Papaloapan | |
|---|---|
Region | |
 Oaxaco regions - Papaloapam to the north | |
| Coordinates: 18°06′0″N96°07′0″W / 18.10000°N 96.11667°W | |
| Country | Mexico |
| State | Oaxaca |
| Area | |
| • Total | 8,678 km2 (3,351 sq mi) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 429,681 |
The Cuenca del Papaloapan Region is in the north of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where the foothills of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca meet the coastal plain of Veracruz. [1] The principal city is San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, the second largest in the state of Oaxaca. [2]
The region is bordered on the east by the Cañada region and on the south by the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca. On the north it meets the state of Puebla and to the west the state of Veracruz. The region has an area of 8,678 km2 with two districts, Choapan and Tuxtepec. The climate is hot and humid all year, with average temperature 24 °C to 26 °C and average annual precipitation of 2,000mm to 4,500mm.
The Papaloapan region has diverse flora and lush vegetation, including amate, fig, locust, mahogany, oak, cedar, aloe, palm and ceiba hormiguillo. Fauna include porcupine, armadillo, jaguar, raccoon, gray fox, brocket deer and white-tailed deer. There is a great variety of birds. The region today suffers from serious pollution in the Papaloapan river and an alarming increase in erosion due to livestock.
As of the 2005 census, the region had a population of 429,681 inhabitants, or 49.51 inhabitants per square kilometer. The population includes Chinantecs, Mazatec, Mixtecs, Zapotecs and Mestizos, but the indigenous influence is not as visible in social and cultural life as in the other regions of Oaxaca. Given its location in the coastal plain, the region tends to identify itself more with the state of Veracruz than Oaxaca. Before 1958, the region was represented in the Lunes del Cerro festival by the Fandango Jarocho. Governor Alfonso Pérez Gasga then decided to replace the Fandango with a new dance that had a more typical Oaxacan nature, creating the "Flor de Piña" which would eventually represent the region.
The region is economically the most active and industrialized in the state. It contains the major Cerro de Oro and Miguel Alemán dams, which play a central role in flood prevention in the Papaloapan River basin in Veracruz, and are important sources of hydroelectric power. [3] Industries include small-scale manufacture of fine wood furniture, sugar mills, chemical plants, refrigeration, fruit packers, paper mills, ethanol distillery and brewery. The region has deposits of oil, gold, uranium, coal and copper that have not yet been exploited.
With fertile, well-watered soil, pineapple is the primary crop, as well as rice, mango, litchi, banana, sugarcane, watermelon, green pepper, snuff, lemon, rubber, malanga and orange. There are large areas of grassland used for grazing cattle, thoroughbred horses, pigs and poultry. These are affecting soil fertility. Fisheries catch sunfish, tilapia, and red tenhuayaca in the springs, dams and rivers.
The region first had contact with Spanish conquistadors who arrived seeking rivers of gold. The first major settlement was the town of Tuxtepec in the year 1811, and on March 15, 1825 it was declared a municipality. During the war of independence, it was the base of the Soyaltepec (Mazatecan) rebels, and there was similar resistance during the Empire of Maximilian.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the federal government became interested in development of the economic potential of the Oaxacan region. Governor Víctor Bravo Ahuja, originally from Tuxtepec, gave a strong impetus for development and modernization of the area, promoting agricultural, commercial and industrial development.
The region has many spas, with most attractions in the tributaries of the Valle Nacional River such as Zuzul, Los Cocos, Piedra Quemada and Los Sauces. This area has an exquisite tropical climate with clear waters and lush forests inhabited by exotic birds such as toucans, macaws, parrots and pelicans. Ecotourism is the most important tourist activity, the region having numerous streams, caves, swamps and lagoons of sulphurous waters, providing opportunities for forest mountain hiking, horseback riding through the jungle and cave exploration.
Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of the United Mexican States. It is divided into 570 municipalities, of which 418 are governed by the system of usos y costumbres with recognized local forms of self-governance. Its capital city is Oaxaca de Juárez.
The Papaloapan River is one of the main rivers of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Its name comes from the Nahuatl papaloapan meaning "river of the butterflies".
San Juan Bautista is the Spanish-language name of Saint John the Baptist. It may refer to:
Huitzilac is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. It stands at 19°01′42″N99°16′02″W and at an altitude of 2,561 m (8,402 ft) above sea level.
The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southern Mexico. It is primarily in the state of Oaxaca, and extends north into the states of Puebla and Veracruz.
San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, or simply referred to as Tuxtepec, is the head of the municipality by the same name and is the second most populous city of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tuxtepec District of the Papaloapan Region. As of the 2020 census, the city is home to a population of 103,609 and 159,452 in the municipality, though census data are often under reported for various reasons.
Santa María Jacatepec is a town and municipality located in the state of Oaxaca 11 km north of the Valle Nacional. "Jacatepec" comes from Nahuatl meaning 'on jackal hill.' It is part of the Tuxtepec District of the Papaloapan Region, and is only 30 meters above sea level.
San Felipe Jalapa de Díaz is a town, and the surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is some 50 km west of Tuxtepec, and is part of the Tuxtepec District of the Papaloapan Region.
Temascal is a town in the Mexican state of Oaxaca which is the seat of the municipality of San Miguel Soyaltepec. It is part of the Tuxtepec District of the Papaloapan Region. The name Soyaltepec means "hill of palm trees" in Náhuatl but the area also carries the Mazatec name of Naxhingee which means “ragged hill”.
Loma Bonita, Oaxaca is a town and municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico. It is part of the Tuxtepec District of the Papaloapan Region. As of 2020, the municipality had a population of 40,943.
San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 394.23 km² within the Sierra Juárez mountains. It is part of the Tuxtepec District of the Papaloapan Region. The town lies on the north bank of the Valle Nacional River, a tributary of the Papaloapan River.
The Valle Nacional River is a river of Oaxaca state in Mexico. The river originates in the Sierra Juárez. The ecology of the region, originally one of pine forests, is threatened by logging, agriculture and grazing. The Valle Nacional flows past San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional, and joins the Santo Domingo River to the southwest of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec to form the Papaloapan River.
The Tonto River is a river of Oaxaca, Mexico that flows from the mountains of Zongolica. It is dammed by the Miguel Alemán Dam near the town of Temascal or Nuevo Soyaltepec, forming the Miguel Alemán Lake. Below the dam, the river flows southeast past San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, where it joins the Santo Domingo River to form the Papaloapan River.
The Cerro de Oro Dam, also called the Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado Dam, is on the Santo Domingo River in the San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec municipality of the Papaloapan Region of Oaxaca state in southern Mexico. The dam operates in conjunction with the Miguel Alemán Dam, located on the Tonto River to control floods in the Papaloapan basin in Veracruz state. Construction began in 1973 and the dam was completed in May 1989. About 26,000 people were displaced by the project. Water quality in the reservoir is poor and deteriorating, affecting fish catches.
The Santo Domingo River, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, is one of the main tributaries of the Papaloapan River. It is formed by the confluence of the Salado and Grande rivers, which drain the dry Tehuacán and Cuicatlán valleys west of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca. The Santo Domingo river flows east through the Sierra Madre, dividing the Sierra Zongolica sub-range to the north from the Sierra Juárez to the south. It joins with the Valle Nacional River above San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec to form the Papaloapan.
The Miguel Alemán Dam is on the Tonto River in the Papaloapan Region of Oaxaca state in southern Mexico, just upstream from the town of Temascal, Oaxaca, forming the Miguel Alemán Lake with an area of 47,800 hectares. The dam operates in conjunction with the Cerro de Oro Dam, located on the Santo Domingo River to control floods in the Papaloapan basin in Veracruz state. Together with the 22,000 hectare reservoir of the Cerro de Oro, which is joined by a channel to the Miguel Alemán Lake, the combined capacity is 13,380 million cubic metres. The lake formed by the dam is scenic, providing income from fishing and tourism. The northwestern shore and islands have been declared a nature reserve. The dam includes the Temascal hydroelectric plant.
Tuxtepec District is located in the north of the Papaloapan Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.
The Indigenous people of Oaxaca are descendants of the inhabitants of what is now the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, who were present before the Spanish invasion. Several cultures flourished in the ancient region of Oaxaca from as far back as 2000 BC, of whom the Zapotecs and Mixtecs were perhaps the most advanced, with complex social organization and sophisticated arts.
The first federal electoral district of Oaxaca(Distrito electoral federal 01 de Oaxaca) is one of the 300 electoral districts into which Mexico is divided for elections to the federal Chamber of Deputies and one of 10 such districts in the state of Oaxaca.