Jiménez 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

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

. It is located approximately west of the state capital of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

Geography

The municipality of Jiménez is located in the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks have snow all year long, and dur ...

in northern Michoacán at an elevation between . It borders the municipalities of

Puruándiro The city of Puruándiro is in the north of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is located at . The population is 70,571. It was founded by Juan de Villaseñor y Orozco in 1522. The wooded main garden has a kiosk that indicates that it was founded ...

to the north,

Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

to the northeast, Huaniqueo to the east,

Coeneo Coeneo de la Libertad is a town and municipal seat of the Coeneo municipality, located in the north central area of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The name Coeneo means "place of birds". History In the year 1530 Friar Martín de la Coruña ...

to the southeast,

Zacapu Zacapu (''Place of Stones''), is a city and surrounding municipality in the Nahuatzen mountains of Michoacán, Mexico. It is located at . The municipality has an area of . Geographic features in Zacapu include the Cerro del Tecolote mountain ra ...

to the southwest, and Panindícuaro to the northwest. The municipality covers an area of and comprises 0.33% of the state's area. As of 2009, the land cover in Jiménez consists of grassland (16%), temperate forest (10%),

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 ...

(5%) and tropical forest (4%). Another 56% of the land is used for agriculture and 2% consists of urban areas. Jiménez is drained by the Ángulo River, a tributary of the

Lerma River The Lerma River () is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near Guadalajara, ...

which flows south to north through the municipality. There are a few small reservoirs in the municipality, the largest of which are the Aristeo Mercado Reservoir with a capacity of , and the Copándaro Reservoir with a capacity of .

Climate

Jiménez has a temperate climate with rain in the summer. Average temperatures in the municipality range between , and average annual precipitation ranges between .

History

In the mid-19th century, stagecoaches running between Zamora and Morelia forded the Ángulo River at what is now Villa de Jiménez. A man named Patrocinio Aguilar lived there and supplied travellers with provisions, so that the place became known as Vado de Aguilar ("Aguilar's Ford"). On May 30, 1910, the settlement was granted the status of a town (''villa'') and renamed after Mariano Jiménez, governor of Michoacán from 1885 to 1892. Originally part of the municipality of Zacapu, Jiménez became an independent municipality on 1 May 1921.

Administration

The municipal government 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 seven trustees (''regidores''), four 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 three 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 Arturo León Balvanera.

Demographics

In the 2010 Mexican Census, the municipality of Jiménez recorded a population of 13,275 inhabitants living in 3851 households. The 2015 Intercensal Survey estimated a population of 12,426 inhabitants in Jiménez. There are 25 localities in the municipality, of which only the municipal seat Villa Jiménez is classified as urban. It recorded a population of 4249 inhabitants in the 2010 Census.

Economy

The main economic activity in Jiménez is agriculture. Corn is the main crop, followed by sorghum and forage oats. Chicken, cattle and pigs are also raised.

References

{{Michoacán, state=collapsed Municipalities of Michoacán 1921 establishments in Mexico States and territories established in 1921