The Sierra Juárez is a range of mountains 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 ...

state,

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 ...

between latitudes 17°20'-17°50'N and longitudes 96°15'-97°00'W, with an area of about . It is part of the

Sierra Madre de Oaxaca The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southeastern Mexico. It is primarily in the state of Oaxaca, and extends north into the states of Puebla and Veracruz. Geography The mountain range begins at Pico de Orizaba, and extends in a sout ...

. The range is separated from the Sierra de Zongólica to the north by the Santo Domingo River, flowing through the Tecomavaca Canyon. It stretches south-eastward to the Cajones River and the Sierra de Villa Alta. The mountains are in the district of Ixtlán de Juárez in the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca region. The range is named after Mexico's only indigenous president,

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...

, who was born here in 1806 in the small village of San Pablo Guelatao. The heavily wooded area is about from the city of Oaxaca on Federal highway 175, heading towards Tuxtepec.

Terrain and climate

The mountains climb from , with many large and deep ravines. They are formed of folded sedimentary rocks with series of younger granitic intrusions that date from the

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma at the start of ...

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

, with the majority being

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

. The climate is subtropical in the lower regions and temperate and subhumid above , with average temperature from . There is regular frost in the higher mountains. Annual rainfall, fed by the trade winds from the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, ranges from or more. The Valle Nacional River originates in the Sierra de Juárez, one of the major tributaries of 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 ...

Vegetation

The Sierra Juárez is one of Oaxaca State's wettest areas and richest in forest diversity, with perhaps 2,000 of the 8,000 or more plant species that are found in the state. It is mostly covered by montane

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

, but includes tropical evergreen forests and forests of pine, pine-oak and oak. The cloud forest forms a band from in height, up to along the northern and eastern slopes. The climate is cool, , and has mean annual rainfall that exceeds and is sometimes much higher. The dominant trees are tall and include evergreen and deciduous species, palms, tree ferns, heather shrubs, vines, and moisture-loving herbs. Bosque Cajonos

The tropical evergreen forest is dominated by evergreen trees tall, with abundant

lianas A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

and tropical

epiphytes An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

. Pine and pine-oak forests, at a height from have evergreen trees tall, with grasses dominating the lower stratum. Oak forests at a height from grow in areas with relatively lower rainfall that have a dry season in summer. The oak forests are found in the western, inland part of the sierra to the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

Basin.

Animals

A species of alligator lizard, ''

Abronia juarezi ''Abronia juarezi'', also known Common name, commonly as the Sierra Juarez alligator lizard and ''el escorpión de Sierra de Juárez'' in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Anguidae. The species is Endemism, en ...

'', is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to and named after the Sierra Juárez mountain range.

People

The Sierra Juárez is the land of the Sierra Zapotecs, of whom President Benito Juárez was one of the most famous. The Zapotecs of the Sierra Norte, who call themselves the ''bene xon,'' are one of three major Zapotec regions in southern Mexico. The other three reside 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 ...

, the Valles Centrales region and 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 ...

. The ''bene xon'' divide into four sub-cultures: Cajonos, El Rincón, Ixtlán and Choapan. Other indigenous people include the Chinantec, Mixe and

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerre ...

Environmental concerns

The Sierra Juárez is home to threatened

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s such as

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

(''Panthera onca''),

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

(''Leopardus pardalis''), and

brocket deer Brockets or brocket deer are the species of deer in the genus ''Mazama''. They are medium to small in size, and are found in the Yucatán Peninsula, Central and South America, and the island of Trinidad. Most species are primarily found in fores ...

(genus ''Mazama''). It is also a habitat for the threatened dwarf jay (''Cyanloyca nanus''), and is the richest region in Mexico for

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

. It is under stress from logging, agriculture, grazing, and colonization, and is potentially threatened by hydroelectric dams. There is no official plan to establish nature reserves. However, the region promotes ecotourism to help preserve the biosphere with various enterprises offering cabins, camping, access and guides for hiking and mountain-biking trails, horseback riding, bird-watching, and cave exploration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sierra Juarez, Oaxaca Juarez Sierra Madre de Oaxaca Landforms of Oaxaca Sierra Norte de Oaxaca