Lampazos de Naranjo is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

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

located in

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Its name is composed of two parts: the first honors the local plant ''

Xanthosoma ''Xanthosoma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the arum family, Araceae. The genus is native to tropical America but widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical regions. Several are grown for their starchy corms, an important food stap ...

robustum'', called ''lampazos'' in Spanish; the second, ''de Naranjo'', means "of General Naranjo" (a customary feature in Latin American names). According to the Mexican Statistics Authority 2000 Census, the municipality had 5,305 inhabitants.

Geography

Lampazos de Naranjo is located in the northwestern region of Nuevo León in the coordinates 27º01´N latitude and 100º31´W longitude. Lampazos has an elevation of 335m above sea level. The municipality covers a 4,020 km² area. The Lampazos mountain range crosses the municipality from north to south. The Carrizal hills and the Mesa de Catujanes are located within Lampazos. Its main river contains large amounts of salt.

History

Lampazos was founded November 12, 1698 by Fray Diego de Salazar under the name of “San Antonio de la Nueva Tlaxcala y misión de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de la Punta de Lampazos” until 1877, its name was changed to Villa de Lampazos. Today, it is known as “Lampazos de Naranjo” in honor to a hero of the French intervention and the Reformation, general Francisco Naranjo. In 1935, Its territorial extension was reduced because the municipality of Anáhuac was created. On December 28, 1977 Lampazos grew and was classified as a city. Owing to the great number of historical people, the municipality is known as “the land of illustrious men”. Among them: General Francisco Naranjo de la Garza (1839–1908), General Santiago Vidaurri Valdes, General Juan Zuazua Esparza, Captain

Juan Ignacio Ramon ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

, General Pablo González Garza, General Heliodoro T. Perez Trevino, Nemesio Garcia Naranjo, General Antonio I. Villareal, among others. In 1870, Lampazos suffered what may have been the last of many

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

raids into northern Mexico. The Comanche reportedly killed 30 persons in the municipality.Adams, David B., "Borderland Northern Nuevo Leon and the Indios Barbaros, 1686-1870" ''The Southwestern Historical Quarterly'', Vol 95, No. 2 (October 1991), p 220

Economy

The main economic activity in the municipality is

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

and

ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

, and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s. The building of the mission of Our Lady of Dolores at the moment lodges the Lampazos Museum. On June 24 there is a celebration in the city called San Juan Bautista and on May 29, there is a fair known as La Feria del Cabrito (Goat Fair). Lampazos also has a spring called Ojo de Agua (Eye of Water) that filters the water that seeps from the surrounding mountains and hills. The Ojo de Agua is surrounded by gigantic Montezuma Cypress trees and there are grill pits so the tourists can enjoy the landscape while cooking out.

Sister Cities

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a villag ...

References

State of Nuevo Leon; Lampazos de Naranjo
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Lampazos de Naranjo Official Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lampazos de Naranjo, Nuevo Leon Populated places in Nuevo León