Morelos 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 Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

, located approximately northwest of the state capital of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

Geography

The municipality of Morelos is located in the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

in northern Michoacán at an elevation between . It borders the Michoacanese municipalities of

Puruándiro The city of Puruándiro is in the north of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is located at . The population is 70,571. It was founded by Juan de Villaseñor y Orozco in 1522. The wooded main garden has a kiosk that indicates that it was found ...

to the northwest,

Huandacareo Huandacareo (or Guandacareo) is an archaeological zone located about 60 kilometers north of the city of Morelia, in the state of Michoacán. The site was constructed on an elevated plateau overlooking the Cuitzeo lake, some 2.46 kilometers (1.52& ...

to the east, Chucándiro to the southeast, Huaniqueo to the southwest, and Jiménez to the northwest. It also borders the municipality of

Yuriria Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico,(), is one of 46 municipalities in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. Geography Yuriria is located in the "Bajío", or lowlands, of Guanajuato. It is bordered to the east by Salvatierra and Santiago Maravatío, to the ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

to the northeast. The municipality covers an area of and comprises 0.31% of the state's area. As of 2009, the land cover in Morelos consists of temperate forest (30%), grassland (13%), and tropical forest (5%). Another 49% of the land is used for agriculture and 2% consists of urban areas. Morelos is located in the

Lerma River The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near ...

basin. There are small reservoirs named Epitacio Huerta and Caballerias in the municipality, which are used for agricultural irrigation. Morelos has a temperate climate with rain in the summer. Average temperatures in the municipality range between , and average annual precipitation ranges between .

History

The place now known as Morelos was originally called Huango, and was part of the

Tarascan state Tarascan or Tarasca is an exonym and the popular name for the Purépecha culture. It may refer to: * the Tarascan State, a Mesoamerican empire until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, located in (present-day) west-central Mexico * the Purépecha p ...

pre-Hispanic Mexico The pre-Columbian (or prehispanic) history of the territory now making up the country of Mexico is known through the work of archaeologists and epigraphers, and through the accounts of Spanish conquistadores, settlers and clergymen as well as ...

. Huango was one of the 61 municipalities created in Michoacán in 1831. In 1898, the municipal seat was renamed Huango de Morelos. In 1902 the seat was renamed Villa Morelos and the municipality itself renamed Morelos.

Administration

The municipal government 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, Cana ...

: ''síndico''), and seven trustees (''regidores''), four 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 three 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 Guadalupe Coria Solís.

Demographics

In the 2010 Mexican Census, the municipality of Morelos recorded a population of 8091 inhabitants living in 2123 households. The 2015 Intercensal Survey estimated a population of 7806 inhabitants in Morelos. There are 31 localities in the municipality, of which only the municipal seat Villa Morelos is classified as urban. It recorded a population of 2446 inhabitants in the 2010 Census.

Economy

The main economic activity in Morelos is agriculture. Corn is the main crop, followed by forage oats.

References

{{Michoacán, state=collapsed Municipalities of Michoacán 1831 establishments in Mexico States and territories established in 1831