The Sierra Mazateca is a mountainous area, part of the

Sierra Madre de Oaxaca The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southern Mexico. It is primarily in the state of Oaxaca, and extends north into the states of Puebla and Veracruz. Geography The mountain range begins at Pico de Orizaba, and extends in a southeas ...

mountain range, located in the northern part of the state of

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 Southern

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 named after the

Mazatec people The Mazatec are an indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit the Sierra Mazateca in the state of Oaxaca and some communities in the adjacent states of Puebla and Veracruz. Language family The Mazatecan languages are part of the Popolocan family wh ...

, who are indigenous to the area.

Geography

Its western part is within the district of Teotitlan del Camino in the

Cañada Region Cañada is a region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico covering 4,300 square km. It includes two districts, Teotitlán and Cuicatlán. The main administrative center is Teotitlán de Flores Magón, but Huautla de Jiménez is considered the most imp ...

; and its eastern part is within the district of

Tuxtepec San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec ( nah, Tōchtepēc, "on the hill of rabbits"), or simply referred to as Tuxtepec, is the head of the municipality by the same name and is the second most populous city of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tux ...

, in the

Papaloapan Region The Cuenca del Papaloapan Region is in the north of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico where the foothills of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca meet the coastal plain of Veracruz. The principal city is San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, the second largest in Oaxaca st ...

. The main towns of the region are

Huautla de Jimenez Huautla could mean any of the following locations in Mexico: *Huautla, Hidalgo in central-eastern Mexico *Huautla, Morelos in South-Central Mexico *Sierra de Huautla, a mountain range in south-central Mexico *Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca *San Miguel ...

Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón, formerly known as San Antonio Eloxochitlán, is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Teotitlán District in the north of the Cañada Region. Approximately 96% of the inhabitant ...

and

Jalapa de Díaz Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and t ...

. In 1954 the eastern part of the Sierra Mazateca region was submerged by the construction of the

Miguel Alemán Dam The Miguel Alemán Dam is on the Tonto River in the Papaloapan Region of Oaxaca state in southern Mexico, just upstream from the town of Temascal or Nuevo Soyaltepec, forming the Miguel Alemán Lake with an area of 47,800 hectares. The dam opera ...

, now under Miguel Alemán Lake reservoir.

Geography

See also