Santa María Chimalapa is a 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 ...
in
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
Juchitán District
Juchitán District is located in the east of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, covering the southern part of a low-lying corridor through the mountains that separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Pacific ocean.
The dis ...
in the west of the
Istmo de Tehuantepec region.
Environment
The municipality has an area of 3572.31 km², much of it covered by tropical rain forest.
The climate is warm sub humid, with summer rainfall of 23,000 mm.
The forests contain many species of tree including cedar, mahogany, Nopo, Guanacaste, cedrillo, coabillo, ceiba, pine, hormiguillo, rattan, oak, oak, lime, nanche, pineapple, custard apple, tangerine and coffee.
Wild fauna include boar, paca, deer, jaguar, raccoon, skunk, monkey, pheasant, parrot, owl, toucan, white eagle, rattlesnake, coral snake deaf.
[
The town is at a height of 180 metres above sea level and is supplied with water by ]El Rio Corte
El Corte River (in Spanish ''Río El Corte'', meaning "The Cut River") is the primary tributary of the Coatzacoalcos River, flowing through the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Veracruz to the Gulf of Mexico.
Geography
The river originates in the mou ...
, originating in the Selva Zoque
The Selva Zoque ( en, Zoque Forest), which includes the Chimalapas rain forest, is an area of great ecological importance in Mexico. Most of the forest lies in the state of Oaxaca but parts are in Chiapas
Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil ...
forests to the east.[
]
Demographics
Before the Mexican colonial period, the area was inhabited by the Chima, a Zoque people The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico. They speak variants of the Zoque languages.
This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census. They live mainly in the northerly sector of Chiapas state, principally in the ''municipios ...
believed to be descendants of the Olmec
The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...
.[
Chimalapa Zoque is spoken in the municipality.]
Economy
Economic activities include growing corn, beans, coffee and sugar cane, and raising cattle, goats, sheep, horses and poultry.
Logging is practised, with a sawmill preparing fine woods for furniture production, and wild animals are hunted in certain seasons.
Sport hunting is also practised by tourists.[
The region is extremely poor, with limited infrastructure such as roads and schools.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Chimalapa
Municipalities of Oaxaca