Zumpango, Mexico State
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Zumpango (de Ocampo) | |
| — Municipality — | |
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | Mexico |
| State | Mexico State |
| Government | |
| - Municipal President | Enrique Mazutti Delgado (2006-2009) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
Zumpango de Ocampo (also known simply as Zumpango) is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of México in Mexico and seat of the municipality of Zumpango. It lies directly north of the Federal District (Distrito Federal) within the Greater Mexico City urban area. The name derives from the Náhuatl phrase tzompanco which means "row of scalps".[1]
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[edit] The city
There is no written evidence of pre-Conquest settlements in the area, but there is archeological evidence which dates an organized town on the shores of the old Lake Zumpango as far back as 200 AD. The development of this settlement has been categorized into five phases, the last of which is the area's incorporation into the Aztec Empire between 1150 and 1520. After the Spanish Conquest, the areas around the old lake were divided between Cuautitlán and Zitlaltepec, but in 1596 the town of Zumpango de la Laguna (of the lake, as it was called then) was made the regional seat of a zone that included Zitlaltepec. It was also made a center of evangelization around this time. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the population congregated toward the growing city, leaving smaller towns in the area depopulated and also giving rise to large haciendas such as Hacienda de Santa Lucía, Hacienda de Santa Inés, and Hacienda de Xalpan. Zumpango became the seat of a municipality in 1820.[1]
For its role in the Mexican-American War and the French intervention in Mexico, Benito Juárez extended the town's name to "Zumpango de la Laguna, pueblo libre" (a free people) in 1867. In 1877, the state congress changed the name of the city to Zumpango de Ocampo in honor of Melchor Ocampo, as it gained city status.[1]
During the last decade or so of the 19th century, projects were carried out to drain the Valley of Mexico. One of the projects consisted of a canal called the "Túnel de Tequixquiac" which reaches Zumpango connecting to the Colorado and Tula Rivers. Because of this, Zumpango experienced considerable economic and social consequences. The Zapatistas were active here during the Mexican Revolution in part due to the upheavals the drainage brought.[1]
The census of 2005 reported a population of 53,479 in the city.[2]
Notable sites in the city include the timple of the Purísima Concepción, constructed in the latter half of the 16th century located in the city center, as well as the Municipal Palace and the Casa Cural. The offices of the Valley of Mexico drainage project here has been converted into a primary school. Also, the Bonfil-Rivera Family house and the house of Don Guadalupe Meléndez are considered significant.[1]
[edit] The municipality
As municipal seat, the city of Zumpango de Ocampo is the governing authority for the following communities: Rancho los Mandarines (El Arbolito), San Miguel Bocanegra, Buenavista (Colonia Buenavista), El Capricho, Rancho Coleapan, Santa María Cuevas (Cuevas), U. Fam. Confederación de Trab. Campesinos, Colonia Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, Valle Hermoso, Rancho el Nido, Los Pirineos, Pueblo Nuevo de Morelos, San Bartolo Cuautlalpan, San José de la Loma, San Juan Zitlaltepec, San Juan de Dios (Los Espárragos), Rancho San Luis, Barrio San Miguel (Colonia Abad), San Sebastián, Santa Lucía, Colonia Santa Lucía, Santa María de Guadalupe, Barrio de España, Loma Larga (Barrio de Loma Larga), Colonia los Alcanfores, Rancho la Purísima, El Berrinche, Colonia los Hornos, Granja Riera, Ej. San Bartolo Naucalpan (Rcho. los 3 Hnos.), Rancho San Calixto (Casco Número Tres), Rancho San Francisco de Asís, Los Aguilar, Rancho los Romeros, Ejido el Nido, Ejido San Sebastián, Granja la Esperanza, Rancho la Esperanza, Ejido San Bartolo, Rancho la Josefina, Granja Avigrupo, Hacienda de la Flor, Rancho el Carmen, Los Rodríguez (Familia Santillán), Granjas SYTEX, Los Vázquez, Colonia Pueblo Nuevo (Hacienda San Rosendo), Granja la Zurda, Santa Lucía, Granja Avícola Aviebro, Granja Guadalupe, Barrio Miltenco, El Llano Santa María, Rancho los Aguirre, Rancho Danssek, Barrio de San Miguel (Camino a Valle Hermoso), Colonia San Juan de Guadalupe, Las Espuelas, Fraccionamiento la Trinidad, La Soledad, San Andrés del Llano (Ejido de San Marcos), Colonia San Antonio Abad (El Alcanfor), La Purísima, Colonia Letigio, Colonia Llanos de Guadalupe, Rancho María Lupe, Rancho Teocalli, Colonia el Sol, Barrio el Rincón, Granja Buenos Aires, Paseos de San Juan, Ejido Barriales, El Colorado, El Potrero, Ex-hacienda de Guadalupe, as well as 123 unnamed settlements.
The total population of the municipality as of 2005 was 127,988,[2] with a total territory of 244.08 km² (94.24 sq mi).[1]
Half of the municipalities territory is flat with only the Cerro (large hill) del Zitlaltepec as its notable elevation at 1650 meters above sea level. Its most notable geographic features are acuatic... the current Zumpango Lake (larger than it was in antiquity) and the man-made Grand Canal which serves to drain the Mexico City basin.[1]
In areas outside of the city, the main economic occupation is still farming, mostly of alfalfa, corn and barley.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h {{ |url=http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/mexico/mpios/15120a.htm |title= Enciclopedia de los municipios de Mexico Estado de Mexico Zumpango |accessdate= 2008-05-20 }}
- ^ a b {{ |url=http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/sistemas/conteo2005/localidad/iter/ |title=Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005] INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática |accessdate= 2005-03-28 }}
