Buenavista is a municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacán.

Political entity

The municipality is located in the west of the state, from the state capital of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

. It has a territory of , bordering the municipalities of Peribán, Tancítaro,

Apatzingán Apatzingán (in full, Apatzingán de la Constitución) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Apatzingán in the west-central region of the Mexican state of Michoacán. Geography The Municipality of Apatzingán is located in the Ti ...

Aguililla Aguililla is a city in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality has a population of roughly 15,000. Starting in late 2019, Aguililla has been the center of a ...

and

Tepalcatepec Tepalcatepec, also known as Tepeque, is a city and municipality in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, in the southwestern Tierra Caliente region of the state. The municipality borders the state of Jalisco to the north and west. Population The t ...

, with the state of

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

to the west. The seat is Buenavista Tomatlán, with a population of about 8,500 people. This seat serves as the local government for the entire territory, with a municipal president, a

syndic Syndic (Late Latin: '; Greek: ' – one who helps in a court of justice, an advocate, representative) is a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a universi ...

, and 7 representatives called regidors. Other principal communities include Carillo Puerto, Santa Ana Amatlán, Pizándaro and 18 de Marzo. The main economic activities of the municipalities are farming and ranching.

Geography and environment

It has an average altitude of above sea level, being on the foothills of the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

and the valley formed by the Tepalcatepec River. Notable elevations include the hills called Zirapatiro, Del Azucar, Felipe Catlan, Los Osotes and Polon. This river accounts for most of the municipality's surface water, with the rest provided by springs and streams. The climate is tropical with temperatures that range between 18 and 36 degrees C. It is relatively dry, with rains in the summer. Annual average rainfall is 745.2mm. The ecosystem is dominated by tropical

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forest, with species such as pine and oak in the higher elevations along with kapok, ''parota'', ''tepeguaje'', mango and ''zapote'' (''

Diospyros digyna ''Diospyros nigra'', the black sapote, is a species of persimmon. Common names include chocolate pudding fruit, black soapapple and (in Spanish) ''zapote prieto''. The tropical fruit tree is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. The c ...

'' and ''

Casimiroa edulis The white sapote, scientific name ''Casimiroa edulis'', also called casimiroa and Mexican apple, and known as ''cochitzapotl'' in the Nahuatl language (meaning "sleep-sapote") is a species of tropical fruiting tree in the family Rutaceae, native ...

''). There are also areas of tropical spiny brush. Typical fauna includes species such as

cacomistle The cacomistle (; ''Bassariscus sumichrasti'') is a nocturnal, arboreal and omnivorous member of the carnivoran family Procyonidae. Its preferred habitats are wet, tropical, evergreen woodlands and mountain forests, though seasonally it will ve ...

skunks Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...

, squirrels,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

s, foxes,

Eurasian sparrowhawk The Eurasian sparrowhawk (''Accipiter nisus''), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred ...

, doves and other birds.

History

The name means "good view" in Spanish. Its original name was Tomatlán Buenavista, with the first name from Nahuatl meaning "place of tomatoes". The area was first formally settled by the

Mexicas The Mexica ( Nahuatl: , ;''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1990). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved August 29, 2012, frolink/ref> singular ) were a Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers o ...

during the pre Hispanic period, but its population was mixed with those of the Purhepecha and Pirinda ethnicities. This community was located just north of the current municipal seat, which is now an archeological site at a ranch called Pueblo Viejo. After the

Spanish Conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

, the location of the current town of Buenavista began as a

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

. After

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, it came under the control of the municipality of Apatzingán. The current municipality was formed in 1927, taking land from the municipalities of Apatzingán and Tancítaro, with the seat named Buenavista Tomatlán.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buenavista, Michoacan Municipalities of Michoacán 1927 establishments in Mexico