Santa María Petapa is a town and
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
Oaxaca
Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
in south-western
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 ...
.
It is part of the
Juchitán District
Juchitán District is located in the east of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico and the easternmost district in Oaxaca, covering the southern part of a low-lying corridor through the mountains that separates the Gulf of ...
in the west of the
Istmo de Tehuantepec region.
Name
The name comes from the
Zapotec language
The Zapotec languages are a group of around 50 closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages that constitute a main branch of the Oto-Manguean language family and are spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of ...
words meaning "four winds".
The town was given this name in 1525.
After
Espiritu Santu (now Coatzacoalcos) it is the oldest Spanish town in the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the T ...
.
Guigo or guego and petlatl means "river" and daa or petlatl means petate. It is original name of Petapa.
Geography
The town is located on a plain, bounded to the north and west by high mountains.
[
It is at an elevation of 260 meters above sea level. The municipality covers an area of 145.44 km2.
The land is irrigated by the Petapa River.
The climate is warm and humid, with abundant rainfall in the spring, summer and autumn.]
Flora and fauna
The forests contain oak, mahogany, cedar, guaiac, rosewood, spring, Nopo, mamey, avocado, pine and cedar.
Wild fauna include Toucan, boar, deer, tepeizcuinte, coyote, raccoon, armadillo and skunk.
Demographics
The church of Our Lady of the Assumption was built in the sixteenth century.[
As of 2005, the municipality had 3,476 households with a total population of 13,867 of which 3,294 spoke an indigenous language.]
Economy
The main economic activity is agriculture, with crops of corn, beans, coffee and vegetables.
Animal husbandry is also important, including cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, horses and poultry.
Logging is also practiced, with fine wood marketed for furniture manufacturing.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Petapa
Municipalities of Oaxaca