Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...

is a state in Southwest

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

that is divided into 570

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 ...

, more than any other state. According to Article 113 of the state's constitution, the municipalities are grouped into 30 judicial and tax districts to facilitate the distribution of the state's revenues, although they may not currently function as per their intended purpose. It's the only entity in Mexico with this particular organization. According to the 2020 Mexican

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, it is the tenth most populated state with inhabitants and the 5th largest by land area spanning . Municipalities in Oaxaca are administratively autonomous of the state according to the 115th article of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico. Every three years, citizens elect a

municipal president A ''presidente municipal'' (English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines under the Spanish and American colonization; it is comparable to a mayor of the town or cit ...

( es, links=no, presidente municipal) by a

plurality voting Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate, or candidates, who poll more than any other counterpart (that is, receive a plurality), are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per ...

system who heads a concurrently elected municipal council () responsible for providing all the public services for their constituents. The municipal council consists of a variable number of trustees and councillors (). Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, and the maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries. They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1984, they have had the power to collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own income. The largest municipality by population is Oaxaca City, with 270,955 residents (6.55% of the state's total), while the smallest is Santa Magdalena Jicotlán with 81 residents, the least populated municipality in Mexico. The largest municipality by land area is Santa María Chimalapa which spans , and the smallest is Natividad with , also the smallest municipality by area in Mexico. The newest municipality is Chahuites, established in 1949.

Municipalities

File:SantoDomingo12-05Oaxaca109.jpg, alt=Santo Domingo Church, Oaxaca,

, capital and largest municipality by population in Oaxaca. File:Tuxtepec-river.JPG, alt=Papaloapan river, Tuxtepec, San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, second largest municipality by population. File:Parque_eólico_-_panoramio_(1).jpg, alt=Wind turbines, La Ventosa, Juchitán, Juchitán, third largest municipality by population. File:Borrala.JPG, alt=Monte Albán ruins, Xoxocotlán,

Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán is a small city and municipality located 5 km from the state capital of Oaxaca in the south of Mexico. It is part of the Centro District in the Valles Centrales region. The name comes from the Nahuatl word “xocotl� ...

, fourth largest municipality by population. File:La_ventosa.jpg, alt=Beach, Salina Cruz, Salina Cruz, fifth largest municipality by population.

Notes

References

{{Portal bar, Mexico