Montemorelos is a city and surrounding municipality of 60,829 inhabitants located in the Northern Mexican state of
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
, in the valley of the Pilon River. It was named after
José María Morelos.
History
In 1637,
Governor Martín de Zavala promised a large tract of land in central Nuevo León to Captain
Alonso de León
Alonso de León "El Mozo" (c. 1639–1691) was explorer and governor, who led several expeditions into the area that is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas.
Early life
Alonso de León González was born in 1639, in the settlement of Cade ...
on condition that, in less than a year, a colonial settlement is built and populated inside its borders. De León distributed the estate to his children and one of them,
Alonso de León González ("The younger"), established his property in the northern banks of the Pilón River, organized an outpost and dedicated it to Our Lady of Regla, a
black Madonna venerated by Catholics in
Chipiona, Cádiz. The settlement grew rapidly and soon the residents requested the intervention of the
Bishop of Guadalajara so that a church could be built and dedicated to
St Matthew
Matthew the Apostle,, shortened to ''Matti'' (whence ar, مَتَّى, Mattā), meaning "Gift of YHWH"; arc, , Mattai; grc-koi, Μαθθαῖος, ''Maththaîos'' or , ''Matthaîos''; cop, ⲙⲁⲧⲑⲉⲟⲥ, Mattheos; la, Matthaeus a ...
. The elevation of this parochial church in 1665 marks the foundation of modern-day Montemorelos.
Geography
The municipality of Montemorelos is located in the central region of Nuevo León, near the city of
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
. Coordinates for Montemorelos are 25°11' N and 99°50' W. The area of the municipality is 1,706.2 square km. The municipality is surrounded by the
Madre Oriental and Los Nogales mountain ranges. Montemorelos has several rivers, none of them navigable. The most important rivers located in the municipality are:
Ramos, Pilón, Blanquillo, and Potosí rivers.
Climate
Montemorelos is in the temperate climate zone, according to
classification of Wladimir Köppen in 1936, and the semi-warm climate sub-group of the subhumid type. It is warm and dry during the summertime, humid and cold in the winter. The average high temperature varies between 22 and 24 °C in the months of March, April, October and November. During the summer temperatures around 40 °C are common. Sporadic rains generally occur during September and October and also in March and April.
Demographics
According to the INEGI 2005 Census
Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática the city of Montemorelos has 52,741 residents, of which 26,286 were male and 26,455 are female. Out of its population only 84 or 0.18% of its inhabitants are of Native Indian origin. 38,669 inhabitants belong to the Catholic Church, and 8,070 belonged to other religions. There are 14,327 households in the Montemorelos municipality of which 13,637 were owner occupied.
Economy
Agricultural
Montemorelos is considered as the orchard of the State of Nuevo León for its fertile lands and growth of fruits and grains. Due to the quality of its citruses the city of Montemorelos is called the Orange Capital. It also cultivates grapefruit
The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink.
Grapefruit is ...
s, tangerines, sorghum
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
, maize, gleans and beans.
Industrial
To a great extent of the industries that exist in the municipality, rotate around citrus. The first processor of orange juice in Latin America was built in Montemorelos. Montemorelos also has assembly plants and manufacturing plants. The products that are handled are: shoes, dresses, books, and construction blocks.
References
External links
Montemorelos Official Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon
Populated places in Nuevo León