La Mixteca is a cultural, economic and political region in Western

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...

and neighboring portions of

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

in south-central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, which refers to the home of the

Mixtec people The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Cult ...

. In their languages, the region is called either Ñuu Djau, Ñuu Davi or Ñuu Savi. Two-thirds of all Mixtecs live in the region, and the entire national population of Mixtecs in Mexico was 500,000 in 1999. The region covers some 40,000 km² where two of the country's mountain ranges, the Neo-Volcanic Belt and

Sierra Madre del Sur The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca. Geography The Sierra Madre del Sur joins with the Eje Volcánico Tran ...

, converge.

Geography

La Mixteca is a country of great contrasts. The Sierra Madre del Sur and the Neo-Volcanic Belt mark its northern limits. To the east, it is defined by the Cuicatlán Valley and the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. To the west, the Mixteca region is adjacent to the valleys of

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cue ...

and the central portion of

. To the south lies 200 miles of

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

coastline. Because of the presence of the major mountains of the

Sierra Mixteca The Sierra Mixteca is a mountainous region located between the states of Puebla and Oaxaca in south-central Mexico, in the region known as La Mixteca. It is also known as the Nudo Mixteco or Escudo Mixteco ( Mixtec Shield) and, in Nahuatl, as ...

, communications with the rest of the country are difficult. The region tends to be remote, poor, and little-visited. The region is conventionally divided into three separate areas, defined by the prevailing height of the terrain: *Mixteca Baja ("Low Mixteca"): northwest Oaxaca and southwest Puebla. *Mixteca Alta ("High Mixteca"): northeast Guerrero and western Oaxaca. *Mixteca de la Costa ("Coastal Mixteca"): the area also known as the Costa Chica, the remote Pacific coastline of eastern Guerrero and western Oaxaca, home to Mixteca, Amuzgo, and Afro-Mexicans

References

{{Authority control Mixtec Regions of Mexico Mixteca Mixteca Mixteca Geography of Mesoamerica Sierra Madre del Sur

Geography

See also

References