Xico, Valle de Chalco

Last updated
Xico
Coordinates: 19°17′30″N98°56′20″W / 19.29167°N 98.93889°W / 19.29167; -98.93889 Coordinates: 19°17′30″N98°56′20″W / 19.29167°N 98.93889°W / 19.29167; -98.93889
Country Mexico
State Mexico
Municipality Valle de Chalco
Government
  Municipal presidentWilfredo Torres González (PRD)
Time zone UTC-6 (CST)
  Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)

Xico is a city in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of Valle de Chalco municipality, with which it is, for all practical purposes, coterminous. The municipality lies adjacent to the east side of the Federal District (Distrito Federal) and is part of the Mexico City metropolitan area. The city and municipality lie on the old lakebed of Lake Chalco, which was drained like much of the Basin of Mexico. The city name comes from the nearby Xico hill (Cerro de Xico) and the name of the municipality comes from the old lake plus a reference to the "Programa Nacional de Solidaridad" (National Program of Solidarity) which was initiated here. The municipality's glyph and shield make reference to both names. It is a distinct entity from the city and municipality of Chalco, which is nearby. "Chalco" in both names refers to the Chalca tribe that were one of the original inhabitants of the area. [1]

Contents

The city

Early pre-Hispanic history refers to the area around the Cerro de Xico and the Island of Xico as most of the modern city was underwater until relatively recently. The area was mostly fishing villages from 900 BC to 100 AD. However, from 550 to 650, the area was dominated by the Teotihuacan culture. From 650 to 750, an Otomi settlement gained prominence. The Acxotecas arrived around 1328, the same time that chinampa farming began here. Xico was conquered by the Aztec Tezozomoc in 1381, after which groups of Mexicas settle here extending the chinampa farming system in the 14th and 15th centuries. The area was ceded to Hernán Cortés by the Spanish king in 1529. The modern area began in the 19th century when Porfirio Díaz ordered the draining of Lake Chalco which devastated the economies of the former coastline communities. The Mexican Revolution tried to compensate these communities by the creation of ejidos, the two largest here being Estación Xico with 507 hectares and San Miguel Xico with 250 hectares. These ejidos, as well as the present-day city and municipality, rest almost entirely on former lakebed. [1]

For the most part, the area laid barren until the late 1970s, when there was a sudden influx of families coming from the central and southern parts of Mexico in search of land. Despite its proximity, there was no infrastructure for basic services including schooling for children. Many people bought ejido land causing legal problems. The federal government had to step in to install basic services and regularize the property rights of more than 77,000 parcels of ejido land that was sold. However, the area did not become a separate municipality until 1994. In the census of 2005 the population of Xico was 331,321 people. [2]

The only notable sites in the area are The Cerro del Marqués which contains architecture and archeological remains but these are not open to the public. However, there is the Museo Comunitario (Community Museum) which displays local archeological finds located in the Casa de Cultura “Chalchiuhtlicue”. There is also the Ex – Hacienda de Xico which was constructed at the same time the lake was drained. [1]

The municipality

As municipal seat, Xico has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Las Bombas, Comalchica, Santa Cruz, El Triángulo, El Invernadero, Colonia Ampliación (San Miguel Tláhuac), and Ejido Tulyehualco (Tabla Número Nueve) as well as 13 unnamed communities. It has a total population of 332,279. [2]

The municipality borders the municipalities of Ixtapaluca, Chicoloapan, Los Reyes Acaquilpan, al oriente con Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias and borders to the south with the Distrito Federal (Delegaciones Iztapalapa y Tláhuac). It covers a total surface area of 46.36 km2 (17.9 sq mi). [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State of Mexico</span> State of central Mexico

The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the most populous, as well as the most densely populated, state in the country.

<i>Chinampa</i>

Chinampa is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico. They are built up on wetlands of a lake or freshwater swamp for agricultural purposes, and their proportions ensure optimal moisture retention. The United Nations designated it a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2018. The Aztecs created the very first Chinampa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iztacalco</span> Borough in Mexico City, Mexico

Iztacalco is a borough in Mexico City. It is located in the central-eastern area and it is the smallest of the city's boroughs. The area's history began in 1309 when the island of Iztacalco, in what was Lake Texcoco, was settled in 1309 by the Mexica who would later found Tenochtitlan, according to the Codex Xolotl. The island community would remain small and isolated through the colonial period, but drainage projects in the Valley of Mexico dried up the lake around it. The area was transformed into a maze of small communities, artificial islands called chinampas and solid farmland divided by canals up until the first half of the 20th century. Politically, the area has been reorganized several times, being first incorporated in 1862 and the modern borough coming into existence in 1929. Today, all of the canals and farmland are dried out and urbanized as the most densely populated borough and the second most industrialized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iztapalapa</span> Borough in Mexico City, Mexico

Iztapalapa is a borough in Mexico City, located on the east side of the entity. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa, which is officially called Iztapalapa de Cuitláhuac for disambiguation purposes. The rest is made up of a number of other communities which are governed by the city of Iztapalapa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xochimilco</span> Borough in Mexico City, Mexico

Xochimilco is a borough of Mexico City. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the precolonial period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tláhuac</span> Borough in Mexico City, Mexico

Tláhuac is a borough in the Mexico City, located in the southeastern edge of the entity. Though Tláhuac still contains rural communities within its borders, mostly in the southern and eastern portions, the borough has undergone a massive shift from urbanization, especially in its northwest. Tláhuac has experienced the fastest rate of population growth in Mexico City since the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magdalena Contreras</span>

La Magdalena Contreras is a borough in the Mexico City. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 239,086 inhabitants and is the third-least populous of Mexico City's boroughs. It lies at an elevation of 2,365 m (7,759 ft) above sea level. It is named after two historically important communities—La Magdalena Atlitic and Colonia Contreras. The northern end of the borough is urbanized. The rest of Magdalena Contreras, with its mountains and ravines, is designated as a conservation zone. However, urban sprawl has put pressure on these conservation areas. In an effort to preserve the area's forests and natural resources, the borough government has started promoting ecotourism. The largest ecotourism park is Los Dinamos where canyons and ravines are cut by streams and freshwater springs that eventually form the Río Magdalena, Mexico City’s only remaining free-flowing river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Paz, State of Mexico</span> Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

La Paz is a municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico, with its municipal seat in the town of Los Reyes Acaquilpan. It is located on the dividing line between Mexico State and the eastern edge of the Federal District and is part of the Greater Mexico City area. The area was part of a region called "Atlicpac" which in Náhuatl means 'above or at the edge of water.' The current city's/municipality's glyph symbolizes water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valley of Mexico</span> Highlands plateau in central Mexico

The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec. The ancient Aztec term Anahuac and the phrase Basin of Mexico are both used at times to refer to the Valley of Mexico. The Basin of Mexico became a well known site that epitomized the scene of early Classic Mesoamerican cultural development as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Andrés Mixquic</span>

San Andres Míxquic is a community located in the southeast of the Distrito Federal in the borough of Tláhuac. The community was founded by the 11th century on what was a small island in Lake Chalco. “Míxquic” means “in mesquite” but the community's culture for most of its history was based on chinampas, gardens floating on the lake's waters and tied to the island. Drainage of Lake Chalco in the 19th and 20th century eventually destroyed the chinampas but the community is still agricultural in nature, despite being officially in the territory of Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias</span> Town & Municipality in State of Mexico ----, Mexico

Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias is a city that is municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Chalco. It lies in the eastern part of the State of Mexico just east of the Federal District of Mexico and is considered part of the Mexico City metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Pedro Pochutla</span> City & Municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ixtapaluca</span> Town & Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Ixtapaluca is a city and a municipality in the eastern part of the State of Mexico in Mexico. It lies between the Federal District and the western border of the state of Puebla. The name Ixtapaluca means "Where the salt gets wet".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valle de Chalco</span> Municipality in State of Mexico ----, Mexico

Valle de Chalco, officially named Valle de Chalco Solidaridad, is a municipality located in the State of Mexico, Mexico, on the eastern outskirts of the metropolitan area of Mexico City. Formerly part of the municipality of Chalco, it was split off as a separate entity in 1994, during the presidency of Salinas de Gortari, under his Programa Nacional de Solidaridad. The municipality lies on the old bed of Lake Chalco, which was substantially drained in the nineteenth century. Technically, the municipal seat is Xico, after a high point of land that once formed an island, and now remains as a small hill within an otherwise monotonous, urban expanse. "Chalco" refers to the Chalca tribe, whose territory covered the area around the lake, prior to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Chalco may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tultitlán de Mariano Escobedo</span> Town in State of Mexico, Mexico

Tultitlán de Mariano Escobedo is the fourth largest town in and municipal seat of the municipality of Tultitlán located in the northeastern part of the State of México in Mexico. It lies adjacent to the northern tip of the Federal District and is part of the Greater Mexico City urban area. Both the city and the municipality are interchangeably known as San Antonio Tultitlán or simply Tultitlán, a name which comes from Náhuatl meaning "among the tule plants". "de Mariano Escobedo" was added to the city's name in 1902 in honor of the general who fought in the Mexican–American War and for the liberals during the period of La Reforma with Benito Juárez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenango del Aire</span> Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Tenango del Aire is a municipality located in the southeast portion of the State of Mexico and is about 42 km southeast of Mexico City. The municipal seat is the town of Tenango del Aire. The municipality is bordered by Temamatla, Tlalmanalco, Juchitepec, and Ayapango. Despite the fact that this municipality is distinctly rural, it falls within the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. The name “Tenango del Aire” came about in two parts. Originally and until 1890, the town was known as Tenango de Topopula. “Tenango” means “walled in” or “fenced by stones.” The second part is due to visits by President Porfirio Diaz, who commented on the winds that are prevalent here. “del Aire” means “of the air.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuahilama</span>

Cuahilama is a Hill and an archaeological site located south east of Santa Cruz Acalpixca, in the Cuahilama neighborhood, near the Xochimilco Archaeological Museum, in Mexico City. It was a ceremonial center, in the hill are prehispanic images engraved in basaltic rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xochimilco (altepetl)</span>

Xochimilco was the most important city of the Xochimilca people, one of the Nahua tribes that migrated to the Mesoamerica region. At the same time it was the name of the altepetl of this group and historically referred to both interchangebly. The city was founded around 900 AD. It grew to become an important city in the Valley of Mexico, until in 1430, the Mexica of Tenochtitlan succeeded in conquering the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pueblo Culhuacán</span> Neighborhood of Mexico City in Iztapalapa

Pueblo Culhuacán is an officially designated neighborhood of the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City, which used to be a major pre-Hispanic city. Ancient Culhuacán was founded around 600 CE and the site has been continuously occupied since. The city was conquered by the Aztecs in the 15th century, but the Aztecs considered the city to have status with early rulers marrying into Culhua nobility to legitimize themselves. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Franciscans and later the Augustinians made Culhuacán a major evangelization center, with the latter building the monastery complex which remains to this day. Today, Culhucan is fully integrated into Mexico City physically and politically. This area was designated as a "Barrio Mágico" by the city in 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Enciclopedia de los Municipios de Mexico Estado de Mexico Valle de Chalco Solidaridad" . Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  2. 1 2 "Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática". Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved 2008-03-29.