Zongolica is a city and its surrounding

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 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located in the state's central

Mountains region Mountains Region is one of the regions of Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range and includes the Orizaba Peak. Its largest cities are Córdoba and Orizaba Orizaba (, Otomi: ) is a city and municipality ...

, about 100 km from the state capital at

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 ...

. The municipality covers 63.34 km² and, in 2020, reported a population of 45,028. It is located at . The name comes from

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 ...

''Tzontli-coliuhqui'' 'crafty hair'.

Economy

It produces principally

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

orange fruit The orange, also called sweet orange to distinguish it from the bitter orange (''Citrus × aurantium''), is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. Botanically, this is the hybrid ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', between the pomelo (''Citrus m ...

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

and

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

. The climate is cold-humid, with an average temperature of 17.4 °C, with rains in summer and autumn.

Culture

Every October, a festival is held to celebrate Saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

, the town's patron, and in December there is a festival in honor of the

Virgin of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, J ...

. Zongolica is home to the Ixcohuapa people, who are known for cooking and consuming larvae of ''

Arsenura armida ''Arsenura armida'', the giant silk moth, is a moth of the family Saturniidae. It is found mainly in South and Central America, from Mexico to Bolivia, and Ecuador to south-eastern Brazil. It was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1779. It is ...

.''

XEZON-AM XEZON-AM (''La Voz de la Sierra de Zongolica'' – "The Voice of the Sierra de Zongolica") is an indigenous community radio station that broadcasts in Spanish and Nahuatl from Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico. It is run by the Sistema de Radiodifusora ...

, an

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

station that broadcasts in

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 ...

and

, is based in Zongolica.

Geography

The municipality of Zongolica is bordered to the north by

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 ...

and

Omealca Omealca is a municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The municipal seat is Omealca. Etymology Omealca means place between two rivers in nahuatl, due to it being next to Blanco river and above a subterranean one. Geography Climate Omealc ...

, to the east by

Tezonapa Tezonapa is a municipality located in the high mountain region in the Mexican state of Veracruz, about 219 km from the state capital Xalapa. It covers an area of . The law number 93 of December 22, 1960 San Agustín created Tezonapa's municip ...

, to the south by the state of

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

and to the west by Los Reyes.

Climate

Fauna

Zongolica catfish ''

Rhamdia zongolicensis ''Rhamdia zongolicensis'' (common name: Zongolica catfish) is a species of three-barbeled catfish endemic to Mexico. Its specific name refers to Zongolica, the area in Veracruz state where it occurs. It is a cave fish similar to '' Rhamdia latic ...

'' is named after Zongolica and only known from a single cave in the Sierra de Zongolica.

References

External links

*
Municipal government webpage
*
Municipal Official Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Veracruz Nahua settlements