Tlapacoya, Puebla
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Tlapacoya is name of both a municipio (municipality) and a village located in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Tlapacoya, the municipio and village, is not to be confused with the Tlapacoya archaeological site southwest of Mexico City.
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[edit] Nomenclature
The place-name "Tlapacoya" comes from the stem "tlapcac", top of the hill, and "oya", to decay; together it means "place where the top of the hill decays".
[edit] History
Tlapacoya founded by the Totonac and Otomí peoples. In the pre-Hispanic era, the town was brought under the rule of Texcoco by Moctezuma I, and was an important province that included the Huauchinango, Zacatlán, Tetela de Ocampo, Juan Galindo, and Ahuacatlan, among others.
As with most of the indigenous towns, Tlapacoya suffered the consequences of the Spanish Conquest. It belonged old District of Zacatlán and in 1895 was constituted as a Free Municipality.
[edit] Geography
The municipality of Tlapacoya is located in the north part of Puebla at . The colindancias are: to the north Jopala, to the south Ahuacatlán, to the east San Felipe Tepatlán and Jopala, and to the west Tlaola and Chiconcuautla. In 1990, Tlapacoya had a population of 1,006. Its surface area is 80.38 square kilometers, the 139th largest municipality in Puebla.
[edit] Orography
Tlapacoya belongs to two morphological regions. Conventionally, it is considered part of the elevations toward the north, but it is also part of the North Mountains of Puebla.
The mountains to the north of Tlapacoya, toward the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, are characterized by their numerous volcanic chimneys and remote hills, while the North Mountain chain consists of more or less individual mountains, parallel, some compressed against the others, that form various sized intermontane plains between the mountains.
To the northwest, there is a mountain chain that culminates with the hill of Ixicotepetl and descends abruptly in direction of the Acalá river. To east, there are the Cuatezon hills, and to the southeast are the Ocote hills. The area shows a general tendency to descend in a north/south direction; its elevation varies between 440 and 1,500 meters above sea level.
[edit] Hydrography
The northern part of the state of Puebla is characterized by the different partial basins of the rivers that flow into in the Gulf of Mexico, including many small, rapid rivers and a large number of falls. All the rivers within the municipality originate in the North Mountains of Puebla and are tributaries of the Tecolutla river, which flows into in the Gulf.
The Acalá river travels through the west of Tlapacoya and downriver unites with Ajajalpan, a tributary of the Tecolutla. The El Salto River also travels through the west of Tlapacoya, eventually becoming the Tlamaya River and flowing into the Acalá. The Ajajalpan river is in the southwest of the municipality, along with its tributaries Zempoala, Tlalpacatitla, and San Mateo. The Tlapacoya municipality also contains a number of springs.
[edit] Natural resources
Deforestation has reduced much of the pine forest around Tlapacoya to support coffee plantations and cattle ranching. Agriculture also includes sugar cane, corn, and chilli peppers.
Ethnic groups: 90% racially mixed (mainly Spanish and Indians), 10% Indians.
[edit] References
Source: Enciclopedia de los municipios de México, l999. Secretaría de Gobernación, Centro Nacional de Desarrollo Municipal.
