Xocchel Municipality (, in the Yucatec Maya Language: “counting

jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...

s”) is one of the 106

municipalities 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 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 Yucatán containing (53.65 km²) of land and located roughly 45 km southeast of the city of Mérida.

History

During pre-Hispanic times, the area was part of the chieftainship of

Ah Kin Chel Ah Kin Chel was the name of a Maya chiefdom or Kuchkabal of the northern Yucatán Peninsula, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Ah Kin Chel was founded with the capital at Tecoh in 1441 by Mo-Chel when the Leag ...

. After the

conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

the area became part of the

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

system. In 1753, two women were the encomenderas for Xocchel, Catalina Guerrero y Ulbarri and María Enríquez de Novoa, responsible for 207 indigenous people. Yucatán declared its independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821. On 30 November 1840 a partition was made assigning Xocchel to the

Izamal Municipality Izamal Municipality (In the Yucatec Maya Language: “dew of heaven”) is one of the 106 municipalities in the Mexican state of Yucatán containing (275.92 km2) of land and located roughly 67 km east of the city of Mérida. History ...

. In 1988, it was made its own municipality.División territorial del Estado de Yucatán de 1810 a 1995, pp 123-124

Governance

The municipal president is elected for a three year term. The town council has four councilpersons, who serve as Secretary and councilors of public service, nomenclature, cemeteries, and parks.

Communities

The head of the municipality is Xocchel, Yucatán. The other populated areas are Much, El Paraíso, Santa Cruz, X-lelbé, and Yaxquil. The significant populations are shown below:

Local festivals

Every year from 24 to 29 June, the feast of San Juan Bautista, patron saint of the village, is held.

Tourist attractions

* Church of San Juan Bautista

References

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