The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or Oaxaca City, is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Mexican state. It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín, extending to the banks of the Atoyac River. Heritage tourism makes up an important part of the city's economy, and it has numerous colonial-era structures as well as significant archeological sites and elements of the continuing native Zapotec and Mixtec cultures. The city, together with the nearby archeological site of Monte Albán, was designated in 1987 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the site of the month-long cultural festival called the "Guelaguetza", which features Oaxacan dance from the seven regions, music, and a beauty pageant for indigenous women.
Puerto Escondido is a small port and tourist center in the municipality of San Pedro Mixtepec Distrito 22 in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Prior to the 1930s, there was no town. The bay had been used as a port intermittently to ship coffee, but there was no permanent settlement due to the lack of potable water. The name "Puerto Escondido" had roots in the legend of a woman who escaped her captors and hid here. The Nahuatl word for this area was Zicatela, meaning “place of large thorns". Today, it refers to the area's most famous beach.
Magdalena Tequisistlán is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, located 470 km (290 mi) southeast of Mexico City. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region. The town was founded in 1410 under the present name. In the Chontal language it was known as "Maadú".
San Pedro Pochutla is a city and municipality located in the south of Oaxaca state, Mexico next to the Pacific Ocean. It is an important commercial, transportation and administrative hub for the Pochutla District in the east of the Costa Region. Pochutla is located at the junction of coastal Highway 200 and Highway 175 to Oaxaca, with 175 functioning as the town's main thoroughfare. Its name means "place of kapok trees ", and most of the city is built on a lakebed which was drained during the colonial period. The municipality is best known as being the home of the oceanside communities of Puerto Ángel and Zipolite.
Santa María del Tule is a town and a municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Centro District in the Valles Centrales region. It is located 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) SE of the city of Oaxaca on Highway 190. The town and municipality are named for the patron saint of the place, the Virgin Mary and “Tule” comes from the Náhuatl word “tulle” or “tullin” which means bulrush.
Tlacolula de Matamoros is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, about 30 km from the center of the city of Oaxaca on Federal Highway 190, which leads east to Mitla and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is part of the Tlacolula District in the east of the Valles Centrales Region.
Ocotlán de Morelos is a town and municipality in the state of Oaxaca, about 35 km south of the center of the city of Oaxaca along Highway 175. It is part of the Ocotlán District in the south of the Valles Centrales Region. The area was a significant population center at the time of the Spanish Conquest, and for that reason an important Dominican monastery was established here in the 16th century. The complex still exists, with the church still being used for worship and the cloister area used as a museum. While mostly quiet, the city is an important distribution and transportation center for the south of the Central Valleys region of Oaxaca, a function which is expected to be reinforced with the opening of new highway being built to connect the city of Oaxaca with the Pacific coast. The city is known for artist Rodolfo Morales, who painted aspects of his hometown in his works and sponsored projects to save and restore historic monuments here. For generations the municipality has been known for its crafts, with the ceramics making Aguilar family producing some of the best known craftsmen.
Villa de Etla is a town and municipality located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the far northwestern part of the Central Valley of Oaxaca, about seventeen km from the capital. The town is centered on the church and former monastery of San Pedro y San Pablo, and as municipal seat functions as the local government for six other communities. Most of the town's history has been lost due to the lack of records, but oral tradition states that it was founded sometime in the 15th century. Today, the town is noted for its weekly Wednesday market, where one can find traditional merchandise such a local variety of white cheese, tamales, frames for donkeys and goat barbacoa prepared in an earthen oven.
El Espinal --Spanish for 'the spine' is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 82.93 km². It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region. In 2005 the municipality had a total population of 8,219.
San Antonino Castillo Velasco is a town and municipality located south of the city of Oaxaca, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Ocotlán District in the south of the Valles Centrales Region Its population is less than 5,000, but it was the scene of a number of violent confrontations in the 2000s. The town is known for its crafts, especially fine embroidery and items made with a flower known as flor inmortal, so called because it does not lose its color when it is dried. The name San Antonino is in honor of Anthony of Padua, who is the town's patron saint. “Castillo Velasco” was added in honor of José María Castillo Velasco, who was born here in 1820 and played important roles in the Reform War and French Intervention in Mexico.
San Bartolo Coyotepec is a town and municipality located in the center of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is in the Centro District of the Valles Centrales region about fifteen km south of the capital of Oaxaca.
San Juan Mazatlán is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Sierra Mixe district within the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca Region. Mazatlán's name in Nahuatl means "the place of deer".
San Martín Tilcajete is a town and municipality located about 23 kilometres (14 mi) from the city of Oaxaca, in the state of Oaxaca, in the south of Mexico. It is part of the Ocotlán District in the south of the Valles Centrales Region
San Pedro Huamelula is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is in the west of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region, on the Pacific coast.
San Pedro Huilotepec is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region. "Huilotepec" means stone wasp.
Villa de Zaachila is a town and municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico, six km from the city of Oaxaca. It is part of the Zaachila District in the west of the Valles Centrales Region. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was the main city-state for the Valley of Oaxaca after the fall of Monte Albán, and the Zaachila Zapotecs were the prominent political force for much of the Valley of Oaxaca when the Spanish arrived. Since then, it has been mostly quiet, but political unrest has been prominent since 2006 and the municipality has two parallel governments.
San Pedro Mártir Quiechapa is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Yautepec District in the east of the Sierra Sur Region. The name Quiechapa in the Zapotec language means "stone woman."
San Pedro Nopala is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Teposcolula District in the center of the Mixteca Region. The name Nopala means "Where prickly pear cactus is abundant".
San Pedro Tapanatepec is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in southeastern Mexico. It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region. The town was founded on 23 April 1669, and became a municipality on March 15, 1825. The name means "broken hill". Before the arrival of the Spanish, the town was inhabited by Zoque people, and may have been part of the Xoconochco province of the Zapotec kingdom of Tehuantepec.
The Amuzgos are an indigenous people of Mexico. They primarily live in a region along the Guerrero/Oaxaca state border, chiefly in or near four municipalities: Xochistlahuaca, Tlacoachistlahuaca and Ometepec in Guerrero, and San Pedro Amuzgos in Oaxaca. The origin of the Amuzgos is not known, but their Amuzgo language is similar to the Mixtec language and their territory overlaps that of the Mixtec region. In the past, they dominated a larger area, but Mixtec domination, followed by the Spanish and the arrival of Afro-Mexicans pushed them into the more inaccessible mountain regions and away from the coast. The Amuzgos maintain much of their language and dress and are known for their textiles handwoven on backstrap looms with two-dimensional designs which can be complicated. The Amuzgo area is very poor with an economy mostly dependent on subsistence agriculture and handcraft production.
