The Ameca Valley ( nah, Iquajocho, es, Valle de Ameca), also known as the Ameca-Cocula Valley, is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

and

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

situated in central

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

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 is surrounded by mountain ranges of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

. The three main cities and municipalities of the valley are

Ameca Ameca may refer to: Biology * Ameca (fish), ''Ameca'' (fish), a monotypic ray-finned fish genus in the family Goodeidae, with the only species ''Ameca splendens'' Places in Mexico *Ameca, Jalisco, a city and municipality in central Jalisco *Chiefd ...

San Martín de Hidalgo San Martín de Hidalgo, formerly San Martín de la Cal, is the largest town and municipal seat of San Martín de Hidalgo Municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. As of 2015, the town had a population of 7,819. It is located 16 km (10 mi ...

, and Cocula. The

Ameca River The Ameca River ( es, Río Ameca) is a river of some in length in western Mexico. It rises in the Bosque de la Primavera in Jalisco, 23 km to the west of state capital Guadalajara; flows through the city of Ameca; and then forms the bou ...

and its smaller tributaries, such as the San Martín River, drain into the valley thus creating the Ameca drainage basin. The valley is part of the federal sub-division Región Valles, for which the city of Ameca serves as its seat.

History

During the early 14th century, the valley was discovered by various

Nahua The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...

peoples, who established the ancient chiefdoms of Amecatl and Cocollán there. After the arrival of the Spaniards, the valley was split into large land grants, farms, and grazing lands.

References

{{coord missing, Jalisco Landforms of Jalisco Valleys of Mexico