Petatlán 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 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 ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

. The municipal seat lies at

Petatlán Petatlán is a city in the municipality of Petatlán located along the Pacific Coast of the Mexican state of Guerrero. It is part of the Costa Grande region between Zihuatanejo and Acapulco. The city is known for the Sanctuary of the Padre Jes ...

. The municipality covers an area of . As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 44,485.

Geography

As municipal seat, the city of Petatlán is the local governing authority for over 730 named communities, with a combined territory of (inegi). About half of the municipality’s population of 44,485 people live in the city proper.(inegi) Outside the seat, the most populous are San Jeronimito, Coyuquilla (norte), Palos Blancos and El Mameyal. The municipality borders the municipalities of

Coyuca de Catalán Coyuca de Catalán is a city and seat of the municipality of Coyuca de Catalán, in the state of Guerrero, southern Mexico. Formerly called Coyuca, the town was named Coyuca de Catalán in honour of Nicolás Catalán, son of Antonia Nava de Ca ...

Tecpan de Galeana Tecpan de Galeana (for Hermenegildo Galeana) is a city and seat of the municipality of Tecpan de Galeana, in the state of Guerrero, in southern Mexico.Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía The National Institute of Statistics an ...

and Teniente José Azueta with the Pacific Ocean on the south side. The geography of the area consists of rugged mountains, semi-flat areas and flat areas, which are part of the Costa Grande region. Rugged mountains cover about 70% of the surface, mostly in the north and center, formed by the Sierra Madre del Sur and reach a height of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Semi-flat areas cover about 20% of the surface and are mostly located just north of Highway 200 and are mostly rolling hills. Flat areas cover the rest and are concentrated in the west, southeast and the coastline. Major rivers are the Coyuquilla, Petatlán and San Jeronimito, with a number of arroyos such as the Camotal, La Morena, El Comalate and Coyuca. There are small lakes and lagoons such as the Santiago, Estero Valentín, Salina el Cuajo and Tular. The variations in altitude lead to three types of climate: semi-humid, semi-hot and hot. The first is mostly located in the north along the border with Coyuca de Catalán. The second is in the center and the last is along the coast. In all these climates, there is a rainy season, which lasts from June to October. There are also rains in November and December. Most of the vegetation is low- and medium-altitude rain forest, whose trees often lose their leaves in the late fall. At the highest elevations, there are forests of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and holm oak. Wildlife include

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti, J.N. Laurenti in ...

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

armadillo Armadillos () are New World placental mammals in the order (biology), order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are dis ...

s, tejon,

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gi ...

wild cat Felidae ( ) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit the greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestria ...

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Easte ...

s, various types of

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

s and other birds. The forests contains harvestable species such as

black sapote ''Diospyros nigra'', the black sapote, is a species of persimmon. Common names include chocolate pudding fruit, black soapapple and (in Spanish) ''zapote prieto''. The tropical fruit tree is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. The c ...

ceiba ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall ...

white oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

and red cedar? . The municipality has a number of beaches including El Mirador, El Cayatal, Valentìn, La Barrita and Juluchuco. El Valentin has a lagoon.

Population and infrastructure

As of 2005, there were 178 people who spoke an indigenous languages, principally

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

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 ...

, down from 300 in 2000. From 1995 to 2000, the municipality had a negative population growth of -.55%. The population decreased again from 2000 to 2005 from 47,630 to 46,328. The municipality has 54 preschools, 186 primary schools, 15 middle schools and three high schools. It has one public library. The municipality has over 10,000 homes, almost all of which are single family structures. There are 34 km of paved road and 119,3 km of dirt road. The seat of the municipality is

. Other populated places in the municipality include Coyuquilla Sur, also known as Coyuquilla el Viejo, San Jeronimito and Palos Blancos.

Archeology

The municipality is home to the La Soledad de Maciel archeological site. This site has had pieces recovered from it since the first half of the 20th century, but formal excavation has only occurred in the past decade. The excavated portion is a large ceremonial center with a very large Mesoamerican ball court and a large pyramidal platform. The site may extend much farther than the currently excavated area. Archeological work has found a link between this area and the Teotihuacan civilization. A site museum was opened in 2010.

Economy

Traditionally, Petatlan has been noted for its cattle, production of

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

and gold sales. Agriculture and livestock constitutes about 36% of the economy. Mining, petroleum and industry account for about 14.5%. Commerce and services, mostly through small and medium-size enterprises, constitute about half of the economy. Principle crops include corn, beans and chili peppers. Livestock include, in order of importance, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, horses and domestic fowl. Industry is limited to a soap factory in San Jeronimito and small establishments which dry coconut kernels (copra). Other crafts include wood items, hats made with palm fronds and hammocks. The municipality has about of coastline, two lagoons and three rivers from which a wide variety of fish and other seafood is extracted. There are two main fishing cooperatives called El Cayacal and Coyuquilla. Seafood figures prominently in the local diet, especially crab, fish and preparations of

ceviche Ceviche, cebiche, sebiche, or seviche () is a cold dish consisting of fish or shellfish marinated in citrus and seasonings. Different versions of ceviche are part of the culinary cultures of various Latin American countries along the Pacific O ...

. Another local specialty is tamales with goat meat wrapped in banana leaves.

Iguana meat Iguana meat has historically been important in the culinary traditions of Mexico and Central America; particularly in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán and Colima. In Fray Sahagún's history of colonial Mexico, he mentions the iguana as a tradit ...

is used either with chili pepper or in a tomato sauce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petatlan (Municipality) Municipalities of Guerrero

Geography

Population and infrastructure

Archeology

Economy

See also

References