The Sierra Mixteca is a mountainous region located between the states of Puebla and

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 political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

in south-central

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 ...

, in the region known as

La Mixteca La Mixteca is a cultural, economic and political region in Western Oaxaca and neighboring portions of Puebla, Guerrero in south-central Mexico, which refers to the home of the Mixtec people. In their languages, the region is called either Ñuu Djau ...

. It is also known as the Nudo Mixteco or Escudo Mixteco (

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture w ...

Shield) and, in Nahuatl, as Zempoaltépetl (meaning "twenty mountains"), which is also the name of the Cerro Zempoaltépetl, its highest peak (3400 m). In the

Mixtec language The Mixtec () languages belong to the Mixtecan group of the Oto-Manguean language family. Mixtec is spoken in Mexico and is closely related to Trique and Cuicatec. The varieties of Mixtec are spoken by over half a million people.2000 census; ...

it is called Ñuñume, the land of clouds. The Sierra Mixteca is one of the oldest geological regions in the territory of Mexico. It stands at the convergence of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Neo-Volcanic Axis, and the Sierra Madre del Sur. During the emergence of the two Sierra Madre ranges, the Mixtec Shield underwent intense

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

and

faulting In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

, which caused changes in the upper courses of the Rivers Balsas, Lerma and Papaloapan. During that geological process, which also involved high levels of

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

, the rivers rising in the Sierra Mixteca carved out many deep canyons, further complicating the relief of the region. One of the most important valleys created during this period is the

Tehuacán "By faith and hope" , , image_map = , mapsize = 300 px , map_caption = Location of Tehuacán within the state of Puebla. , image_map1 = Puebla en México.svg , mapsize1 = 300 px , ma ...

Valley, located in south-east Puebla, an area of mineral springs. The Sierra Mixteca is one of the country's poorest regions in natural resources. Its inhabitants, who number some 200,00

are predominantly Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous, mostly belonging to the

Mixtec people The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture w ...

, who engage in subsistence agriculture. The region lacks any major population centres and communications with the rest of the country are deficient.

External links

Sierra Mixteca
{{coord missing, Puebla, Oaxaca

Mixteca The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

Landforms of Puebla Landforms of Oaxaca Geography of Mesoamerica Mixtec