La Manzanilla de La Paz is a town and

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 ...

, in Jalisco in central-western

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 ...

. The municipality covers an area of 129.35 km². As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3623.

Toponymy

According to tradition, the name comes from the abundance of hawthorn trees called manzanilla or apples, and "de la Paz" for being a peaceful people. Previously it was called San Miguel de las Flores.

History

Before the arrival of the Spanish, this region was inhabited by the Purépecha, within the

Purépecha Empire The Purépecha Empire, also known by the term Iréchikwa, was a polity in pre-Columbian Mexico. Its territory roughly covered the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán, as well as parts of Guanajuato, Guerrero, and Ja ...

. The conquest of the area was carried out in 1523 by, Alonso de Avalos who was sent by Hernán Cortés to conquer the West. It was founded around the year 1882, when the inhabitants of the Guadalajarita, San Miguel de las Flores and El Rincon ranches agreed to form a congregation called La Manzanilla, being recognized as a precinct of the Tizapan el Alto municipality. At the beginning of the century there was a cluster of brick and grass houses. With the surrounding ranches, it scarcely had 900 inhabitants. It belonged to the Canton of Sayula. Its elevation to a municipality dates back to 1909, pursuant to Decree number 1307. Its first mayor was Irineo López. In La Manzanilla words of Purépecha origin remain, for example, while farmers in the rest of the state call the ears of corn that do not grow well "molonco" in La Manzanilla it is called "toquere". They call the ears of corn "toquera", the "chiquihuite" is known as "chihuite" and bag or backpack is called "quimil" or "chitara". On January 1, 1969, by decree number 8452, the name was changed to la Manzanilla de la Paz.

Geographic description

Location

La Manzanilla de la Paz is located southeast of Jalisco. Its coordinates are 19°55'00" to 20°04'30" north latitude and 102º01'15" to 103º11'50" west longitude, at an altitude of 2013 meters above sea level. The municipality is bordered on the north by the municipalities of

Tuxcueca Tuxcueca is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western 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 Sta ...

, Tizapan el Alto and the state of Michoacán on the east by the state of Michoacán and the Mazamitla municipality; on the south by the municipalities of Mazamitla and

Concepción de Buenos Aires Concepción de Buenos Aires is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the ...

; on the west by the municipality of

Topography

In general the surface is made up of flat areas (55%), there are also semi-flat areas (25%) and hilly areas (20%). Soils - The territory consists of land belonging to the

Quaternary period The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

. Soil composition is entirely of a

Cambisol A Cambisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a soil in the beginning of soil formation. The horizon differentiation is weak. This is evident from weak, mostly brownish discolouration and/or structure formation in the soil pr ...

type. The municipality has a land area of 12,935 hectares, of which 5,800 are used for agriculture, 5,545 for livestock activity, 1430 are for forest use and 160 acres are urban lands. As far as property is concerned, an area of 10,343 hectares is private and 2,592 is state-owned. There is no communal property.

Hydrography

The Chiflón Dam belongs to the Central Pacific basin, La Passion-Tepalcatepec River subbasin. ;Rivers: ''Rio Grande''
''Guadalajarita'' or
''de la Pasión'' ;Brooks: ''El Rincón''
''La Peña''
''Las Cuevas''
''La Soledad''
''El Cerrito''
''Los Piratas''
''La Esperanza''
''El Tule'' and
''Palo Verde'' ;Springs: ''La Atarjea''
''La Loma''
''Loma Alta''
''Sobinillas''

Climate

The climate is semiarid, with dry winter and temperate with no well defined winter heat exchange. The average annual temperature is 19 °C, maximum 25.1 °C and minimum -05.8 °C. Rainfall is recorded between the months of June through August, with an average rainfall of 1,011.2 millimeters. The average annual frost days is 55.7. Prevailing winds blow towards the south.

Flora and fauna

Vegetation is represented by wooded areas to the south, which is dominated by pine and oak species. Rabbit, squirrel, skunk, deer and birds inhabit the town.

Economy

*Livestock. Cattle, horses, goats and pigs are raised in addition to poultry and beehives. *Agriculture. Produce include corn, beans, barley, oats, peach and pear. *Trade. Dominated by establishments engaged in the sale of staples and mixed shops that sell various items. *Services. Technical, community, personal and maintenance services are offered. *Industry. Emphasis is on the manufacturing industry. *Mining. There are untapped deposits of lime and quarry. *Logging. Pine and oak are exploited. *Fisheries. Carp is captured in the San Rafael and Villa Morelos dams.

Tourism

;Architecture Main square.
Temple of San Miguel Arcangel. ;Crafts ''Development of'':
Napkins,
Tablecloths,
Towels,
Folders,
Embroidered dresses,
Coats and
Tissues. ;Parks and reserves Cerro La Pitaya.
Cerro López.
Sierra Del Tigre. ;Rivers and dams The Chiflón dam.
Palo Verde.

Festivals

Civil Festivals
Palenque and bullfighting. In Passover week
Religious festivities
Feast in honor of San Miguel. From 21 to 29 September.
Feast in honor of Santa Ana de Pascua. In March.
Holy Thursday and Friday.

Government

Its form of government is democratic and depends on the state and federal elections, held every 3 years, where the mayor and his cabinet is elected. The mayor is Rafael Alejandro Alvarez Espinoza, a member of PAN, which was elected in democratic elections held on July 5, 2009.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of Jalisco