Los Reyes (

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 ...

: "the kings") 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 ...

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, located about south of the state capital

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In 2020 census the city reported a population of 443,063 ...

Geography

The municipality of Los Reyes is located in the Sierra de Zongolica, which are foothills of the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...

in central Veracruz. It lies at an altitude between . It borders the municipalities of

Tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

to the north, Zongolica to the east,

Texhuacán Texhuacán is a municipality located in the montane central zone in the Mexican state of Veracruz, about 205 km from the state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 32.90 km2. It is located at . Geography The municipality of Texhuacán is del ...

to the south, Tlaquilpa to the southwest, and Atlahuilco to the west. The municipality covers an area of and comprises 0.05% of the state's area. The land in Los Reyes is mostly either forested (64%) or used as farmland (33%).

Luvisol Luvisols are a group of soils, comprising one of the 32 Reference Soil Groups in the international system of soil classification, the World Reference Base for Soil Resources The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is an international ...

s predominate in the municipality. The municipality is located in the

Papaloapan River The Papaloapan River () is one of the main rivers of the Political divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Veracruz (state), Veracruz. Its name comes from the Nahuatl ''papaloapan'' meaning "river of the Butterfly, butterflies". In 1518 Juan de Grij ...

basin. Federal Highway 123 runs through the municipality from northwest to east, forming part of the municipal border between Los Reyes and Atlahuilco. Los Reyes's climate is generally temperate and humid. Average temperatures in the municipality range between , and average annual precipitation ranges between .

History

The original name for the area was Cozcatlán (

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

: "place of jewels"). According to the ''

Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca The is a 16th-century Nahuatl-language manuscript, dealing with the history of Cuauhtinchan. It is now in the in Paris. The text describes the history of the Toltecs and the Chichimecas from before the Chichimecan migration until 1544. It was ...

'' a group of Nahuatl-speaking Nonoalca known as the Cozcatecah settled in the Cozcatlán area around 1050, which formed part of the historical region of Nonoalco. On 28 March 1831, a municipality called Los Santos Reyes de Coscatla was incorporated in the area, forming part of the canton of Orizaba in the state of Veracruz. On 4 June 1888 Los Reyes annexed the municipality of Atlanca. Los Reyes became a free municipality on 15 January 1918.

Administration

The municipal government comprises a president, a councillor (

: ''síndico''), and a trustee (''regidor''). The current president of the municipality is Eclicerio Tequiliquihua Quiahuixtle.

Demographics

In the 2010 Mexican Census, the municipality of Los Reyes recorded a population of 5484 inhabitants living in 1261 households. The 2015 Intercensal Survey estimated a population of 5830 inhabitants in Los Reyes, 98.40% of whom reported being of Indigenous ancestry. In the 2010 Census, 4699 people or 86% of the population in Los Reyes reported speaking an Indigenous language, of which 4478 spoke Nahuatl. There are 20 localities in the municipality, of which only the municipal seat, also called Los Reyes, is classified as urban. It recorded a population of 963 inhabitants in the 2010 Census.

Economy

The main economic activity in Los Reyes is farming and corn is the main crop grown.

References

{{Veracruz Municipalities of Veracruz 1831 establishments in Mexico States and territories established in 1831