Ixtlán de Juárez is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of

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 ...

about 65 km north of the city of

on Federal Highway 175 towards

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. It is part of the

Ixtlán District Ixtlán District is located in the Sierra Norte region, in the northeastern area of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The district includes 26 municipalities, bringing together a total of 161 settlements. At the 2000 census, they contained a total of ...

in the

Sierra Norte de Oaxaca La Sierra Norte de Oaxaca is a heavily wooded region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is 62 km from the city of Oaxaca on Federal highway 175, heading east towards Tuxtepec. The region is divided into three districts: Ixtlán, which has ...

region.

Administrative areas

Municipality of Ixtlán

The municipality of Ixtlán de Juárez includes the town, and in addition the settlements of San Juan Yagila, Santa Cruz Yagavila, Santa María Yahuiche, Santa María Zoogochi, Santiago Teotlasco, Santo Domingo Cacalotepec, San Gaspar Yagalaxi, San Miguel Tiltepec, Santa María Josaa, La Luz, La Josefina and La Palma. (in Spanish) The population of the town in the 2005 census was 2,479, and of the entire municipality, 7,188. Other than the town of Ixtlán, none of the settlements have as many as a thousand inhabitants.

Rincón de Ixtlán

The Rincón de Ixtlán is an area largely within the municipality of Ixtlán de Juárez. It comprises nine communities, eight of them within the municipality of Ixtlán (the ninth,

San Pedro Yaneri San Pedro Yaneri is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western 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. ...

, is a small independent municipality). The Rincón does not include the town of Ixtlán or other communities on the main road. This remote and culturally homogeneous area is one of the most intensely indigenous in the whole of Mexico, and has therefore been the subject of considerable sociological study.

History

The town of Ixtlán existed before the

Spanish Conquest of Mexico The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

. It is thought to have been founded in the latter half of the 15th century, by Zapotec people from the region around Tarabundi and San Pedro Laduu (though there are also

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

remains in the areaEntry for Ixtlán de Juárez in the Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México, op. cit.). The first settlers were probably warriors establishing a defensive outpost against

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

invaders. In 1859 Ixtlán was the site of a battle during the

Reform War The Reform War, or War of Reform ( es, Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Tres Años), was a civil war in Mexico lasting from January 11, 1858 to January 11, 1861, fought between liberals and conservativ ...

between liberal and conservative forces. Some of the other communities in the municipality are probably several centuries older than the town of Ixtlán.

San Pablo Guelatao San Pablo Guelatao is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Guelatao de Juárez, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Ixtlán District in the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca region. Guelatao, as it is often called, is in the foothill ...

, the birthplace of

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Liberalism in Mexico, Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec peoples, Zapo ...

, lies 4 km from the town of Ixtlán and at the time of his birth fell within its jurisdiction, so Juárez was baptised in the church of St Thomas in Ixtlán; hence his name has been added to that of the town (in 1824, however, Guelatao declared itself independent of Ixtlán, and it remains an independent municipality.) The addition of Juárez's name serves the additional purpose of distinguishing the town from the many other Ixtláns in Mexico: the name is usually claimed to come from

words meaning "land of the

maguey Maguey may refer to various American plants: * Genus '' Agave'', especially ** Species ''Agave americana'', the century plant ** Species ''Agave salmiana ''Agave salmiana'' (also known as ''maguey pulquero'' and green maguey) is a species of the ...

",Whipperman, Bruce (2001). ''Oaxaca Handbook''. Emeryville CA:

Avalon Travel Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Ye ...

and use of the maguey (otherwise known as the century plant) was widespread in pre-Columbian Mexico. An alternative proposed derivation is from

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 wa ...

words meaning "place of

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

", and the town uses a logo that depicts an object made of obsidian. Templo De Santo Tomás Ixtlan

Economy

Ixtlán is now a centre for

eco-tourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

. Its location, surrounded by

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

and pine and oak woodlands (which are forested sustainably) gives it great natural landscape beauty, and the forests of the Sierra Juárez mountains are claimed to be home to around 500 bird species and 6000 plant species. Tours are operated from the village, and accommodation is available. Hiking trails link it to neighbouring towns and villages in the Sierra Norte. It is accessible by the bus service that connects Oaxaca and Veracruz along Federal Highway 175. The land is held in common, but for a time in the late 20th century, a Mexican national paper manufacturer held a concession to harvest its forests. However, when the concession expired, the local communities denied the company any extensions and the forests are now managed communally in order to ensure that they are sustainable. Principal agricultural crops in the municipality of Ixtlán are

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

, with a small amount of land given over to

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

and other crops.

Fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

marketing has made a substantial difference to the coffee growers in this area.Jaffee op. cit.

Higher education

Universidad de la Sierra Juarez en Oaxaca

As a rural mountainous region, higher education had previously not been readily available to the populace. In April 2005 the government of the state of Oaxaca established the Universidad de la Sierra Juárez to help further the development and education of citizens in the Sierra Norte region. Currently the university offers degrees in the fields of

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

. UNSIJ also encourages four core academic activities among its students, including: teaching, research, cultural enrichment, and promotion of regional development.

Notable buildings

*''Templo de St Tomás Apóstol'' (Church of St Thomas the Apostle), a

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

building constructed 1640–1734, replacing an earlier adobe structure. *Clock tower on the Plaza *''Presidencia municipal'' *''Museo de la Biodiversidad'' (Biodiversity Museum) Torre de Reloj Ixtlán

References

External links

*Entry for Ixtlán de Juárez in th
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ixtlan De Juarez Municipalities of Oaxaca Sierra Madre de Oaxaca