Miguel Auza 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 state of

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

, located approximately northwest of the state capital of

Zacatecas City Zacatecas () is the principal city within the municipality in Mexico of the same name, and the capital and the largest city of the state of Zacatecas. Located in north-central Mexico, the city had its start as a Spanish mining camp in the mid ...

Geography

The municipality of Miguel Auza is located at an elevation between on the

Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the United States b ...

in northern Zacatecas. It borders the Zacatecan municipalities of

Juan Aldama Juan Aldama (January 3, 1774 in San Miguel el Grande, Guanajuato – June 26, 1811 in Chihuahua) was a Mexican revolutionary rebel soldier during the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. Biography He was also the brother of Ignacio Aldama ...

to the northeast,

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio ...

to the southeast, and

Sombrerete Sombrerete () is a town and municipality located in the northwest of the Mexican state of Zacatecas, bordering the state of Durango. It was founded in 1555 by Spanish conquistador Juan de Tolosa as a mining center, due to the wealth that the mine ...

to the south. It also borders the municipalities of

Cuencamé Cuencamé is a small city and the seat of the municipality of Cuencamé in the state of Durango, which is in northern Mexico. , the city had a total population of 9,848. City Cuencamé was originally a very small town formed by adjoining wild ...

and Santa Clara in Durango to the northwest and north respectively. The municipality covers an area of and comprises 1.5% of the state's area. As of 2009, 72% of the land in Miguel Auza is used for agriculture, while the remaining land cover comprises grassland (21%), forest (3%) and matorral (3%). Most of the municipality lies in the

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 ...

of the

Aguanaval River The Aguanaval River is a river located in northeastern Mexico. Geography It originates in the southern Sierra Madre Occidental range of Zacatecas state, and flows generally north through Zacatecas and Durango states to empty into the endorheic B ...

and is drained by one of its tributaries, the Santiago River, which originates at the Santiago Reservoir just west of the municipal seat. The southwestern part of the municipality lies in the basin of the

Poanas River Poanas is one of the 39 municipalities of Durango, in northwestern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Villa Unión. The municipality covers an area of 1841 km2. As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 24,918, up from 23,466 as ...

. Miguel Auza has a semi-arid climate with dry winters. Average temperatures in the municipality range between , and average annual precipitation ranges between .

History

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the area of Miguel Auza was inhabited by the

Zacateco The Zacatecos (or Zacatecas) is the name of an indigenous group, one of the peoples called Chichimecas by the Aztecs. They lived in most of what is now the state of Zacatecas and the northeastern part of Durango. They have many direct descendan ...

people. The expedition of

Francisco de Ibarra Francisco de Ibarra (1539 –June 3, 1575) was a Spanish- Basque explorer, founder of the city of Durango, and governor of the Spanish province of Nueva Vizcaya, in present-day Durango and Chihuahua. Biography Francisco de Ibarra was born a ...

arrived in the area in 1554, founding the settlement of Real de San Miguel on 29 September. In 1770 it was renamed San Miguel de Mezquital in reference to the abundance of

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...

in the area. After Zacatecas was admitted into independent Mexico, the municipal council of Miguel Auza was established within the ''partido'' and later district of Nieves (nowadays the municipality of General Francisco R. Murguía) on 29 October 1833. It became a free municipality on 19 August 1916. During the Mexican Revolution, Battles were fought in San Miguel in 1912 and in 1915. In 1935, the municipality was renamed in honour of General

Miguel Auza Arrenechea --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

(1822–1892), who was born in Sombrerete and fought in the

Reform War The Reform War, or War of Reform ( es, Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Tres Años), was a civil war in Mexico lasting from January 11, 1858 to January 11, 1861, fought between liberals and conservativ ...

and at the 1863 Siege of Puebla.

Administration

The municipal government of Miguel Auza 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, Can ...

: ''síndico''), and thirteen trustees (''regidores''), eight 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 five 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 José Alfredo González Perales.

Demographics

In the 2010 Mexican Census, the municipality of Miguel Auza recorded a population of 22,296 inhabitants living in 5075 households. The 2015 Intercensal Survey estimated a population of 23,827 inhabitants in Miguel Auza.

INEGI The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its name in es, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) is an autonomous agency of the Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Sta ...

lists 50 localities in the municipality, of which only the municipal seat, also called Miguel Auza, is classified as urban. It recorded a population of 13,551 inhabitants in the 2010 Census.

Economy and infrastructure

Miguel Auza's economy is oriented towards the primary and secondary sectors. The main crops grown are beans and alfalfa, Miguel Auza being located in Mexico's most important bean-growing region. Beef and dairy cattle are the main livestock raised. Miguel Auza also has a facility that processes silver, lead and zinc ore obtained from the Platosa mine in Durango. Federal Highway 49 generally follows the eastern border of Miguel Auza with the municipality of Juan Aldama.

References

{{Zacatecas, state=collapsed Municipalities of Zacatecas 1833 establishments in Mexico States and territories established in 1833