Mapimí () is a city and municipal seat of the

Mapimí Municipality Mapimí is one of the 39 municipalities of Durango, in north-western Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Mapimí. The municipality covers an area of 7,126.7 km². In 2010, the municipality had a total population of 25,137, up from 22,940 in 2 ...

in the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

. As of 2015, the town of Mapimí had a population of 5,623. The Ojuela Mine, about southeast of Mapimí, is a famous locality for mineral specimens, especially adamite.Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Durango
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History

When the Spanish first arrived in the Mapimí area in the late 16th century, nomadic and semi-nomadic Native Americans such as the Tepehuan,

Tobosos The Toboso people were an indigenous group of what is today northern Mexico, living in the modern states of Chihuahua and Coahuila and along the middle reaches of the Conchos River as well as in the Bolsón de Mapimí region. They were associate ...

, and Cocoyones were the inhabitants.Griffen, William B. (1969), ''Culture Change and Shifting Populations in Central Northern Mexico,'' Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp 75-76. Mapimi was founded on July 25, 1598 by Agustin de Espinoza, a Jesuit priest, and Captain Antón de Zapata, a soldier. The settlement was named Santiago de Mapimí. The name derives from the Cocoyones who called the area "Mapeme," meaning "high mountain." As with most early settlements in Northern Mexico, the abundant minerals in the area were the attraction for settlers. The Toboso and other Indian groups began raiding in the Mapimí area and participated in wars against Spanish settlements in 1644, 1667, and 1684. Most of the Indians were absorbed into the Spanish population in the 18th century.

Geography

Mapimí is located in the

Bolsón de Mapimí The Bolsón de Mapimí is an endorheic, or internal drainage, basin in which no rivers or streams drain to the sea, but rather toward the center of the basin, often terminating in Swamp, swamps and Ephemeral lake, ephemeral lakes. It is located in ...

, a large area of desert and mountains in interior northern Mexico. The Bolsón is an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

, meaning that no rivers leave the basin to flow to the sea, but terminate, often in low-lying shallow

endorheic lake An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes left in the l ...

s. The Mapimí Mountains (Sierra de Mapimí) rise from the southern edge of the town of Mapimí, reaching a maximum elevation of , southeast of the town. The Ojuela mine and the

Ojuela Bridge The Ojuela Bridge or the Mapimi Bridge (Puente de Ojuela, Spanish name) is a suspension bridge located in Mapimí, in the Mexican state of Durango, at the site of the Ojuela Goldmine. The Ojuela Bridge was designed by Wilhelm Hildenbrand McCullo ...

, a high and long suspension bridge are located distant on the eastern slopes of the mountains. The

Mapimí Silent Zone The Mapimí Silent Zone ( es, La Zona del Silencio) is the popular name for a desert patch near the Bolsón de Mapimí in Durango, Mexico, overlapping the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve. It is the subject of an urban legend that claims it is an area ...

is north in the

Mapimí Biosphere Reserve The Mapimí Biosphere Reserve ( es, Reserva de la Biósfera de Mapimí) (established 1977) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located in the state of Durango in northern Mexico. It is one of three biosphere reserves representing the Chihuahuan Desert ( ...

Climate

The town features a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

climate (in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''BWh''), with hot summers and mild winters. Nearly all the annual precipitation is received from the months of May to October. Recuerdo del Puente de Ojuela - Gold Mine - 1892 - near Torreon, Mexico 008-800X600

Recuerdo del Puente de Ojuela - Gold Mine - 1892 - near Torreon, Mexico 008-800X600

References

External links

Municipality of Mapimí
(on official site of the State of Durango) Adamite-Ojuela Mine-3-Romero

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mapimi, Durango Populated places in Durango Populated places established in 1598 Pueblos Mágicos

History

Geography

Climate

See also

References

External links