Xalisco () is a city and its surrounding

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 ...

of the same name in the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

. The city had a population of 21,899 in the 2005 census while the municipality has an area of 290.6 km² (112.2 sq mi) and a population of 42,893. The municipality lies adjacent to the south side of

Tepic Tepic () is the capital and largest city of the western Mexican state of Nayarit, as well as the seat of the Tepic Municipality. Located in the central part of the state, it stands at an altitude of above sea level, on the banks of the Río Mo ...

, the state capital, and is part of the Tepic

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

. Formerly known as Jalisco, this municipality is located 6.4 km. southwest of

. In the north it bounds the municipality of

, in the south the municipality of Compostela; in the east the municipality of

Santiago Ixcuintla Santiago de Ixcuintla is a municipality and a municipal seat in the western Mexican state of Nayarit. The municipal population was 84,314 inhabitants (census of 2000) with the municipal seat having 18,269. The area of the municipality was 1,831 ...

and in the west the municipality of San Blas.Map of Nayarit
/ref> The total area is 290.60 square kilometers, which makes it the smallest of the 20 municipalities that make up the state. Over half of the municipal territory is mountainous with one peak, Cerro Alto, reaching 2,240 meters. There are several small rivers and streams of short length. In the upper elevations there are still conifers and oaks, but over-forestry and long years of wood gathering for cooking have seriously depleted the natural cover. There are still deer, badgers, armadillos, and javelinas in more remote locations. Due to the proximity to

the economy is less agriculturally based than many municipalities in the state. Among the most important crops were: rice, corn, avocados, lemons, oranges, bananas, coffee, cherries, and sugarcane. In the town there are the ruins of a colonial hacienda and a museum with pre-Columbian artifacts. The most important festival is that of Asunción de la Virgen María, celebrated on 15 August, at the beginning of the corn harvest. It is also known as the “La Feria del Elote”, or Corn Fair.

Opium and Black Tar Heroin

The area produces opium poppies which are tapped for gum which is processed into

black tar heroin Black tar heroin is a form of heroin that is sticky like tar or hard like coal. Its dark color is the result of crude processing methods that leave behind impurities. Despite its name, black tar heroin can also be dark orange or dark brown in ap ...

and smuggled into the United States. Several hundred immigrants from Xalisco, part of a larger number still involved in retail heroin distribution, are incarcerated in the United States.

Toponymy

The origin of the name Xalisco comes from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

Xalixko: "xal-li" (sand), "ix-telotl" (eye) and ko (place); Place of the sandy eye.

Sister cities

Xalisco has one

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

, as designated by

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of "sister cities"� ...

: *

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Government

Municipal presidents

References

Sources

L.A. Times: Xalisco heroin trade part 1L.A. Times: Xalisco heroin trade part 2L.A. Times: Xalisco heroin trade part 3
*Quinones, S. (2015). Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press.

External links

Ayuntamiento de Xalisco
Official website {{Nayarit Populated places in Nayarit Municipalities of Nayarit