Epitacio Huerta is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

, located approximately northeast of the state capital of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

. It is named after General , who fought in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

and under

Juan Álvarez Juan Nepomuceno Álvarez Hurtado de Luna, generally known as Juan Álvarez, (27 January 1790 – 21 August 1867) was a general, long-time caudillo (regional leader) in southern Mexico, and president of Mexico for two months in 1855, following ...

in the

Revolution of Ayutla In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, and served as

governor of Michoacán According to the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, the exercise of the Ejectivo Power of this Mexican organization, it is deposited in a single individual, that denominates Constitutional Governor of ...

from 1858 to 1862.

Geography

The municipality of Epitacio Huerta is located in 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 ...

in northeast Michoacán at an altitude between . It borders the Queretan municipalities of

Huimilpan Huimilpan is the seat of Huimilpan Municipality of the state of Querétaro. It is part of the Sierra Queretana, and sometimes included in the Metropolitan Area of Querétaro. It has an alpine weather, and is home to the Otomí people The Ot ...

to the north and

Amealco de Bonfil Amealco is a town in the Mexican state of Querétaro. Its name is thought to mean ''place of springs'' in Nahuatl. The municipality seat, also called Amealco, is located 63 km southeast of Santiago de Querétaro. Its elevation is 2,605 meters ...

to the northeast, the Michoacanese municipalities of

Contepec Contepec is a municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacán, located east of the state capital of Morelia. Geography The municipality of Contepec is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in northeast Michoacán at an altitude between . It ...

to the southeast and

Maravatío Maravatío is a municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacán, representing 1.17% of its land area, or 691.55 km2. Etymology The modern word Maravatío comes from the Purépecha word Marhabatio, meaning a precious place or thing. Hist ...

to the southwest, and the Guanajuatean municipalities of

Jerécuaro Jerécuaro is a Mexican city (and municipality) located in the lowlands of the state of Guanajuato. The municipality has an area of 828.3 square kilometres (2.7% of the surface of the state) and is bordered to the north by Apaseo el Alto, to the ...

to the southwest and

Coroneo Coroneo is a Mexican city and municipality located in the state of Guanajuato. The municipality has an area of 122.90 square kilometres (0.40% of the surface of the state) and is bordered to the north and the east by the state of Querétaro, to the ...

to the northwest. The municipality covers an area of and comprises 0.72% of the state's area. As of 2009, farmland covered 59% of Epitacio Huerta's land area, while grasslands covered 22% and forests cover 14%.

Hydrography

The reservoir of the Tepuxtepec Dam on the

Lerma River The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near ...

forms part of Epitacio Huerta's southern border with Contepec. Built from 1926 to 1950, the dam and its reservoir are used for hydroelectricity generation, flood control and irrigation.

Climate

Epitacio Huerta's climate is temperate with rain in the summer. Average temperatures in the municipality range between , and average annual precipitation ranges between .

History

At the time of Spanish contact, the area of what is now Epitacio Huerta was a buffer zone between the

Tarascan state Tarascan or Tarasca is an exonym and the popular name for the Purépecha culture. It may refer to: * the Tarascan State, a Mesoamerican empire until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, located in (present-day) west-central Mexico * the Purépecha p ...

to the west and the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

to the east, and was inhabited by the

Guamare The Guamare people were an indigenous people of Mexico, who were established mostly in Guanajuato and at the border of Jalisco. They were part of the Chichimecas, a group of a nomadic hunter-gatherer culture and called themselves Children of the Wi ...

and Pame peoples. By 1632 the ranch of San José Buena Vista was established in what was then the ''

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

'' of Coroneo. In 1822, San José Buena Vista was itself recorded as a ''hacienda'' attached to

Tlalpujahua Tlalpujahua (; formally Tlalpujahua de Rayón) is a town and municipality located in the far northeast of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is a former mining town, home of the Dos Estrellas Mine, which was the leading producer of gold ...

. In 1962, San José Buena Vista was renamed in honour of General Epitacio Huerta. Effective 31 March 1962, it and the surrounding localities were separated from Contepec to form the municipality of Epitacio Huerta, in accordance with Decree No. 83 of 1 March 1962.

Administration

The municipal government comprises a president, a councillor (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''síndico''), and seven trustees (''regidores''), four elected by

relative majority A plurality vote (in American English) or relative majority (in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth) describes the circumstance when a party, candidate, or proposition polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all vote ...

and three by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. The current president of the municipality is Margarito Fierros.

Demographics

In the 2010 Mexican Census, the municipality of Epitacio Huerta recorded a population of 16,218 inhabitants living in 3992 households. The 2015 Intercensal Survey estimated a population of 16,622 inhabitants in Epitacio Huerta. There are 82 localities in the municipality, of which only the municipal seat, also known as Epitacio Huerta, is classified as urban. It recorded a population of 1222 inhabitants in the 2010 Census.

Economy

Agriculture is the main economic activity in Epitacio Huerta. Sand and gravel are mined at Palos Altos, located north of the municipal seat.

References

{{Michoacán, state=collapsed Municipalities of Michoacán 1962 establishments in Mexico States and territories established in 1962