Otzoloapan Municipality is a municipality located at the southeast of the

State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

. The name is from the Náhuatl 'Oceloapan' which means "river of

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

es". It is located in the southwest part of the state bordering the 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 ...

Municipal seat

The area was first settled by the

Matlatzinca Matlatzinca or Ocuiltec may refer to: * Matlatzinca people Matlatzinca is a name used to refer to different indigenous ethnic groups in the Toluca Valley in the state of México, located in the central highlands of Mexico. The term is applied to th ...

s in the pre-Hispanic era. In 1476, it became subject to the Aztec Triple Alliance when

Axayácatl Axayacatl (; nci, āxāyacatl ; es, Axayácatl ; meaning "face of water"; –1481) was the sixth of the of Tenochtitlan and Emperor of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Biography Early life and background Axayacatl was a son of the princess Atot ...

conquered Matlatzinca lands. After the Spanish conquest, the land in the area was redistributed among the Spaniards, with Juana Gamboa getting

Tejupilco Tejupilco de Hidalgo is the seat of Tejupilco Municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is located approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of the state capital Toluca, along Federal Highway 34. The name Tejupilco comes from Náh ...

and Otzoloapan. Then he built a sugar mill here to process the cane growing in the surrounding area. The area was probably first evangelized by the Franciscans, and the parish of Otzoloapan was founded by Juan Marqués del Aguila, in 1560 by order of

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

. This is considered to be the beginning of the town. The village had a population as of 2005 of 1, 586. * There is a chapel called "Zuluapan" that is located in the plaza principal. It is the community gathering center and most important site of the village. From 7 to 11 November, the village honors its patron saint, San Martin Obispo. * An underground jail cell used to imprison rebellious indigenous people can still be seen here.

Localities

As municipal seat, Otzoloapan has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Agua Zarca de Abajo, Agua Zarca (Agua Zarca de Arriba), El Calvario (San José el Calvario), Carranza, La Carrera, Cruz Blanca, Estancia Chica, El Grajenal, Llano Grande (El Órgano), Pinal del Marquesado, Puerto del Tigre, San Miguel Piru (El Piru), Terreros, El Zapote (La Parota), Zuluapan, La Punta Tingambato (Tingambato del Sur), San Miguel de la Campana (San Miguel), Burrusqueta, El Pedregal, El Limón 1, La Lumbrera, Las Paredes, El Quinto, El Marquesado de Llano Grande, Mesa del Zapote, La Presa (La Compuerta), La Palma, La Presa del Padre, Rancho Viejo (Manzana del Calvario), El Rodeo, Barrio de Guadalupe (Los Lotes), El Limón 2, La Mora, and El Rincón de Mesa. Otzoloapan contains 160.48 km2 that represent the 71% of state territory. It is composed of 42 towns and is at an altitude of 1314 meters above sea level

Population

The total municipality has and in 2005 had a population of 4,748. It borders the municipalities of

Santo Tomás de los Plátanos Santo Tomás de los Plátanos also known as Nuevo Santo Tomás de los Plátanos is a town and municipal seat of the municipality of Santo Tomás, located in the center-west of Mexico State, in Mexico. It is approximately 185 km from Mexico Ci ...

Zacazonapan Zacazonapan (pronounced sah-kah-soh-NAH-pahn) is a Municipalities of Mexico, municipality near Mexico City. It's municipal seat is the village of Zacazonapan. The name comes from Nahuatl and roughly translates to "in the River of the Dry Corn pla ...

, Temascaltepec, and Valle de Bravo and with state of

. The municipality was founded in 1894.

Flora

In the higher elevations pine trees,

holm oak Holm oak may refer to: * '' Quercus ilex'', tree native to South and Southeast Europe and parts of France * '' Quercus rotundifolia'', tree native to the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa * ''Quercus agrifolia ''Quercus agrifolia'', the Cal ...

s and oak trees can be found. In the warmer, lower elevations, there are pines, holm oaks, tepehuaje, huizache, truenos, and

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergree ...

s, among others. Communities in the higher elevations depend on the forests economically.

Economy

Agriculture is the most important economic activity in the municipality, mostly growing seasonal crops like corn, with some production of vegetables and fruit. The municipality lacks an industrial base. While the area does have mountains and forests, these have not yet been exploited touristically.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the State of Mexico