Santiago Niltepec 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 southwestern
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
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.
The name means "Hill of Indigo."
The town is 60 meters above sea level. The municipality covers an area of 680.01 km², watered by the Niltepec river which rises in the mountains and flows to the lower lagoon.
The climate is tropical, with hot summers.
Flora includes mahogany, Nopo, Guanacaste, scrub and grassland.
Wildlife includes wild boar, raccoon, squirrel, armadillo and iguana.
[
As of 2005, the municipality had 1,367 households with a total population of 4,961 of whom 56 spoke an indigenous language.
Economic activities include cultivation of corn, sesame, sorghum, melon and watermelon, cattle farming and production of Mezcal and traditional textiles.
Since the town is located on Highway 190, there is some tourist trade in local handicrafts and mezcal.][
There are plans to develop wind farms in the municipality, but these have met local resistance due to the communal ownership of land and concerns about the annual rental prices offered, $98 to $117 per hectare.]
References
Municipalities of Oaxaca
{{Oaxaca-geo-stub