Santa María Ixcatlan 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 ...

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 Teotitlán District in the north of the Cañada Region.

Geography

The municipality has an area of 201.58 km² at an elevation of 1,840 meters above sea level. In the settled areas the climate is hot and humid with abundant rainfall in summer. Other areas are arid with little rainfall. Trees include morillo, oak and juniper, and fruit-bearing peach, apricot, pomegranates, figs and hawthorn. Local birds include chachalaca, quail, dove, sparrow, goldfinch, orioles, hawks and eagles. Wild life includes coyote, fox, wild cat, wild boar, badger, rattlesnake, coral snake, lizards and scorpions.

Demographics

As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 573 of whom 37 people spoke an indigenous language. The town is the only one inhabited by speakers of the

Ixcatec language Ixcatec, or ''Xwja'', is a language spoken by the people of the Mexican village of Santa María Ixcatlan, in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxa ...

. According to the ''Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes'', there were only 8 speakers of the Ixcateco (Xwja) language in 2008. Most of the population is engaged in cultivation of maize, beans, wheat and barley, and also in manufacture of artisan products made from palms. There is small-scale animal husbandry of goat, cattle, horses and donkeys.

Economy

Mezcal is produced in the village.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Ixcatlan Municipalities of Oaxaca