Santa María Chimalapa

Santa María 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]

Santa María Chimalapa
Municipality and town
Santa María Chimalapa
Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 16°54′N 94°41′W
Country Mexico
StateOaxaca
Area
 • Total3,572.31 km2 (1,379.28 sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central Standard Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (Central Daylight Time)

Environment

The municipality has an area of 3572.31 km², much of it covered by tropical rain forest. The climate is warm sub humid, with summer rainfall of 23,000 mm. The forests contain many species of tree including cedar, mahogany, Nopo, Guanacaste, cedrillo, coabillo, ceiba, pine, hormiguillo, rattan, oak, oak, lime, nanche, pineapple, custard apple, tangerine and coffee. Wild fauna include boar, paca, deer, jaguar, raccoon, skunk, monkey, pheasant, parrot, owl, toucan, white eagle, rattlesnake, coral snake deaf.[1] The town is at a height of 180 metres above sea level and is supplied with water by El Rio Corte, originating in the Selva Zoque forests to the east.[1][2]

Demographics

Before the Mexican colonial period, the area was inhabited by the Chima, a Zoque people believed to be descendants of the Olmec.[3] The area is now ethnically diverse, with the original Zoque people reduced to a minority of perhaps 30%.[4] As of 2005, the municipality had 1,701 households with a total population of 8,643 of whom 3,381 spoke an indigenous language.[1]

Economy

Economic activities include growing corn, beans, coffee and sugar cane, and raising cattle, goats, sheep, horses and poultry. Logging is practised, with a sawmill preparing fine woods for furniture production, and wild animals are hunted in certain seasons. Sport hunting is also practised by tourists.[1] The region is extremely poor, with limited infrastructure such as roads and schools.[3]

References
  1. "Santa María Chimalapa". Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México. Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  2. "Selva Zoque" (in Spanish). WWF Mexico. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  3. "Zoques de Oaxaca" (in Spanish). La Unidad del CIESAS Pacífico Sur. Archived from the original on 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  4. 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.
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