Aldama is a municipality of the northeastern

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

. According to the census of 2010, the municipality had an area of and a population of 29,470, including the town of Aldama with a population of 13,661.

History

The region of Aldama prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the early 16th century was the northern outpost of the

Huastec Huastec can refer to either: *Huastec people, an indigenous group of Mexico *Huastec language (also called "Wasteko" and "Teenek"), spoken by the Huastec people * Huastec civilization The Huastec civilization (sometimes spelled Huaxtec or Wastek ...

culture, a maize growing culture remotely related to the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

. The first European to traverse the region was

Francisco de Garay Francisco de Garay (1475 in Sopuerta, Biscay – 1523) was a Spanish Basque conquistador. He was a companion to Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World and arrived in Hispaniola in 1493. Here he attracted attention when he e ...

in 1523. Maize cultivation reached approximately to the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward ...

beyond which lived the hunter-gathering

Coahuiltecan people The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter-gatherers. First encountered by Europ ...

. Spanish settlement of Aldama began in 1785 when arrival of 76 families comprising 293 persons from the Mexican state later known as

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

. A

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

mission called San Vicente del Platanal was established to convert the local Indian people, wean them away from their semi-nomadic livestyle, and concentrate them into settlements. Aldama was founded on April 15, 1790, under the name of ''Villa de la Divina Pastora de las Presas del Rey''. In 1828, the municipality was renamed Aldama in honor of Ignacio Aldama, a hero of the

Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

Geography

Aldama is bordered by the municipalities of

Soto La Marina Soto la Marina is a town in Soto la Marina Municipality located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It was directly hit by Hurricane Alex in 2010. It is located on the banks of the Soto la Marina river, just up river from the small ocean port of ...

to the north,

Altamira Altamira may refer to: People *Altamira (surname) Places * Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving *Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará * Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...

to the south,

Casas Casas may refer to: People *Casas (surname) Places Argentina * Casas, locality in Santa Fe Province Mexico * Casas Municipality, Tamaulipas * Casas Grandes, prehistoric archaeological site in Chihuahua * Casas Grandes, Chihuahua * Casas G ...

and González to the west, and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

to the east. The northwestern corner of Aldama is at the southern extremity of the mountain range known as the

Sierra de Tamaulipas The Sierra de Tamaulipas is an isolated, semi-tropical mountain range in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Its highest point is . There are no cities or towns in the Sierra and the small population is largely agricultural. The higher elevations o ...

. The primary natural vegetation found in Aldama is tropical thorn forest (

Tamaulipan matorral The Tamaulipan matorral is an ecoregion in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental range in northeastern Mexico. It is a transitional ecoregion between the Tamaulipan mezquital and the Sierra Mad ...

). At higher elevations with higher rainfall and lower temperatures, are three major vegetation types. Tropical deciduous forest is found at elevations of . The average height of this closed-canopy forest is about . Montane scrub is found in dry areas between elevation. This vegetation type consists of low thickets and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. Huisache is a common shrub. Pine-oak forests are found in a small area at an elevation greater than . Mexico Cenotes

Near the town of Aldama is a limestone

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

area in which many caves and

cenote A cenote ( or ; ) is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. The regional term is specifically associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where cenotes were commonly used for ...

s (water-filled sinkholes) are found, including

Zacatón Zacatón is a cenote (a thermal water-filled sinkhole) belonging to the Zacatón system - a group of unusual karst features located in Aldama Municipality near the Sierra de Tamaulipas in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is the d ...

which is the deepest sinkhole in the world with a depth of .http://www.ri.cmu.edu/publication_view.html?pub_id=6144; "Cenotes de Aldama: RTP-94" http://www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/regionalizacion/doctos/rtp_094.pdf, accessed 26 Feb 2013 In 1994, cave-diving pioneer

Sheck Exley Sheck Exley (April 1, 1949 – April 6, 1994) was an American cave diver. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of cave diving, and he wrote two major books on the subject: '' Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival'' and ''Caverns Mea ...

died attempting to dive to the bottom of Zacatón.

Climate

Freezes are rare in Aldama with an all-time low temperature of

Aldama's climate borders on three different Koppen climatic classifications:: Tropical savanna (Aw), Steppe (BS), and Humid subtropical (Cwa). The higher elevations of the municipality are slightly cooler and wetter.

Hydrography

There are 3 important rivers in Aldama: the Tigre river, the Barbarena river and the Carrizal river.

Economy

Cattle are by far the most important agricultural product of the municipality. The most valuable crops grown are

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

tomatoes The tomato is the edible Berry (botany), berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to th ...

, and

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and ...

. Fishing is important as a source of income and food. Among the products are oysters,

huachinango The northern red snapper (''Lutjanus campechanus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is native to the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, where it inhabits e ...

(red snapper),

snook Snook, Snooks, or Snoek may refer to: Fishes * Family Centropomidae (snooks) ** Common snook * Family Esocidae (pikes) ** '' Haplochromis insidiae'' ** Northern pike * Family Gempylidae (snake mackerels) ** Blacksail snake mackerel or black ...

tarpon Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans. Species a ...

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

, and sea trout.

Tourism

The municipality has several natural attractions. There are pristine and undeveloped beaches among them: Barra del Tordo, Morón, and Rancho Nuevo. They are very popular among bass fishing aficionados and winter Texans. They are easily reached from

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, or

Brownsville, TX Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

. Cenotes attract sight-seers and cave divers.

External links

NASA exploration of Cenote Zacatón
– world's 2nd deepest known sinkhole

References

{{Tamaulipas Municipalities of Tamaulipas