Acuitzio del Canje is a town in the
Mexican state of
Michoacán. It serves as the municipal seat for the 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
Acuitzio.
The area was originally settled in pre-Hispanic times. By 1620, it was a community of 20 families, with a hospital.
In the early years of Mexican independence, an ''
ayuntamiento
''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain:
* ca, ajuntament ().
* gl, concello ().
* eu, udaletxea (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin Amer ...
'' was established there.
Name
"Acuitzio" is a word of
Purépecha origin that means "place of snakes".
The epithet "del Canje" (literally: "of the exchange") refers to an exchange of prisoners of war that took place in the town on 5 December 1865, during the
French Intervention
This is a list of wars involving France and its predecessor states. It is an incomplete list of French and proto-French wars and battles from the foundation of Frankish Kingdom, Francia by Clovis I, the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian king who uni ...
. On 16 December 1901, the
State Congress
enacted legislation for Acuitzio's name to be changed to Acuitzio del Canje.
References
Recorrido por Acuitzio del Canje''Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México'' (
INAFED #REDIRECT Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal {{R from other capitalisation ...
)
Acuitzio(municipal government web page)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acuitzio del Canje, Michoacan
Populated places in Michoacán