Cofre de Perote, also known by its
Nahuatl names Naupa-Tecutépetl (from ''Nāuhpa-Tēuctēpetl'') and Nauhcampatépetl, both meaning something like "Place of Four Mountains" or "Mountain of the Lord of Four Places", is an inactive
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
located in the
Mexican state of
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
, at the point where the
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...
, home to all of Mexico's highest peaks, joins the
Sierra Madre Oriental. With an elevation of above sea level, Cofre de Perote is Mexico's eighth highest mountain summit.
Cofre de Perote is a
shield volcano, shaped very differently from the
stratovolcanic Pico de Orizaba
Pico de Orizaba, also known as Citlaltépetl (from Nahuatl = star, and = mountain), is an inactive stratovolcano, the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America, after Denali of Alaska in the United States and Mount ...
, which lies about to the southeast. A ''cofre'' is a
coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
, and the name alludes to a volcanic outcropping on the shield which constitutes the peak of the mountain. To the north is the town of
Perote, Veracruz
Perote is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It serves as the seat of government for the surrounding municipality of the same name, which borders on
Las Vigas de Ramírez, Acajete, Xico and Tlalnelhuayocan, and the stat ...
, after which the mountain is named.
The area surrounding the volcano was protected by the Mexican government as a
national park, known as Cofre de Perote National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Cofre de Perote), in 1937.
Climate
Cofre de Perote features a
humid alpine climate (Köppen climate classification ''ET''), without a dry season but having a rainier season in summer and autumn.
See also
*
List of mountain peaks of North America
This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaksThis article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence. All ...
**
List of mountain peaks of Mexico
This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaksThis article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least on topographic prominence. All sum ...
***
List of volcanoes in Mexico
References
*
External links
Programa de manejo del Parque nacional Cofre de Perote, Universidad Veracruzana
{{authority control
Volcanoes of Veracruz
Mountains of Mexico
Landforms of Veracruz
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
Sierra Madre Oriental
North American 4000 m summits
National parks of Mexico
Protected areas of Veracruz
Protected areas of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt