Calnali is a town and one of the 84

municipalities of Hidalgo Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo is a Administrative divisions of Mexico#States, state in central Mexico divided into 84 municipalities of Mexico, municipalities. According to the 2020 Mexican Census, Hidalgo is the States of Mexico, 16th most populous st ...

, in central-eastern

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 ...

. The municipality covers an area of 190.2 km². Calnali is a

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

name meaning ''house on the other side of the river''. As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 15,815. The ''cabecera'' or municipal seat is primarily ''

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

'', while the outlying communities (including Papatlatla, Tula, Atempa, and Ahuacatlan) are heavily populated by

-speaking indigenous people. The town's

tianguis A is an open-air market or bazaar that is traditionally held on certain market days in a town or city neighborhood in Mexico and Central America. This bazaar tradition has its roots well into the pre-Hispanic period and continues in many cases e ...

is held every Sunday morning in the central plaza and surrounding streets. Despite its small size, Calnali is important as a regional cultural center, hosting an annual music festival featuring local ''Bandas de Viento'' and '' huapango'' performers, as well as an annual festival of indigenous culture. Large celebrations are also held for the Day of the Dead,

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

and 25 April which is the festival of Calnali's patron saint, San Marcos. In the 2008 municipal elections, Calnali became the first and only municipality in Hidalgo to be governed by the progressive

Convergencia Citizens' Movement ( es, Movimiento Ciudadano) is a political party in Mexico. Dante Delgado Rannauro was its first leader. It was initially known as Convergence for Democracy ( es, Convergencia por la Democracia), but the name was shortened to ...

party. In 2009, over the objections of the municipal administration, the Diocese of Huejutla temporarily suspended all Catholic Church functions in Calnali, including baptisms and funerals, in response to indigenous carnival activities on

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...

. The municipal government reverted to the Partido Revolucionario Institucional in 2011. Calnali supports six hotels, including three rustic eco-tourism lodges. The

Centro de Investigaciones Cientifícas de las Huastecas 'Aguazarca' Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas 'Aguazarca' (CICHAZ) is a research station in Calnali, Hidalgo, Mexico, located at an elevation of 986 m on the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Oriental. Founded in 2005, CICHAZ is privately ...

(CICHAZ) is located on the western outskirts of the municipal seat. Central Calnali is located at 980 m elevation, and the entire municipality occupies the eastern slope of the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

. The terrain is largely mountainous Veracruz moist forests fragmented by pasture and cropland. The Río Calnali and the Río Tula/Atempa, tributaries of the Río Conzintla and ultimately the

Río Pánuco Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, traverse the municipality from west to east. Each of these rivers is a hybrid zone between two species of the swordtail fish

Xiphophorus ''Xiphophorus'' is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes, native to Mexico and northern Central America. The many ''Xiphophorus'' species are all known as platyfish (or platies) and s ...

Gallery

Image:Cerro de la aguja.JPG, Cerro de la Aguja, Needle Mountain Guardian of Calnali Image:Calnali 98.jpg, Downtown Calnali in 1998 Image:R Tula Valley.JPG, Valley of the Río Tula, Calnali, facing west from Papatlatla Image:Cerro de la Aguja.jpg, View of Cerro de la Aguja (Needle Mountain) from Rancho Ahuimol, Calnali Image:Calnali center 2009.jpg, Plaza Calnali in 2009 Image:calnali_bridge.jpg, One of Calnali's historical bridges Image:quinta_la_palapa.jpg, Quinta la Palapa, Calnali's Eco-Tourism Lodge Image:calnali_alley.JPG, View of the Serpent Mountain from an alley in downtown Calnali

References

{{Hidalgo Municipalities of Hidalgo (state) Populated places in Hidalgo (state) Nahua settlements