Nopaltepec is municipality in

State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

, Mexico. It's municipal seat and second largest town is the town of Nopaltepec. It is approximately from Toluca, the state capital. The name derives from Náhuatl meaning "on nopal (paddle cactus) hill". It was originally called "Santa María de la Asunción Nopaltepec" but, after 1960, only Nopaltepec has been used.

Village

The village first appears in records around 1603 though villages in this area have existed since pre-Hispanic times. It is also known as Santa María de la Asunción Nopaltepec. In 1901 the Parish of Nopaltepec is established and was expanded in 1932. The village had a population of 3,224 in 2005.

The municipality

The largest town is San Felipe Teotitlán, followed by the municipal seat Nopaltepec, San Miguel Atepoxco, Ex-hacienda la Puerta, Santa Inés Amiltepec, Ex-hacienda de Tepatepec, Colonia Venta de Cruz, Las Ambrises, and Rancho San Felipe (Moratepec). The municipality has 87.94 square km of territory and a total population of 8,182 as of 2005. It is bordered by the municipality of

Axapusco Axapusco is a municipality, in Mexico State in 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 ...

and the state of Hidalgo. The municipality is principally rural, mainly flat plateau with small elevations. With no lakes or rivers, all water supplies come from underground aquifers. Its flora is adapted to its semi-arid climate and include: pirúl,

mezquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...

, licorice root, sweet acacia,

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

, maguey, various varieties of nopal, eucalyptus,

camphor trees ''Camphora officinarum'' is a species of evergreen tree that is commonly known under the names camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel. Description ''Camphora officinarum'' is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern ...

, pine,

wild privet ''Ligustrum vulgare'' (wild privet, also sometimes known as common privet or European privet) is a species of ''Ligustrum'' native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from Ireland and southwestern Sweden south to M ...

s, mimosa,

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergree ...

, and ornamental palms. Wild fauna include: rabbits, hares, squirrels, skunks,

cacomixtle 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 ...

tlacuache Opossums () are members of the marsupial Order (biology), order Didelphimorphia () Endemism, endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 Genus, genera. Opossums originated in ...

, chachahuate, lizards, cencuate, trout, rattlesnakes, linger and scorpions. Agriculture is the primary economic activity with the production of cactus fruit, pulque and basic grains for auto-consumption. There is some fish-farming here as well. There is almost no livestock here and only a few home-based workshops producing clothing, plastic items, plumbing, and metalworks.

History

The villages of this area in the pre-Hispanic era, were dominated by the Teotihuacan culture. Around 1134, the Chichimecas migrated here from what is now the north of Mexico, taking over these same villages. What now the municipality was part of the dominion of Xaltoca around 1200 and when this lord fell, the kind King Xolotl consolidated this area along with Teotitln, Atepoxco, as well as other villages of the time. During the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

, Nopalteppec was part of the

Acolhua The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs (or Mexica) as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others. The most important poli ...

region. After the Conquest, the area became part of the "alcaldia mayor" (lit. major mayorship) of Otompan and would remain so throughout the 18th century. The municipality would not be officially declared until 1871 with the name of Santa María de la Asunción Nopaltepec. The Battle of Venta de Cruz took place here in 1816 as part of the Mexican War of Independence.

References

{{Mexico State Municipalities of the State of Mexico Populated places in the State of Mexico