San Mateo del Mar is a coastal town and

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 ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

in south-western

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is part of the

Tehuantepec District Tehuantepec District is located in the west of the Istmo Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. It includes the cities of Salina Cruz and Tehuantepec Tehuantepec (, in full, Santo Domingo Tehuantepec) is a city and municipality in the southeas ...

in the west of the Istmo Region. It is the largest of four Huave towns in the region, the others being

San Dionisio del Mar San Dionisio del Mar is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Juchitán District in the east of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region. The town is named after its patron saint. Geography The municipality c ...

San Francisco del Mar San Francisco del Mar is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Juchitán District Juchitán District is located in the east of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, covering ...

and Santa María del Mar. As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 12667.

Geography

The total area of the municipality is 75.2 km². It is located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Climate

San Mateo del Mar has a warm climate, with rainfall in summer and early autumn.

Wildlife

Flora include

Pochote ''Pachira quinata'', commonly known as pochote, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It inhabits dry forests in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras Panama, Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Rep ...

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 grou ...

and Tepehuaje. Fauna include

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...

, rabbit,

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

chachalaca Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus ''Ortalis''. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly c ...

and

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

History

San Mateo del Mar was founded in 1606. On 21–22 July

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, thirteen men and two women were tortured and burned alive in a political-electoral dispute. Bishops of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Tehuantepec The Diocese of Tehuantepec ( la, Dioecesis Tehuantepecensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Mexico. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Antequera.

have called for peace and reconciliation.

Demography

The population of San Mateo del Mar, according to the 2005 Census, is 12,667. There are 2,352 dwellings.

Language

Almost all of the town's population speak a dialect of the Ikoot language. According to a 1990 census, 1,800 of these Ikoot speakers are monolingual.

Religion

The predominant religion in San Mateo del Mar is Christianity, including both Catholic and

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

adherents. The first church building in San Mateo del Mar was constructed under the supervision of Spanish priests between 1591 and 1620.Warkentin, ''Fishers of Men'' (1997), p. 13. According to local legend, four men were

buried alive Premature burial, also known as live burial, burial alive, or vivisepulture, means to be buried while still alive. Animals or humans may be buried alive accidentally on the mistaken assumption that they are dead, or intentionally as a form of t ...

at each corner of the church's foundation as it was built.

Local facilities

Utilities

Ninety percent of the town has immediate access to drinking water.

Education

The municipality has 3 kindergartens, 2 primary schools and 1 high school.

Health care

There are four medical centres in San Mateo del Mar. The health center that was built by former governor

Ulises Ruiz Ortiz Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (born April 9, 1958) is a Mexican politician and former governor of the State of Oaxaca. He took office in 2004 as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Controversies Ruiz Ortiz was accused by some of murd ...

() in 2009 was never equipped or staffed and this neglect was cited as one of the root causes of the July 2020 dispute that led to the massacre of 15 Ikoots.

Sport and recreation

The town has basketball, baseball and volleyball facilities.

Places of interest

San Mateo del Mar has a museum with exhibitions about Ikoot culture, located at 'La Casa del Pueblo' (People's House).

Economy

The main economic activities of San Mateo are commercial fishing and agriculture.

Shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

is the most common seafood export, and bass and

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

are also commercially fished. In terms of agriculture, residents grow crops such as corn and vegetables, and breed cattle, pigs and goats. In addition, some of the townspeople make crafts. Traditional crafts include basket-making, pottery and earthenware.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of Oaxaca