Poqomam). It descends from Proto-K'ichean and ultimately from Proto-Mayan, spoken several millennia ago in the borderlands of present-day Guatemala and Mexico. Its speakers have traditionally inhabited the highlands and forests of the Verapaz region in north-central Guatemala.

The Q'eqchi' people are historically concentrated in Alta and Baja Verapaz, especially around Cobán, but over recent generations they have expanded markedly into the Petén, Izabal and parts of Belize. With over a million speakers, it is one of the fastest-growing and most territorially expanding Mayan languages. Q'eqchi' culture preserves agricultural ceremonies tied to maize, devotion to the Tzuultaq'a ('Mountain-Valley'), the guardian spirit of the land, and a strong communal life.

Verapaz was evangelized in a distinctive way: after initial resistance, the Dominicans led by Bartolomé de las Casas promoted a 'peaceful' conquest from the 1530s–1540s, which gave the region the name 'True Peace' (Verapaz). The friars learned and documented Q'eqchi' and regrouped the population into doctrinal towns. Despite colonial control, the region's relative isolation favored the preservation of the language and many cultural practices.

Q'eqchi' is today the second most spoken Mayan language in Guatemala and shows high vitality, with strong intergenerational transmission and monolingual communities in rural areas. The ALMG standardizes its writing and promotes educational materials, and the language enjoys recognition within Guatemala's framework of linguistic rights and the 1996 Peace Accords. Its ongoing demographic and geographic expansion makes it a notable case of Mayan linguistic resilience, even as it faces pressures from land dispossession and migration.