Acuitzio del Canje, Michoacán

Acuitzio del Canje
Municipal seat
Acuitzio del Canje

Location of Acuitzio

Coordinates: 19°30′N 101°20′W / 19.500°N 101.333°WCoordinates: 19°30′N 101°20′W / 19.500°N 101.333°W
Country  Mexico
State Michoacán
Municipality Acuitzio
Elevation 2,080 m (6,820 ft)
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
  Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Website www.municipiosmich.gob.mx/acuitzio

Acuitzio del Canje is a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Acuitzio.

The area was originally settled in pre-Hispanic times. By 1620, it was a community of 20 families, with a hospital. In the early years of Mexican independence, an ayuntamiento was established there.

"Acuitzio" is a word of Tarascan origin that means "place of snakes". The epithet "del Canje" (literally: "of the exchange") refers to an exchange of prisoners of war that took place in the town on 5 December 1865, during the French Intervention. On 16 December 1901, the State Congress enacted legislation for Acuitzio's name to be changed to Acuitzio del Canje.

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