General Francisco R. Murguía is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

, located approximately north of the state capital of

Zacatecas City Zacatecas () is the principal city within the municipalities of Mexico, municipality in Mexico of the same name, and the capital of the state of Zacatecas. Located in north-central Mexico, the city had its start as a Spanish mining camp in the ...

. Its municipal seat is located in Nieves.

Geography

The municipality of Francisco R. Murguía is located at an elevation between on the

Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano (), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the United States border in the north to the T ...

in northern Zacatecas. It borders the Zacatecan municipalities of Mazapil to the northeast,

Villa de Cos Villa de Cos is one of the 58 municipalities of the Mexican state of Zacatecas. It is located in the center-east of the state, bordered by the municipalities of Mazapil, Francisco R. Murguia, Río Grande, Felipe Pescador, Fresnillo, Pánuco ...

to the southeast,

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Me ...

to the southwest, and

Juan Aldama Juan Aldama (January 3, 1774 in San Miguel el Grande, Guanajuato – June 26, 1811 in Chihuahua) was a Mexican revolutionary rebel soldier during the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. Biography He was also the brother of Ignacio Ald ...

to the west. It also borders three municipalities of

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

to the north and northwest: Santa Clara, General Simón Bolívar, and San Juan de Guadalupe. The municipality covers an area of and comprises 6.6% of the state's area. As of 2009, the land cover in Francisco R. Murguía comprises

matorral 300px, Springtime in Santiago.html" ;"title="Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago">Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago along the Pan-American Highway Matorral is a Spanish language, Spanish word, along with ''tomil ...

(53%), grassland (24%), and

mezquital Mezquital is a municipality in the Mexican state of Durango. The municipal seat lies at San Francisco del Mezquital. The municipality covers an area of 7,196.5 km². As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 33,396, up from 30, ...

(2%). Another 21% of the land is used for agriculture. The municipality lies in the

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

of the

Aguanaval River The Aguanaval River is a river located in northcentral Mexico. Geography It originates in the southern Sierra Madre Occidental range of Zacatecas state, and flows generally north through Zacatecas and Durango states to empty into the endorheic ...

, which flows south to north through the municipality. The small mountain range called the Sierra de Guadalupe rises in the south-central part of the municipality, and was formerly exploited for its deposits of copper, antimony and mercury.

Climate

Francisco R. Murguía has a semi-arid climate with dry winters. Average temperatures in the municipality range between , and average annual precipitation ranges between .

History

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the area in what is now the municipality of General Francisco R. Murguía was inhabited by

Chichimeca Chichimeca () is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajío region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" tha ...

peoples. The expedition of

Francisco de Ibarra Francisco de Ibarra (1539 –June 3, 1575) was a Spanish-Basque explorer, founder of the city of Durango, and governor of the Spanish province of Nueva Vizcaya, in present-day Durango and Chihuahua. Biography Francisco de Ibarra was born a ...

arrived in the area on 5 August 1558, naming it Santa Maria de las Nieves after the feast on that day. In the 18th century it took the name of Real de Minas in reference to the local mining activities, but was renamed Nieves later in the same century. After the independence of Mexico, Nieves was one of the original ''partidos'' named in Zacatecas's state constitution first enacted on 17 January 1825. It became a free municipality on 19 August 1916. In 1964, the municipality was renamed in honour of General , who was born in Mazapil and fought in the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

Administration

The municipal government of Francisco R. Murguía comprises a president, a councillor (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''síndico''), and thirteen trustees (''regidores''), eight elected by

relative majority A plurality vote (in North American English) or relative majority (in British English) describes the circumstance when a party, candidate, or proposition polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast. For ...

and five by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

. The current president of the municipality is Javier Garcia (2021).

Demographics

In the 2010 Mexican Census, the municipality of Francisco R. Murguía recorded a population of 21,974 inhabitants living in 5427 households. The 2015 Intercensal Survey estimated a population of 21,809 inhabitants in Francisco R. Murguía.

INEGI The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI from its former name in ) is an autonomous agency of the Government of Mexico, Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Statistical and Geographical Information ...

lists 76 localities in the municipality, of which only the municipal seat Nieves is classified as urban. It recorded a population of 5653 inhabitants in the 2010 Census.

Economy

The main economic activity in Francisco R. Murguía is agriculture. The main crops grown are forage oats, beans, and corn. Cattle, sheep and goats are also raised.

References

{{Zacatecas, state=collapsed Municipalities of Zacatecas 1825 establishments in Mexico States and territories established in 1825