Amatenango del Valle is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and one of the 122

municipalities of Chiapas Chiapas is a state in Southwest Mexico. According to the 2020 Mexican Census, it has the eighth largest population of all states with inhabitants and the 10th largest by land area spanning . Chiapas is officially divided into 124 municipalities, ...

, in southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It covers an area of . As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 8,728, up from 6,559 as of 2005. As of 2010, the town of Amatenango del Valle had a population of 4,661, up from 3,351 as of 2005. Other than the town of Amatenango del Valle, the municipality had 60 localities, none of which had a population over 1,000.

History

The territory of the municipality was originally settled during the

Classic Period Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE –&nbs ...

of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica by a group of Tzeltal settlers. Their settlement, in 1486, was invaded by

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

troops under Tiltototl. In 1528, following the Spanish Conquest, an ''

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

'' was established in the area.

References

Municipalities of Chiapas {{Chiapas-geo-stub