Santa María Alotepec 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

Sierra Mixe The Sierra Mixe or Mixes District is a district in the east of the Sierra Norte Region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It comprises 17 municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corp ...

district within the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca region.

Name

The name Alotepec means "hill of the macaws".

Geography

The municipality covers an area of at an altitude of above sea level. Trees include pine, oak and cedars. Fruits include orange, banana,

mamey sapote ''Pouteria sapota'', the mamey sapote, is a species of tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. It is now cultivated throughout Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, as well as Florida and parts of South America. Its fruit ...

sapodilla ''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, chicozapote, chicoo, chicle, naseberry, nispero, or soapapple, among other names, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. An example natural occurrence is ...

, mango, lime,

custard apple Custard apple is a common name for several fruits and may refer to Annonaceae, the custard apple family, which includes the following species referred to as custard apples: *''Annona cherimola'', a tree and fruit also called cherimoya *''Annona ...

and avocado. Wild animals include foxes, deer, armadillo, tepescuincle, wild boar and anteater. There is a great variety of butterflies.

Population

In 2005, the municipality had 682 households with a total population of 2,526 of whom 2,262 spoke an indigenous language. 90% of the population were engaged in agriculture. A few also keep domestic animals. The

Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Uni ...

, a co-operative founded in 1982, assists in the production and distribution of local products, notably coffee, under a fair trade label.

References

Municipalities of Oaxaca {{Oaxaca-geo-stub