La Mixteca

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Map showing the historic Mixtec area. Pre-Classic archeological sites are marked with a triangle, Classic sites with a round dot and Post-classic sites with a square.

La Mixteca is a cultural, economic and political region that covers parts of the states of Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca in south-central Mexico. The region covers some 40,000 km² where two of the country's mountain ranges, the Neo-Volcanic Belt and Sierra Madre del Sur, converge.

It is the homeland of the Mixtec people.

[edit] Geography

La Mixteca is a country of great contrasts. The Sierra Madre del Sur and the Neo-Volcanic Belt mark its northern limits. To the east, it is defined by the Cuicatlán Ravine and the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. To the west, the Mixteca region is adjacent to the valleys of Morelos and the central portion of Guerrero. To the south lies the Pacific Ocean. Because of the presence of the major mountains of the Sierra Mixteca, communications with the rest of the country are difficult.

The region is conventionally divided into three separate areas, defined by the prevailing height of the terrain.

The Sierra Mixteca, near Nativitas Monte Verde, in Oaxaca

• Mixteca Baja ("Low Mixteca"): northwest Oaxaca and southwest Puebla.
• Mixteca Alta ("High Mixteca"): northeast Guerrero and western Oaxaca.
• Mixteca de la Costa ("Coastal Mixteca"): the area also known as the Costa Chica, the Pacific coastline of eastern Guerrero and western Oaxaca.