San Miguel Chimalapa is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region.[1]

San Miguel Chimalapa
Municipality and town
San Miguel Chimalapa is located in Mexico
San Miguel Chimalapa
San Miguel Chimalapa
Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 16°43′N 94°45′W / 16.717°N 94.750°W / 16.717; -94.750
Country Mexico
StateOaxaca
Area
 • Total1,593.5 km2 (615.3 sq mi)
Population
 (2005)
 • Total6,541
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central Standard Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (Central Daylight Time)

Geography edit

The municipality covers an area of 1593.5 km2 at an altitude of 120 meters above sea level. The climate is warm temperate, sub-humid with summer rains, with 2100 mm of annual precipitation. Flora includes cedar, Guanacaste, pine, pine, oak, Nopo, milk, yellow, mahogany, orange, banana, tangerine, mamey and nanche. Fauna includes jaguar, mountain lion (endangered), raccoon, tapir, paca, coyote, fox, badgers, anteaters, wild boar, fox, rabbit, armadillo, mazatec, monkey, parrots, pheasant, rattlesnake and coral snake.[1]

Demographics edit

As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 6,541 of whom 1,988 spoke an indigenous language.[1] As of 2,000 there were about 1,675 Zoque speakers in the municipality.[2] The municipality covers part of the Selva Zoque, an ecologically sensitive forest area.[3]

Chimalapa Zoque is spoken in the municipality.[4]

Economy edit

Economic activity includes agriculture (corn, beans, squash and coffee), animal husbandry (cattle, pigs, goats and sheep) and logging of timber for furniture making. Hunting and fishing are practiced by permission in the dry season.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "San Miguel Chimalapa". Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México. Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  2. ^ "Zoques de Oaxaca". Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  3. ^ David Barkin and Miguel Angel García. "The Social Construction of Deforestation in Mexico: A case study of the 1998 fires in the Chimalapas Rain Forest". World Rainforest Movement. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  4. ^ Wichmann, Søren (1995). The Relationship Among the Mixe–Zoquean Languages of Mexico. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0-87480-487-4.