Nochistlán is one of the 58

municipalities 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 A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

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 ...

. Founded by the Caxcanes, it was also the first site of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Nochistlán () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán ( Spanish) or ( Catalan) is a masculine given name of Latin origin (, , , and so on). Its Portuguese form is . Its patronymic is (). Already in the Middle Ages the name was being confused with the similar but distinct name Munio. The meaning ...

, on December 3, 1531, hired

Cristóbal de Oñate Cristóbal de Oñate (1504 — October 6, 1567) was a Spanish Basque explorer, conquistador and colonial official in New Spain. He is considered the founder of the contemporary city of Guadalajara in 1531, as well as other places in Nueva Gali ...

to establish a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in Nochistlán; the village would be named

to honor Guzmán for having been born in Guadalajara. Guadalajara was founded in Nochistlán on January 5, having as officials Cristóbal de Oñate, Sancho Ortiz de Zúñiga and Miguel Ibarra. They worked at this project for only 16 months and created the first layout of Guadalajara. The first news that we have regarding the natives of these lands points to the

Tecuexe The Tecuexe were an Indigenous peoples of Mexico, who lived in the eastern part of present-day Guadalajara. History It is believed that the Tecuexe derived from the dispersion of Zacateco groups from La Quemada. Like the Zacatecos, the Tecuexe w ...

. These people established settlements around 1000. Later in the 12th century a new group of people moved in, these people were called

Caxcan The Caxcan are an ethnic group who are Indigenous to western and north-central Mexico, particularly the regions corresponding to modern-day Zacatecas, southern Durango, Jalisco, Colima, Aguascalientes, Nayarit. The Caxcan language is most often ...

and they were from the valley in Tuitlán, which is now found in the municipality of Villanueva,

. The Caxcan established Nochistlán by driving out the Tecuexe by force.

Population

In the 2020 census, the Municipality of Nochistlán reported a population of 27,945.Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática Of these, 16,562 lived in the municipal seat,

Nochistlán Nochistlán () (Nahuatl: Nocheztlan, "land of cochineal") is a city in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán, on December 3, 1531, hired Cristóbal de Oñate to establish a village in Nochistlán; the village would be named ...

, and the remainder lived in surrounding rural communities.

History

The first news that we have regarding the natives of these lands points to the Tecuexes. These people settled in the region around 1000 A.D. Later, in the 12th century, a new group of people called the Caxcanes moved in, they were from the valley in Tuitlán, which is now found in the Municipality of

Villanueva, Zacatecas Villanueva is a city in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. It is the administrative seat of the municipality of Villanueva. Name Villanueva was founded on February 4, 1692, under the name ''Villagutierre del Águila''. Like many towns in Mexico, t ...

. The Caxcanes established Nochistlán by driving out the Tecuexes by force. On December 3, 1531,

hired Cristobal de Oñate to establish a village in

, (now a town in Zacatecas) the village would be named

in honor of Guzmán for his birth in Guadalajara. Guadalajara was founded in Nochistlán on January 5, having as officials Oñate, Sancho Ortiz de Zuñiga and Miguel de Ibarra. They worked at this project for only 16 months and created the first layout of Guadalajara.

Location

*Latitude - 21°48'03" N *Longitude - 102°45'57" W *Population 26,195

References

External links

Nochistlán Government Site (In Spanish)Nochistlán official MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nochistlan De Mejia Municipality Municipalities of Zacatecas