Santiago Lachiguiri 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

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.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of . The Cerro de las Flores is the highest mountain in the Isthmo region at above sea level. The climate in the lower south side of the mountains is hot, with a constant wind from north to south.

Flora and fauna

Flora include pine, oak, mango, avocado, sapodilla, tamarind, plum, granaditas, peach and banana. Wild fauna include tapir, badgers, cat, raccoon, armadillo, rabbit, boar, porcupines, coyotes, parrots and various reptiles.

Demography

As of 2005, the municipality had 1,110 households with a total population of 4,361 of which 2,339 people spoke an indigenous language.

Economy

The villagers grow coffee, maize, beans and chiles, raise cattle and log the cedar, pine and oak trees. They practice hunting and fishing for private consumption. The

Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region The Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region ( es, Unión de Comunidades Indígenas de la Región del Istmo, or UCIRI), is a farmer's cooperative in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It was established in 1982 to assist in production, mark ...

, a cooperative founded in 1982, assists in production and distribution of the local products, notably coffee, under

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

or organic labels. There are copper, iron, gold and quartz mines in the vicinity. Arco Resources of Canada owns two mining claims near the town, El Pochotle and El Pochotle II, which it is investigating for precious metals. Continuum Resources, another Canadian company, also has 3000 hectares of mining concessions near Santiago Lachiguiri. These include older mines that in the past were used to access silver-rich zones of lead-zinc sulphides and oxides.

References

{{Tehuantepec District Municipalities of Oaxaca