San Pedro Mártir Quiechapa is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

in south-western

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is part of the Yautepec District in the east of the Sierra Sur Region. The name Quiechapa in the

Zapotec language The Zapotec languages are a group of around 50 closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages that constitute a main branch of the Oto-Manguean language family and are spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of ...

means "stone woman."

Geography

The municipality covers an area of at an elevation of above sea level in the

Sierra Madre del Sur The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca. Geography The Sierra Madre del Sur joins with the Eje Volcánico Transv ...

mountains. The climate is temperate, with prevailing winds from the north.

Flora and fauna

Trees include guanacaste and pine. Fruits that grow in the area are mango, sugar cane, apple, peach, avocado, orange, lemon, mamey, pomegranate and plum. Wildlife includes rabbit, deer, coyote, bobcat, boar, tepexcuintle, armadillo and mountain lion, iguana, lizard, rattlesnake and coral snake.

Population

As of 2005, the municipality had 158 households with a total population of 722 of whom 36 spoke an indigenous language. Most of the houses have dirt floors, brick walls and tile roofs, although some have concrete floors and walls.

Economy

The main economic activity is agriculture, growing corn, beans, wheat, coffee and fruits. Some people raise cattle, goats and poultry. Hunting and fishing is undertaken for personal consumption. There is a cottage industry producing mats and other goods from palm. The wild

maguey Maguey may refer to various American plants: * Genus ''Agave'', especially ** Species ''Agave americana ''Agave americana'', commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe, is a flowering plant species belonging to the family Asp ...

is harvested.

References

Municipalities of Oaxaca {{Oaxaca-geo-stub