Oaxaca

Oaxaca ([(g)wa'haka]( listen)), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the thirty-one states that, together with Mexico City, form the United Mexican States. Its most populous capital and city is Oaxaca de Juárez. It is divided into 570 municipalities, 418 of which are governed under the system of customs and customs, with recognized local forms of self-government.

It is located in the southwestern region of the country. It borders Puebla and Veracruz to the north, Chiapas to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the south, and Guerrero to the west. With 93,757 km², it is the fifth largest state —behind Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuila and Durango— and, with 3,967,889 inhabitants in 2015, the tenth most populous. It was founded on December 21, 1823.^{[citation required]}

The state is known primarily for its indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, represented by more than 16 ethnic groups, with the Zapotec and Mixtec being the most represented. These cultures have survived and maintained their uses and customs with greater success than the rest of the national territory, thanks to the rugged and isolated territory of the state. Most of these groups inhabit the central area of the state, whose cultural wealth, which includes archaeological sites such as Monte Albán and Mitla, make it an important tourist area.

Other important tourist areas are located on the coast, with important complexes such as Bahías de Huatulco, Puerto Escondido, Zipolite, Mazunte and Chacahua. Likewise, Oaxaca is considered one of the states with the greatest geographical and biological diversity, due to its complex relief and the high number of endemic species of reptiles, amphibians, mammals and plants.

Toponymy

Toponymous nahuatl Huāxyacac (Oaxaca)

The name comes from the Nahuatl denomination Huāxyacac imposed by the Mexica conquerors in the 15th century at the time of its incorporation into the Tenochca Empire; huāxin means in Spanish huaje, a common plant in the valley region, yacatl literally means "nose", but is better translated as "tip" and the locative suffix -c, "place of", thus giving the meaning of "The place at the tip of the gourd".

Its name in the Binnizá (Zapotec) language is Lulaa and means "at the tip of the gourd". In the Ñusavi (Mixtec) language it is Ñuhundua and means "at the tip of the gourd's nose".

Oaxaca, like Mexico, Texas and Xalapa, uses the spelling X for the sound in Spanish for “J”. The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), in its Ortografía de la lengua española, 1999 edition, explains: In the Middle Ages, x also represented the voiceless palatal fricative phoneme of dixo, which from the 16th century it would evolve towards the deaf velar fricative phoneme of said... The pronunciation of this x, in these and other words, is a deaf velar fricative, that is, it sounds like j; It is therefore an orthological error to articulate it as ks.

History

Pre-Hispanic Period

Oaxaca is one of the cultural areas of Mesoamerica.

Oaxaca is located in the Mesoamerican region where the Zapotec culture manifested itself, which flourished in the Monte Albán area from the year 900 B.C. C. and later, in the year 1300, the Mixtec culture, which in turn developed until its subsequent domination by the Spanish conquerors.

Ruins of Monte Alban.

Little is known about the origin of the Zapotecs. Unlike most Mesoamerican Indians, they did not have any tradition or legend about their migration, instead believing that they were born directly from rocks, trees, and jaguars. One of the possible theories about the origin of the Zapotecs is the one reported by Father Francisco De Burgoa, and Father José Antonio Gay, author of "Historia de Oaxaca" where they assure that the Zapotecs settled primitively in Teotitlán del Valle, news that they received from ancient traditions and paintings that support in this regard, of which perhaps there was a mobilization of a part of the population to what would be the current valley of Etla. Those primitive inhabitants in Teotitlán del Valle could have been Olmec groups in search of new territories.

The first manifestations of the Zapotecs is the ceremonial center of San José Mogote, a village located in the Etla Valley, one of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. The village of Mogote (whose original name is unknown) was the most important of those that were established in the region, and had its greatest apogee towards the end of the Early Preclassic Period. Mogote was a Zapotec farming village, which controlled the central region of Oaxaca and maintained relations with the Olmec area. Its decline is clearly associated with the construction of Monte Albán, a city that was contemporary with Teotihuacán and the great Mayan cities in the southeast.

The foundation of Monte Albán dates back to around 500 B.C. C. to 100 B.C. C., acquiring a very important political and economic importance in the region. During the Classic Period is when it reaches its greatest growth. Monte Albán receives Teotihuacan and Mayan influences. Approximately during the years 200 AD. C. to 600 AD. C. Monte Albán reaches its peak, being the most important city —capital of the Zapotec empire— in the region, with nearly 40,000 inhabitants in the 20 km² near the ceremonial center.

From the year 800 AD. C. and gradually, Monte Albán lost importance until the year 1325 d. C. when the Mixtecs, coming from the north, invade the valley of Oaxaca and occupy the old Zapotec capital, together with Mitla.

The Zapotecs captured Tehuantepec. By the mid-XV century, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs fought to prevent the Mexica from gaining control of the trade routes to Chiapas, Veracruz and Guatemala. Under their great king, Cosijoeza, the Zapotecs endured a long siege on the rocky mountain of Guiengola, keeping an eye on Tehuantepec, and successfully maintaining political autonomy through an alliance with the Mexica until the arrival of the Spanish.

Stages of development

Archaeologist Marcus Winter points out the following stages of development of the Oaxacan civilization:

1. Stage of agriculture (9000 to 1550 BC)
2. Stage of villas or villages (1500 to 500 BC)
3. Urban stage (500 BC to 850 AD)
4. Stage of cities-state (750 to 1521 AD)

Mixtec Period

Contemporaries of the Zapotecs who inhabited the Valley of Oaxaca, the Mixtecs developed in the western part of the state, also living in the Puebla and Guerrero regions near Oaxaca. The orography of the Mixtec terrain prevented the formation of a unified kingdom, so the Mixtec organization developed in the form of independent señoríos. Even so, the Mixtec nation, although not fully unified, had a well-defined socio-cultural identity. They often joined to wage war with the Mexica and Zapotec.

The word mixteco comes from the word mixtecapan, which in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs means the people of Cloud. The Mixtecs, however, are called Ñuu Savi in their native language, which in Spanish means rain town. The Mixtec language is called as Sa'an Ndavi, although in recent years a movement has grown to change the name to Tu'un Savi, this, by Sa'a Ndavi literally means poor language, while Tu& #39;a Savi is rain word.

Lord Eight Deer (right) receives the visit of 4 Jaguar.

There are very few data on the origin of the Mixtecs, the oldest remains found in the Mixteca are dated around 6000 BC. C. experts have divided the Mixtec development into three eras, close to the cultural horizon of the rest of Mesoamerica (Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic). The first period is called "Cruz Phase" (corresponding to the Preclassic), the first Mixtec city was founded: Montenegro, from which only ceramics and a spatula carved from a jaguar bone have been obtained. During the "Ramos Phase" (corresponding to the Classic) the city of Yucuñudahui developed.

The Mixtec warrior hero 8 Venado in the mid-11th century begins a successful campaign to unify the city-states, thus creating the Mixtec Empire.

The Mixtec culture reaches its maximum splendor in the “Flores Phase”, when Monte Albán is invaded and Mitla becomes the most important city of the Mixtec Empire. Around 1458 the Mexicas began expansionist campaigns under the reigns of Tízoc, Ahuízotl and Moctezuma and with it the decline of the Mixtecs, who occupied up to Tuxtepec and Mixtequilla. In 1521, once the Mexica region had been conquered, Hernán Cortés commissioned Pedro de Alvarado to carry out the conquests of the southern territories. The Mixteca was invaded by Francisco de Orozco, ending the flourishing Mixtec Empire and beginning the period known as the colony.. Its history has come down to us thanks to the codices, since the Mixtecs, unlike the Zapotecs, did keep a written record of their history.

New Spain

An evangelizer observes two indigenous condemned for not accepting the god of the conquerors. Canvas Tlaxcala, 16th Century

The Conquest

As in the rest of Mexico, Spanish troops invaded the Oaxaca region, taking advantage of local enmities, forging alliances with Mixtecs and Zapotecs against the Mexicas. The military invasion of the state began in the north, it was carried out in relative peace, with the peoples of the mountains (mainly Zapotecs and Mixes) offering the greatest resistance. Smallpox aided the Spanish, who unknowingly used one of the first known forms of biological warfare, the indigenous populations were decimated by this epidemic.

Huaxyacac fell in December 1521, although in the northern sierra, the Mixe people found in northwest Oaxaca could never be conquered militarily, given the mountainous terrain. The Mexicas and the Zapotecs had failed in a similar attempt before.

Equal or superior in importance to the military conquest, the evangelization of the indigenous peoples fell into the hands of the Dominican Friars, who ordered the construction, with labor of indigenous origin, numerous temples, churches, and convents, mainly in the recently founded City of Antequera, Yanhuitlán and Cuilapam. The Convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmán in Oaxaca became the religious nucleus of the state.

To introduce the Christian religion to newly conquered peoples, Dominican friars molded indigenous beliefs into Christian ones, learned their languages, and translated religious writings. To speed up the evangelization process, the friars burned codices and destroyed temples, in an attempt to make the natives forget their ancient customs.

Viceroyalty

Preserving the hierarchical structure of the indigenous peoples, the Spanish managed to maintain control of the newly conquered population. The new government implemented throughout the country the hacienda system, a system very similar to medieval feudalism. In central and northern Mexico, gold and silver were mainly exploited, but in Oaxaca, lacking important mines, exploitation focused on an equally important resource: cochineal. The cochineal is an insect, a parasite of the cactus from which a red dye is extracted. The production of scarlet was only surpassed by that of silver, boosting the economic development of the region, they were so important that the Pope's clothes were dyed with this dye.

In the Mixteca and the valley, cattle raising was another highly implemented economic activity. The hacienda system made the distribution of wealth concentrated almost exclusively on peninsulares, the poor were getting poorer and the rich richer.

The death of many indigenous people due to epidemics forced the Spanish to bring black slaves from Africa, some populations of African origin still live on the Oaxacan coast. By the beginning of the 19th century, the indigenous population was plunged into misery, which, added to the discontent of the Creoles (who had fewer rights than the peninsular Spaniards) contributed to the armed uprising of the population against the power colonizer. Although other geopolitical factors such as the independence of the Thirteen Colonies also had an influence.

Independent Mexico (19th century)

Vicente Guerrero, hero of Mexico's Independence, fought in Oaxaca.

The War of Independence

Discovered the conspiracy plans to start a war of independence in December 1810, the insurgents are forced to advance the start of the war. The first revolutionary spark was detonated in Dolores, Guanajuato at dawn on September 16, summoned by the priest Miguel Hidalgo. The armed struggle spread rapidly throughout the country and José María Morelos y Pavón was in charge of following the independence movement to the southern regions. On March 29, 1814, the city of Oaxaca was retaken by the royalists under the orders of Colonel Melchor Álvarez, in command of an army of 2,000 men, including the Saboya battalion, being well received by the authorities, the council and the people of Oaxaca.

First Empire and North American Intervention

Benito Juárez, National Hero and featured in the 19th century.

Immediately after winning the war of independence, Agustín de Iturbide created, with the help of the conservatives, the First Mexican Empire, dissolved the congress and proclaimed himself emperor of Mexico, he was known by the title of Agustín I. Several leaders including Guerrero opposed the regime, in Oaxaca General Antonio de León, Iturbide's former ally, opposed the emperor and together with Nicolás Bravo took the city of Oaxaca. In 1824 José María Murguía was appointed governor of the Free and sovereign State of Oaxaca, established within the United Mexican States. A new nation had been born.

In 1824 the first political constitution of Mexico was drafted, which established, among other things, that the Republic had 19 states and five territories. In Oaxaca, the state constitution was published on January 10, 1825, dividing the territory into eight departments: Oaxaca, Villa Alta, Teotilán de Camino, Teposcolula, Huajuapan, Tehuantepec, Jamiltepec and Miahuatlán.

During the government of the first president of the republic in charge of Guadalupe Victoria, the country remained somewhat calm, but little by little, the differences between liberals and conservatives were accentuated. In Oaxaca many governments tried to establish order. When Antonio López de Santa Anna rose to power he was supported by Antonio de León, in 1842 he was appointed governor of the state.

In 1846 the US invasion broke out and although the armed conflict did not directly affect the state of Oaxaca, during that period the invading country focused its sights on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Minister James Buchanan demanded the free transit of citizens, troops, and merchandise through the Isthmus through an interoceanic highway. The project was never finished.

Oaxaca sent the Battalion de la Patria under the command of General Antonio de León, going into action on September 18, 1847 at the Battle of Molino del Rey in Mexico City, where he died.

The Reform War

Benito Pablo Juárez was born in San Pablo Guelatao Oaxaca, on March 21, 1806, his parents died when he was three years old; he lived with his grandparents, but when they died he went to live with his uncle who was said to have mistreated him, when he went to Oaxaca City in search of his sister, it is said that he lost one of his sheep and because of it Fearing that his uncle would reprimand him, he decided to flee his land on December 17, 1818. He worked as a farmhand and as a sheep herder until he was 12 years old, when he went to Oaxaca City with the intention of studying and having a better standard of living. When he arrived in the city, Juárez could not read or write, and spoke only Zapotec.

Guelatao was a small town, lacked schools, and did not speak the Spanish language. Wealthy parents sent their children to Oaxaca City to be educated; the poor put them to serve in the rich houses, in exchange for being taught to read and write. For Benito there was no other way than the last one. And that was importuning his uncle to take him to Oaxaca, the only place where he could learn. But the uncle's farm chores and the other's herding chores were indefinitely postponing the trip (Los caminos de Juárez, Henestrosa).

In Oaxaca, he had a sister named Josefa who served as a cook, who welcomed him and started him as a domestic worker, in which he found a place to live and be able to work. A Franciscan tertiary, named Antonio Salanueva, was impressed with Benito's intelligence and his ease of learning, and helped him to enter the city's seminary. In which he began his studies, although he leaned more towards Law than Theology.

At that time, great events had already taken place in the nation. The words that open the parentheses sound like belated acknowledgment of a debt; and so they really are. The nation is a new word in the story and a novelty in his consciousness, and it appears at the precise moment in which it begins to signify a new influence on his destiny. The boy was growing up at the time when a Spanish colony was fighting for its transformation into an independent people; his childhood coincided with the anguish of childbirth, and his adolescence, with the development of the moment of emancipation; but between that future and his own the link was missing until, already a man, he enjoyed the first fruits of the triumph in 1827. The debt was recognized when the mature man could appreciate it at his due value; but the great events of that age were already so well known that they needed but a passing mention in the memory, and the retrospect glance which he devoted to them deserves a fuller consideration, in view of the effects they had on his life, in reforming their destiny and shelter the forces that would determine, from then on, their future.

The US war of intervention ends and the country loses almost half of its territory. In October 1847 Juárez was elected governor and carried out development works for the entity.

Upset by the loss of territory and the dictatorial and centralist government of Santa Anna, the Liberals promulgated the Plan of Ayutla. Supported by guerrillas from various places, the movement triumphed and promulgated the Constitution of 1857. When the Ayutla Revolution triumphed, he was again appointed governor. At the time of nationalizing ecclesiastical assets, in Oaxaca, the Catholic Church had 814 urban farms and 367 haciendas.

The situation became delicate, so much so that this first Constitutional Congress, which had elected Comonfort President of the Republic and Benito Juárez President of the Supreme Court of Justice, granted the Executive extraordinary powers to govern. The tenor of the facts prevented even the constitutional articles related to individual guarantees from being respected as long as the instability continued, which increased rather than diminished in one of the bloodiest wars in the country.

The war broke out and during the three years that the fighting lasted, Oaxaca played a fundamental role in the conflict. In support of the liberal government, Governor José María Díaz Ordaz published a decree temporarily separating Oaxaca from the republic. The fighting intensified and the war reached the city of Oaxaca, which fell into conservative hands in 1859. The liberal government moved to the town of Ixtlán. The liberal counterattack was carried out under the command of Governor Díaz Ordaz and General Porfirio Díaz. The battle of Santo Domingo del Valle opened the doors for the liberal troops to recover the city of Oaxaca in 1860.

French Intervention and Second Empire

Porfirio Díaz, hero of the Reform War, fought the French on numerous occasions.

The 19th century Mexico was characterized by an almost uninterrupted succession of armed conflicts. At the end of the war of reform and with a federal republic, the country could not continue paying the external debt, so the government of President Juárez stopped paying it. Spain, France and England found the ideal pretext to intervene in Mexican affairs. By January 1862, the armies of the three European powers landed in Mexican territory. The Spanish and English understanding the economic situation of the republic withdraw their troops, only Napoleon III's army remains on Mexican soil, advancing towards the country's capital. When trying to enter the city of Puebla, the republican army under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza and supported by the Oaxacan Porfirio Díaz, defeated the French on May 5, 1862 in the Battle of Puebla.

In 1864 the French army invaded Oaxaca through the Mixteca. Marshal Aquiles Bazaine, in command of six thousand French soldiers, faced the Mexican forces at the command of Díaz, despite putting up resistance, the national troops fell and Oaxaca was occupied by the French. Díaz was captured and taken prisoner to Puebla. On May 28, 1864, Maximilian of Habsburg entered Mexico, who had been persuaded by Mexican conservatives to establish the Second Mexican Empire.

The City of Oaxaca remained in the hands of the French for two years, in the Isthmus the Juchitecos loyal to the republic continued offering resistance, Marshal Bazaine headed towards Juchitán with the intention of invading Chiapas, commanding two thousand soldiers French and Austrians who faced a force of 500 Juchitec soldiers, who, aided by peasants from neighboring towns, armed with machetes, attacked the French army, defeating it on September 5, 1866. Díaz manages to escape from his confinement in Puebla and returns to Oaxaca where they defeat three thousand men on October 3, 1866 in the Battle of Miahuatlán, confiscating war material.

A month later, General Díaz, together with 300 men from the Mixteca and the Coast under his charge, established his headquarters in Tamazulapan, which was joined by the Mixtec general Ignacio Vásquez along with 300 other soldiers. Organized and regrouping forces, they defeated the French again in the Battle of La Carbonera. Diaz set out on his way to the state capital, which was still in the hands of the French. General Díaz marched towards Oaxaca, leading a column of foreign prisoners as a vanguard, which confused the invading army stationed in the city, noticing his mistake lately, the city of Oaxaca was handed over to General Díaz. On April 2, 1867, Díaz defeated General Noriega in Puebla, recovering the city and tipping the balance to the Republicans, this time definitively.

The Conservative government collapses and Maximiliano is captured, tried and shot along with Generals Miramón and Mejía, ending five years of French occupation.

After the republic was restored, the itinerant government of Benito Juárez once again took over the reins of the country. Juárez had ruled the nation during all this time. During the government after the Intervention there were several uprisings, including that of General Porfirio Díaz, who, promulgating the Plan de la Noria, rebelled against the president in 1871. The rebellion was put down by General Ignacio Alatorre. It took less than four months to put down the rebellion. On July 18, 1872, President Juárez died of angina pectoris and Díaz reluctantly accepted an amnesty proposed by the Federal Government.

In 1876 when Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada tried to be re-elected for a second term, Díaz rose up against him through the Tuxtepec Revolution, achieving in that same year the military triumph and months later, through an arranged vote, the presidency of the republic, beginning the period in the history of Mexico known as the Porfiriato

20th century

Porfiriato and Mexican Revolution

Oaxacan by birth, Porfirio Díaz carried out numerous infrastructure works: he created public oil lighting in the state capital, hundreds of kilometers of telegraph lines were wired, railroads were built (from Coatzacoalcos to Salina Cruz and from Puebla to Oaxaca), the Normal School was built and boosted trade by building the Oaxaca Market.

Profiling himself as an anti-reelectionist candidate, he finished his first term as president in 1880. He arranged the elections so that Manuel González was elected president, he was a friend of the general. Porfirio Díaz held the state governorship, taking office for two years. In 1884 Díaz occupies the presidential chair again.

With the peace and order typical of a dictatorship, the country prospered. However, there were social problems and discontents in Mexico and Oaxaca that germinated in the Revolution.

Like the haciendas during the colony and the medieval fiefdoms, during the Porfiriato the latifundia and the raya stores were implemented; Valle Nacional, was a clear example of the situation in Mexico. Located near Tuxtepec, it was the property of Mexican and foreign aristocrats, where workers from all over the country were taken, some brought under deceit, others prisoners, and others simply kidnapped. Slave labor increased the power of the rich and bled the poor. John Kenneth Turner, an American journalist, wrote in his book México Bárbaro about the situation in Valle Nacional and in Mexico.

Opponents and critics of the system, the Oaxacan Flores Magón founded the newspaper Regeneración, one of the few printed media where the Porfirian dictatorship was directly attacked, which cost them to be found out and prosecuted. The magonista cause gained followers throughout Oaxaca, by the end of 1908 the vast majority were in prison, some in San Juan de Ulúa

José Vasconcelos, an Oaxacan philosopher, a supporter of Madero.

Reacting to the declarations of President Díaz, in which he said that Mexico was already ready for democracy, Francisco I. Madero called on Mexicans to organize political parties. In 1909 Madero, who had begun a tour throughout the country to spread his ideals, visited the city of Oaxaca. In Oaxaca, José Vasconcelos seconded him. Going back on his word, Porfirio Díaz presented himself as a candidate for the presidency in 1910 and through fraud he was declared the winner at the age of 80. Madero convenes that same year, the Plan of San Luis, starting the revolutionary struggle. In Oaxaca, the first revolutionary foci appeared on January 21, 1911 in Ojitlán, Tuxtepec, led by Sebastián Ortiz of a Magonista tendency, they took over the municipal building and confiscated the weapons they could, they were called the "Benito Juárez Libertador Army". The expectation grew and the groups from Puebla and Guerrero joined the Oaxacans on the coast and the Mixteca. Manuel Oseguera and Baldomero Ladrón de Guevara, members of the Mexican Liberal Party rose up in La Cañada, they were joined by other revolutionaries. The Oaxacan insurgents occupied the main towns by mid-1911 and wanted an anti-reelection governor appointed.

Having obtained only failures in the military field and in terms of negotiations, Díaz resigned from the presidency and left the country in May 1911.

In July 1911 Benito Juárez Maza won the elections for state governor over Félix Díaz, beginning his government in September of that same year, his government lasted only seven months, in which he built schools and regulated the working day of bricklayers and other employees.

During his government, in Oaxaca, sympathizers of Emiliano Zapata appeared, demanding the return of the land to the peasants. Juárez Maza faced regime sympathizers in the Isthmus region, the rebels were led by local leader "Che" Gómez who faced the federal army in Juchitán.

Betrayed Madero, and harassed by rebel and Porfirio forces, resigned as President of the Republic, in Oaxaca the news was celebrated with jubilation. Madero, was assassinated, along with his vice president José María Pino Suárez on February 22, 1913, Victoriano Huerta became president, in Oaxaca the governor Miguel Bolaños Cacho accepted the government of the usurper Huerta.

General Guillermo Meixueiro, leader of the Oaxacan Sovereign Army.

In Oaxaca, rebel groups emerged on the isthmus, they also appeared in Tuxtepec, Pinotepa Nacional and La Mixteca, by 1914 the latter dominated all of Silacayoapan.

A rebel group from the Sierra Juárez forced the resignation of Governor Bolaños Cacho, who had earned the discontent of the people by raising taxes and closing elementary schools. Huerta in the capital, was forced to resign by the constitutionalist army led by Venustiano Carranza.

Relations between the constitutionalist Carranza and the Oaxacans were difficult, mainly because the Oaxacans were considered "enemies of the revolution", added to this, in Oaxaca Carranza's brother, Jesús Carranza, was killed in the mixe mountains. The main "constitutionalist" bosses blamed the state government, considering that it was protecting the guilty.

In 1915 a plague of locusts ravaged the regions of the Mixteca and the Central Valleys. The landowners hid the grain reserves to sell them at a higher price. In Oaxaca epidemics of typhus and smallpox broke out.

In the rest of the country, the revolution did not follow a stable order, the allies fought each other. Lacking a federal government, Governor José Inés Dávila, relying on the liberal constitution of 1857, “separated” Oaxaca from the rest of Mexico. This is how the government known as “of sovereignty” arrived in Oaxaca, organizing its own army, currency and postage stamps, alien to the rest of the country, new districts were also created.

Carrancista forces stationed in Chiapas were commissioned to take over the state, occupying the state capital in March 1916. Fighting continued in the Sierra Juárez and Sierra Sur. On February 5, 1917, the new Political Constitution of the United Mexican States was decreed, but it was not until 1920, when the sovereignists fell completely, that the Constitution was recognized.

The government of “Sovereignty” ended with the signing of the Coateca Atlas treaty, by the Sovereignty General Guillermo Meixueiro and his Carrancista counterpart Pablo González.

Coin coined in Oaxaca in 1915 during the government of José Inés Dávila.

21st century

The state of Oaxaca had maintained a regime governed by the PRI for more than seventy years. On July 5, 2010, elections were held to elect the new governor of the state of Oaxaca, with Gabino Cué Monteagudo winning on behalf of the Coalition of PAN, PRD, Convergence, PT, at the end of the campaign the New Alliance Party declined in their favor, marking the beginning of coalition governments in the history of Oaxaca.

Recent political unrest

In the 1970s, Oaxaca was characterized, like Guerrero, by political and union conflict. The origins of this conflict would be in the student movement of 1968 that together with other metropolitan popular sectors (street vendors, taxi drivers, etc.) as well as with the peasants of the Valley region, supported strikes and land occupation. The Oaxaca Student Peasant Worker Coalition (COCEO) was repressed by the PRI government. This caused the emergence of more radical split currents that opted for the armed and clandestine struggle (among these groups are, for example, the Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre). Some of the people who had been part of the armed struggle later joined PROCUP-Party of the Poor. Other sectors continued to claim through conventional channels such as the COCEI.

On the other hand, since 1994, there have been numerous documented cases of caciques, paramilitary landowners and police groups, a generalized arming of indigenous communities and popular self-defense army organizations. These self-defense groups have frequently not had any type of revolutionary ideology but have carried out intergroup violence, associated with conflicts over land or religious divisions. In this context, the Zapatista uprising led to the unification of some Oaxacan groups associated with the clandestine revolutionary left. Also starting in 1994, the Mexican army entered numerous communities for different reasons, from the search for weapons and explosives to humanitarian operations.

More recently, teachers from section XXII of the SNTE, opposed to both the 2012 educational reform and any attempt to privatize education, have used indefinite strikes, roadblocks and sit-ins as means of protest. Within this organization, the CMPIO group, bilingual teachers of indigenous origin, have played a role in the formation and organization of cadres in indigenous communities. Among the actions carried out by the federal government are the creation of Mixed Operations Bases (BOM), which are regroupings of the army, judicial police, preventive judicial police and special immediate action groups. This was accompanied by the installation of highway checkpoints in the state of Oaxaca, which have also been used extensively to stop the immigration of Central Americans. Various groups have indicated that the government control measures have the objective of controlling a potentially dangerous socio-political situation, since the government of the state of Oaxaca itself has recognized in an official report, the existence of "two large areas located in the Sierra Madre Sur and on the Oaxaca Coast, with geophysical characteristics, territorial extension, population density, poverty rate, illiteracy, and social conditions for the guerrilla.

Similarly, there are numerous conflicts over land boundaries in the state. Due to this and the government's disregard for resolving these conflicts, many times it is the municipalities that end up solving their problems through armed uprisings, which causes the loss of human life.

Geography

Physical map of Oaxaca, the name of the regions of the state comes from the characteristics of the relief

It is located in the southwest of the Mexican territory. It limits to the north with the states of Veracruz and Puebla, to the south with the Pacific Ocean, to the east with the state of Chiapas and to the west with Guerrero. The territory of the state occupies the fifth place in extension at the national level, while its demographic density is low, compared to the national average. Its climate can vary drastically in its regions. It is one of the most mountainous states in the country as the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre del Sur and Sierra Atravesada intersect in the region. While the mountains are characterized by their low temperatures, the region of the isthmus, the canyon (especially Cuicatlán), and the coast are characterized by their warm climate. Its most important river is the Papaloapan, which is fed by the Tomellín River and the Santo Domingo River, among others.

Northwest: Puebla	North: Veracruz	Northeast: Veracruz
West: Guerrero		This: Chiapas
Southwest: Pacific Ocean	South: Pacific Ocean	Sureste: Pacific Ocean

Relief

The Mixteca mountain range, near Nativitas Monte Verde, northwest of the state.

Landscape of the South Sierra of Oaxaca, fog banks are frequent throughout the year.

The Mixtec sierra occupies almost 52% of the Oaxacan territory, for which reason the relief of the state is generally compared to a sheet of paper after being crumpled. The highest point in the state is Cerro Yucuyacua is a mountain (class T - Hypsographic) in Oaxaca, Mexico (North America) with the region font code of Americas/Western Europe. It is located at an altitude of 3,076 meters above sea level. Cerro Yucuyácua is also known as Cerro Yucuyacua, Cerro Yucuyácua, Yucuyacua.

Its coordinates are 17°7'0" N and 97°40'0" E in DMS format (degrees, minutes, seconds) or 17.1167 and -97.6667 (in decimal degrees). Its UTM position is PD49 and its Joint Operation Graphics reference is NE14-08.

The time zone for Cerro Yucuyacua is UTC/GMT-6, but since Daylight Saving Time (DST) is in effect the current time zone is UTC/GMT-5. A Mountain is one foot in elevation above the surrounding area with a small summit area, steep slopes, and local relief of 300 meters or more.

Hydrography

The Sierra de Oaxaca is made up of water from the main streams: towards the Pacific slope, the Atoyac, which becomes the Verde River when it crosses the Sierra Madre del Sur, and the Mixtec Nudo, a tributary of the Balsas. Towards the slope of the Gulf, the Rio Grande and the Salado, which later form two of the main dams: the Miguel Alemán and Miguel de la Madrid, retain the waters of the main tributaries of the Papaloapan in the north. The tributaries of Coatzacoalcos arise from the crossed sierra to drain into the Gulf of Mexico and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and which flow into the Bahía de la Ventosa; here is the Benito Juárez Dam Litorales: Along 533 km, extensive beaches characterize the Oaxacan coast, where a large number of short rivers flow that descend from the Sierra Madre del Sur and form estuaries and lagoons; natural beaches such as Puerto Escondido, Puerto Ángel and Sacrificios, bays such as Huatulco, Santa Cruz, Tangolunda and the Gulf of Tehuantepec, where the Laguna del Marqués, an important salt producer, is located.

In Oaxaca there are two hydroelectric plants that generate electricity: Tamazulapam and Temazcal, whose joint generation capacity is approximately 1,059 million kW/hour; It is also fed by the main transmission network from the hydroelectric power plants in the southeast of the country and from a wind energy park with a capacity of 250 megawatts. located on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Rivers: Verde, Colotepec, Ayutla, Tenango, Huamelula, Espíritu Santo, Ostuta, La Arena, Sarabia, El Corte, Petapa, Putla, Atoyac, Tequisistlán, Aguacatenango Jatepec, Puxmetacán Trinidad, Papaloapan, Cajonos, Cuanana, San Antonio, Tonto, Joquila, Calapa, Petlapa, Minas, Tehuantepec, Grande, Mixteco, Salado, Los perros, Copalita.

Oaxaca is home to an interesting hydrological network in which, in addition to rivers, natural caves, caves, caverns and hydrological basins are located. The caves were considered sacred places by the ancient Oaxacans since they were located as places where some deities dwelt or were the venues of miraculous events, in the case of the Apoala caves, Located north of Nochixtlán, located in a fertile and small irrigated valley By the river of the same name, Mixtec tradition says that in the trees that are on the banks of the river or in the same cave, the primordial couple that would be the root of the Mixtec people was born. Cheve, the Cheve system carries water from the basins near Pápalo until it discharges it into the Santo Domingo River canyon. It is the main cavern of the system and a series of smaller caverns such as Osto de Puente, Natural, Viento Frío, Cuates and Escondida that connects to the primordial system. It contains 23.5 kilometers of explored landscapes that end in a massive passage blocked by gigantic boulders on the other side. Sótano de San Agustín, the system located in the Huautla de Jiménez region, with a depth of 1,250 meters, is considered the deepest in America and one of the longest caverns in Mexico with 24 kilometers. To date it is considered that the system has not been fully explored. The expeditionary visit is recommended only for professionals, since a large part of the journey is carried out going down between waterfalls and small streams at different depths, which makes breathing difficult in the dark. De los ladrones, located in San Juan Atepec, is considered very long, access is easy in the first 50 meters and from there, the cavity becomes narrower. The different figures formed by calcareous stratifications are striking. Since the cave has not been fully explored, it is dangerous to visit it without a specialized guide.

Climate

In Oaxaca, the enormous mountain ranges serve as barriers to the winds that come from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.

Oaxaca presents a great climatic variety, thus, in its territory there are warm, semi-warm, semi-cold, semi-dry and temperate climates.

The warm climates as a whole cover a little more than 50% of the total area of the entity, they occur in the lower altitude areas (from sea level to 1,000 m.), they are characterized by their average annual temperatures that vary from 22 °C to 28 °C and its average temperature of the coldest month is 18 °C or more.

Nearly 20% of the state is under the influence of semi-warm climates, in which average annual temperatures range from 18 °C to 22 °C, or are higher than 18 °C, and cover areas whose altitude ranges from from 1,000 to 1,700 m.

The temperate climates, sub-humid with rains in summer in greater proportion and with abundant rains in summer in smaller areas, cover approximately 19% of the surface of the state; They appear in the lands whose altitude is from 1,700 to 3,000 m. It is located towards the center and northwest, but also towards the south on the coast. On January 3, 2007, an unusual snowfall was recorded in the Sierra Juárez, affecting 8 Oaxacan municipalities. This meteorological phenomenon could be the effect of climate change.

The areas with semi-dry climates are located in the center-south and north-northwest, which represent almost 10% of the state territory, and immersed in them are the areas with dry climates, which do not cover 1%.

Biodiversity

According to various sources, Oaxaca is a leader in biodiversity. There are around 8,431 species of vascular plants, 1,431 of vertebrates and more than 3,000 invertebrates, which makes Oaxaca the entity with the greatest biological richness in Mexico. Of this total, 702 plant species and 128 vertebrate species are endemic.

Flora and fauna of Oaxaca
Tepezcuintle	Iguana	Tortuga carey	Anguilla arpia	Tapir
Jaguar	Pelicans	Coyámel	Ocelote	Mazacoate
Pochote	Oyamel	Erizo cactus	Ahuehuehuete	Maguey

Symbols

Shield

Shield of Oaxaca.

The shield of the State of Oaxaca is a design by Alfredo Canseco Feraud who won the contest organized by Eduardo Vasconcelos, governor of the state in the period 1947-1950.

It is made up of a red canvas, rolled up at its upper end; inside a white oval encircles the inscription "Respect for the Rights of Others is Peace". The words of the motto are separated from each other by symbolic representations of nopales. The oval is divided into three parts: in the lower part there are two white arms breaking chains, in the upper left the place name of Huaxyacac made up of: a stylized profile of a native of the state of Oaxaca, the flower and the shaped fruit. stylized image of the huaje tree; in the upper right, the profile of one of the palaces of the archaeological center of Mitla, and flanking this figure to its right, the Dominican Cross. Around the oval are distributed 7 golden stars: three at the bottom, two to the right and above the oval, and two to the left and above. At the bottom of the canvas is the phrase "Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca". The Shield of Mexico is located on the canvas to reaffirm the sovereignty and integration of the entity with the rest of the country.

The canvas of gules (red) as parchment: the libertarian struggles of the Oaxacan people. The seven stars: each of the seven regions the State. "Huaxyacac" old place name of Oaxaca. The two strong arms breaking the chains the end of oppression. The field of gules on which the Arms appear: the desires of the Oaxacan people in search of freedom.

Flag

The state of Oaxaca does not have an official flag, but the state government uses a white canvas with the shield in the center that it uses de facto in the same way as other entities without mentioning it in the state constitution unlike the Jalisco flag.

Song

God Never Dies is a Mexican waltz written by the Oaxacan composer and violinist Macedonio Alcalá in 1868. It is the de facto State Anthem.

As in the Mixteca Song, it reflects the pain of the Oaxacan people, forced to migrate to other lands in search of better opportunities.

It is said that this waltz was composed when Macedonio Alcalá and Petronila Palacios, his wife, were going through a precarious economic situation and the composer was also at risk of dying.

According to the story, when Alcalá was suffering from an illness and convalescing, a delegation of indigenous people from a nearby town, Tlacolula, came to ask him to compose a waltz in honor of the Virgin Mary, patron saint of the town. Although he was still far from well, Alcalá worked hard on the waltz, "Dios nunca muere." This was a great success from the first time it was performed in public and the people of the town were very pleased.

He died in his native Oaxaca in 1869, at the age of 37. After his death, his brother Bernabé published the waltz “Dios nunca muere” under his name, but the natives of Tlacolula protested and demonstrated that the work was the work of Macedonio.

Politics and government

The state executive power is exercised by the state governor. It has the power to appoint the Secretary General of the Government and "...all other secretaries and public servants of the State Government..." and present bills before the Legislative Power, among others.

The Legislative Power resides in the Oaxaca State Congress. It consists of 42 seats; 25 deputies elected according to the principle of relative majority and 17 deputies elected by proportional representation. The chamber is renewed every three years, state deputies cannot be re-elected in consecutive terms.

The Judicial Power of the State is exercised by the Superior Court of Justice, by first instance judges and juries. The Superior Court of Justice is made up of Magistrates, lawyers and Judges. The Magistrates are appointed by the Governor of the State, their position has a duration of fifteen years, they are re-eligible. A Oaxacan bar of lawyers and interns is currently led by Francisco Ángel Maldonado.

Political-administrative division

According to article 29 of the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, the base of the political-administrative organization of the state is the “free municipality”. And, according to article 113 of the same Constitution, the municipalities will be grouped into rentier and judicial districts.

In Mexico there are a total of 2,445 municipalities, Oaxaca has 570 (almost 25%). The municipality is constituted by a council, which can be elected by democratic means or by uses and customs.

Then the political-administrative division of the state of Oaxaca will be broken down into regions, rentier and judicial districts, and finally the number of municipalities that make up said district will be indicated. Most of the place names of the districts have their origin in Nahuatl (except Zaachila, whose name in this language was Teozapotlán) and which were imposed during the Mexica domination, during the XV and by which they are currently known (in brackets, their name in the respective native language; taken from the book Toponymy of Oaxaca, by José María Bradomín).

Uses and customs

Of the 570 municipalities of Oaxaca, 418 (almost three quarters) are governed by the system of uses and customs and only 152 by the system of political parties.

The uses and customs vindicate the people and give them identity in addition to preserving their customs. In the regime of "uses and customs", the "authorities" municipal councils are not drawn from any political party; it is the community who chooses for the position in the assembly, considering the services and the moral quality of each person. Being thus the Topil (municipal authority equivalent to the police) up to the municipal president whose time in office is variable, electing them in their position the popular assembly (meeting of elderly people)

This elective system dates from the 16th century, when the model of the Castilian municipality was adapted, in a kind of cultural syncretism, with local uses and customs. The Spanish Crown, through express provisions such as the one taken by Carlos V in 1539 and which textually indicated "(that)...The governors and Justices, pay particular attention to the order and way of life of the Indians, police, and disposition in the maintenance, and notify the Viceroys, or audiences, and keep their good uses, and customs, in which they are not against our Sacred religion...", preserved said customs in order to maintain a peaceful relationship with the indigenous peoples, in the midst of of a climate of growing hostility towards the crown. Interestingly, similar reasons were preserving these uses practically untouched until today. In the post-revolutionary era, the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) made a de facto pact with these towns: in exchange for registering the winning lists in the internal elections with its letterhead in the local elections, it remained outside of said processes electives. Consequently, the uses, similar but not identical among the different peoples, remained essentially the same. Currently in several indigenous municipalities of the State of Oaxaca, their electoral system is determined by uses and customs. Thanks to this system, several of its localities have preserved the cultural and linguistic identities of the region. Even the territories of the eight Oaxacan regions on various occasions have been defended and protected thanks to the community's own adjustment in its form of organization and politics.

Previously this system of uses and customs in the state of Oaxaca, made adjustments to the organization of colonial institutions, both the council and the church, and later to the institutions product of the formation and consolidation of the Mexican National State, as is the municipality.

The government by uses and customs gives the Oaxacan populations, as well as others in the country, a certain autonomy, which has helped them protect themselves and their culture: Since the colony, this way of organization allowed goods to be owned by the community for the towns, which contributed to entrench communal property as a form of land tenure.

In 1995, the Congress of the State of Oaxaca approved a legal reform initiative that recognized the municipal election through the regime of uses and customs, currently it is recognized as a form of legal government, part of the pluralism of our culture and identity.

Demographics

Population Dynamics

Historical population of Oaxaca.

Growth rate in Oaxaca.

According to data from the II Population and Housing Census carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) with a census date of June 12, 2010, the state of Oaxaca had up to that year with a total of 3'801,962 inhabitants. Of said amount, 1' 819,008 were men and 1'982,954 were women. The average age of Oaxacans is 22 years, out of a national average of 24. The entity presented an average growth rate from 1990 to 2000 of 1.3%, which represents a marked decrease in the birth rate with respect to the following decade (which was 2.5%), from 2000 to 2005 there was an increase of 0.4%, growth less than the national average (1%). The annual growth rate for the entity during the period 2005-2010 was 1.6%.

The population density is 37 inhabitants per square kilometer, Oaxaca is one of the 10 federal entities in the country with the highest population density.

Oaxaca is one of the three states with a very high rate of marginalization, which is why every year approximately 400,000 Oaxacans emigrate to northern Mexico with the intention of crossing the border with the United States. Migrants from Oaxaca also have as destinations Within the country, the State of Mexico and Mexico City, where 256,786 and 183,285 Oaxacans live (in 2000 data), respectively. The migrant phenomenon is reflected in Oaxacan culture, as in the case of the Mixteca Song. The Mixteca is the Oaxacan region where more people leave their towns to seek better life opportunities in other states or in other countries. Map of the municipalities of Oaxaca by expulsion/reception of migrants.

Main cities

Location of the most populous cities in Oaxaca.

Most of the population of Oaxaca (approximately 65%) settles in rural areas, with the exception of the regions of Valles Centrales, Cuenca del Papaloapan and the Isthmus, which is where the large cities of the state are accentuated: Oaxaca de Juárez in the central valleys, Juchitán and Salina Cruz on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Puerto Escondido and Pinotepa on the coast, Tuxtepec and Loma Bonita in Papaloapan.

Afro-descendant population

People of African descent are distributed throughout the national territory, however, it has been identified that their main settlement is in some entities in the south of the country, such as Guerrero and Oaxaca, and in the State of Veracruz. These entities have a marked cultural diversity that comes from their indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples who recognize themselves as “black(os)”, “morenas(os)”, “costeñas(os)”, "jarochas(os)&# 3. 4; among other names. The Afro-descendant population is the one that in the INEGI 2015 Intercensal Survey responded affirmatively to the question: "According to your culture, history and traditions, do you consider yourself black, that is, Afro-Mexican or Afro-descendant?". Those who answered "Yes, in part" are not included, because they correspond to doubtful situations.

According to its total population, Guerrero is the entity with the highest proportion of Afro-descendants, with 6.5 percent; They are followed by Oaxaca with 4.9% and Veracruz, which registered 3.3 percent. However, of the three states, the State of Veracruz has the largest number of Afro-descendants, totaling 266,163, followed by Guerrero with 229,514 and then Oaxaca with 196,213.

Amapa, the first Moreno Libre town of Oaxaca. In the Papaloapan region, in the municipality of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec Oaxaca, the first free town of Oaxaca is located, called "New Town of Our Lady of Guadalupe de los Morenos de Amapa". This town was founded by maroons fleeing from the Cordoba haciendas and the Spanish Crown in 1769 was forced to grant it the status of Free Town. Amapa, as it is now called, was the second free town in the entire national territory, the first corresponding in 1609 to "San Lorenzo de los Negros" today Yanga State of Veracruz. Like San Lorenzo, Santa María de Amapa had its own cabildo and was the Republic of Negros. From there the Jarocha root of Papaloapan was nourished and its fondness for cavalry since the Amapeños were militia spearmen. The 2015 intercensal survey reported for Tuxtepec the amount of 6600 Afro-descendants, constituting the fourth place in the State after Pinotepa, Tututepec and Oaxaca de Júarez. The small coast of Guerrero and Oaxaca, which extends from the south of Acapulco to Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, is the region of the country where the largest number and percentage of Afro-descendants are concentrated. Of the 570 municipalities that make up the state of Oaxaca, 69 have more than 10% of their population considered Afro-descendant. And in 18 of them Afro-descendants exceed 30% of the total population of the municipality. These Oaxacan municipalities are: Santiago Tapextla (83.7%), Santo Domingo Armenta (76.1%), San Juan Bautista Lo de Soto (68.3%), Santa María Cortijo (53.7%), Santa María Huazolotitlán (49.4%), Santiago Llano Grande (49.2%), San José Estancia Grande (39.0%), Villa de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo (38.6%), Santiago Pinotepa Nacional (33.9%), which concentrates the largest volume of this population with 18,000 people, San Juan Lachao (33.6 %) and San Sebastián Ixcapa (30.9%) in the Costa Chica region that shares, under a historical, geographical and cultural reference with the state of Guerrero. Likewise, Magdalena Mixtepec (53.7%) and Santa Ana Tlapacoyan (37.6%) in the Central Valleys. Additionally, it is necessary to point out Santo Domingo Petapa (36.7%) in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; Mesones Hidalgo (35.9%) and San Juan Mixtepec (26) (32.1%) in the Sierra Sur; Santa María Jaltianguis (32.9%) in the Sierra Norte; and San Martín Zacatepec (31.9%) in the Mixteca.

From the XVI century the coast of Oaxaca began to be populated by African people, called “raza negro” and in those times known as "cimarrones". These people, having managed to escape from slavery in colonial times, sought refuge in the most remote and rugged places on the Oaxacan coast. And later, what before were just groups in remarkable isolation, settled definitively in the days of Independence, giving rise to urban centers such as Pinotepa Nacional and dozens of towns. The life habits and traditions of these African groups began to mix with those of the surroundings, however, they preserved their essentials, for example, the fight for freedom in all its manifestations, from the relationship with the instituted to the smallest details of everyday life. Over time, miscegenation became more relevant, printing a unique stamp of black culture on Oaxacan culture. This circumstance is evident in various popular dances, typical music and various artistic expressions. In all of this, the Afromestizo seal of the Oaxacan coast is recognized and enjoyed, a particular combination of African and indigenous elements. Currently, Afro-descendants or Afromestizos from nearby towns tend to concentrate in important commercial cities such as Pinotepa Nacional or Río Grande and in tourist centers such as Puerto Escondido. In the music of the Coast, the Son de artesa, the Dance of the Devils, the dance of the turtle and the "Chilena negra", a variant of the Chilean, stand out for their Afro-descendant origin. While in the visual arts you can find a vast sample of crafts, for example, through sculptures and masks. In this kind of creations, the fusion of African and Mixtec traditions is manifested.

Indigenous population

After the triumph of the Revolution, various thinkers considered that Mexico was a mestizo nation, and then the batteries set out to assimilate the indigenous people into the national culture. The consequences were the reduction in absolute and relative terms of the people who spoke indigenous languages.

Woman making tapes.

This is the only criterion that has been used to determine the number of indigenous people in the country and, therefore, in Oaxaca. However, it has been criticized, since ethnic identity is not given only by linguistic identity. In a country with such a mixed bag, it is too complex to determine the true ethnic and racial origin of individuals.

For this reason, the figures offered by the National Institute of Geography, Statistics and Informatics (INEGI) and the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples or CDI (formerly the National Indigenous Institute INI) are divergent. For the first, the national indigenous population is around 6% of the total, while for the second, the proportion oscillates between 10 and 14%. On the CDI website, the figure offered by the institution is 10'220,862 indigenous people in the country in the year 2000, which would constitute about 11% of the Mexican population. The criteria used by the CDI for its calculation include, in addition to the linguistic one, the place of origin, the ethnic identity of one or both parents, the individual assumption of indigenous identity, among others.

The last census available that identifies ethnic groups not only by their linguistic character, was carried out in 1921. This census indicates that the state was made up of 64.27% indigenous, being at that time the one with the highest proportion of this sector. It also had 28.15% mestizo, 4.9% Afro-descendant and 2.68% white. It is estimated that currently the mestizo and Afro-descendant sector have increased while the indigenous sector has proportionally decreased.

The CDI currently recognizes 65 ethnic groups, in addition to the mestizo, distinguished from each other on the basis of linguistic criteria. Oaxaca is the entity with the greatest ethnic and linguistic diversity in Mexico. In the current Oaxacan territory, 18 ethnic groups of the 65 that exist in Mexico coexist: Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Triquis, Mixes, Chatinos, Chinantecos, Huaves, Mazatecos, Amuzgos, Nahuas, Zoques, Chontales from Oaxaca, Cuicatecos, Ixcatecos, Chocholtecos, Tacuates, Afro-Mexicans from the Costa Chica and, to a lesser extent, Tzotzils; which together exceed one million inhabitants -more than 32% of the total- distributed in 2,563 localities.

In the state of Oaxaca there are different ethnic groups, among them are: Amuzgos, Cuicatecs, Chatinos, Chinantecs, Chochos, Chontales, Huaves, Ixcatecos, Mazatecos, Mixes, Mixtecos, Nahuatlecos, Triques, Zapotecs, Zoques and Popolucas.

There are many characteristics that identify indigenous groups and are common to all. However, there are their own customs and traditions that allow us to distinguish them from others, thus we find the following groups:

1. The amuzgos: they live in the east of the Sierra Madre del Sur region. They still believe in the spirits of evil. They perform ceremonies led by the witch and pray to the patron saint.
2. The Cuicatecos are located in the Cañada region, in the Cuicatlán district. They live in a world of magic in which witches and sorcerers are a necessity of every day. They believe in the gowns and goblins.
3. Chatinos: they are in the Sierra Madre del Sur, mainly in the districts of Juquila and Sola de Vega. They believe in natural phenomena such as rain, wind, thunder. They have magical-religious practices that are associated with all stages of life.
4. The Chinese are located in the Gulf and the Sierra Norte. They have an unknown origin, but still retain beliefs related to stars, animals and trees.
5. The chochos: inhabit the north of the high Mixteca. From his former social organization there is only the confraternity of the saints, in charge of organizing the feast of the Holy Patron.
6. The chontales are located in the southeast of Oaxaca. An old man who is called chagola presides over the ceremonies in which the Catholic and the indigenous are mixed.
7. The Huaves: They live in coastal municipalities. They worship natural elements with the belief that they have spirit. The political organization is divided into three: police, lawmakers and judge.
8. The ixcatecos are located in the Sierra Norte. Its occupation is the fabric of palm and agriculture. Prosecutors and sacristans are the authorities.
9. The Mazatecos: they live in the region of the Sierra Norte. They worship spirits or deities and these beliefs are carried out by their witch.
10. Mixes: are located in the region of the Sierra Norte and part of the Istmo. The mixed authority is formed by the traditional hierarchy system: topils, police, corporals, elders, commanders and religious.
11. Mixtecs or ñusaabi are located north of Oaxaca. Among the mixed couples the marriage is arranged with the parents and involves the payment by the parents of the bridegroom of an amount of money or goods that are returned if the marriage fails.
12. The trikes are located on the Sierra Madre del Sur. They have many magical-religious beliefs; they believe in deities that govern phenomena such as wind, rain and thunder.
13. The zapotecos or binizaa: do not form a homogenous unit, have been subdivided into four groups: those of the Sierra Norte or Sierra Juárez, those of the Sierra Sur, those of the Central Valleys and those of the Istmo of Tehuantepec.
14. The Zoks: they live in the east of the isthmus. They have as immediate authority the priests and have their own associations.

Beliefs and religion

Image of the Virgin of Juquila.

Image of the Virgin of Soledad in Oaxaca de Juárez, named patron of the Oaxacans in 1904.

In Oaxaca the saints are celebrated in all the towns, Oaxaca is a melting pot of ethnic groups and cultures where religious beliefs are part of the identity of its inhabitants.

The majority profession of faith is made up of Catholics in the same framework as the entire nation. Oaxaca is divided into dioceses and parishes according to the very rules of government established by the Catholic Church.

In every town in Oaxaca where the saints are celebrated according to the Catholic religion, the entire community participates in the different activities. The main one is called mayordomía, which is where the godfather or mayordomo offers a great banquet to the attendees, as well as invitations, calendas, popular dances and jaripeos. Generally, the festivities last 8 days and culminate with the so-called octave party.

The religious celebrations that are followed with the most fervor in Oaxaca are on December 18, the day that the Virgen de la Soledad is celebrated, and on October 23, when the Lord is venerated. del rayo and on December 8 in the town of Santa Catarina Juquila where the sanctuary of the Virgin of Juquila is located, festivals attended by believers from all over the state and country.

The celebration of the Virgen del Rosario is also very traditional, this celebration takes place in the month of October, beginning with the celebration in Santa María Ixcotel on the first Monday of October as well as in Santa María el Tule, continuing with the celebration in the Xochimilco neighborhood and later in the Jalatlaco neighborhood.

Although Christianity is immersed in the beliefs of the Oaxacans and from this has derived a surprising cultural and religious syncretism, even in our days the indigenous peoples keep their ancestral beliefs jealously guarded, there are still a series of rites and cults that are Intimately linked to nature, the stars and their natural phenomena, in their languages the songs and prayers towards deities foreign to Christianity are palpable.

In several towns in Oaxaca, the Virgin of Juquila is celebrated, such as in the municipal agency of San Miguel Maninaltepec, located 83 kilometers from this capital; This celebration is carried out with great devotion and veneration on December 7 and 8.

Evangelical Christianity in its various dogmatic affiliations, represents 14% of the population according to INEGI (2010).

Languages

Oaxaca is the Mexican state with the greatest linguistic diversity, Spanish is the most widely spoken language in the entire state and has become a lingua franca to regulate understanding in the face of such diversity, almost all national languages are spoken in this state with considerable number of native speakers, Mixtec and Zapotec are the most widely spoken languages with a high degree of bilingualism.

In Oaxaca they also speak: Chinanteco, Mixe, Triqui, Chontal, Mazateco, Ixcateco among others. In several of these languages there are three variants according to altitude: high, medium and low.

Economy

In 31st place in the federal economy, the state of Oaxaca contributes 1.6% of the national GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The economically active population is estimated at 1'076,829 inhabitants.

The most practiced economic activity in Oaxaca is the tertiary sector, the second is financial and real estate services, and tourism is the third. The agricultural sector is located in the last place, sugar cane, lemon are cultivated, orange, alfalfa, barley, corn, avocado, pineapple, rice, melon, watermelon, maguey, coffee, tobacco, being the area with the greatest agricultural potential the Papaloapan Basin Region, specifically in Tuxtepec.

The second economic pole is found in the tertiary sector, which dominates the city of Oaxaca due to its status as capital.

Economic activity is centered on the tertiary sector of the economy, specifically in commercial activities, restaurant services, hotels and transport. The production of mezcal in the Central Valleys is one of the primary activities of the region, but not in the Istmo de Tehuantepec region, where the manufacturing industry has an important presence, in which the Ing. Antonio Dovalí Jaime Refinery stands out, so named in honor of the first director of the Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP) located in the Port of Salina Cruz. The manufacturing production of Portland type cement is carried out in Lagunas, clean energy generation in Juchitán de Zaragoza, beer production in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, refined sugar in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, paper production in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, biofuel production (Ethanol) in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec and electricity generation in the Miguel Alemán Valdez dam (Temascal) in Soyaltepec.

Mining in Oaxaca had booms and busts since colonial times. Today it is going through serious difficulties due to lack of credit, technical support and instability of the price of the product in the international market. There are few extractive centers in operation despite the fact that the mineral deposits of the entity are multiple and with diverse elements. Among some of the minerals detected by geological studies are iron, titanium, cobalt, tin and manganese on the Coast; large reserves of coal, titanium, tungsten and antimony in the Mixteca; antimony, graphite, copper, mica and ilmenite in the Central Valleys; on the Isthmus aluminum, copper, lead, silver and gold. In addition, there are large deposits of minerals known as non-metallic such as marble, onyx and granite, which are worked in Tequisistlán on the Isthmus and in Magdalena, Etla, in the Central Valleys. Within the non-metals there are also alabaster, asbestos, amber, quartz and obsidian, which can be found in almost the entire entity. In most of the coastal lagoons sodium chloride (salt) can be obtained, especially in those that exist in the Isthmus.

In terms of public finances, as relevant data it can be mentioned that in 2006 the State of Oaxaca obtained income of 32,309 million pesos at current prices, in 2010, the State was approved a budget that exceeds 47,000 million pesos. About 95% of that income comes from the federation.

During the last few years, state governments have tried to take advantage of the great tourist potential that the state offers, with three destinations that have put Oaxaca on the map: Oaxaca City, Huatulco and Puerto Escondido.

Historic Center of the City of Oaxaca.

Mural dedicated to accordionist girl at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Oaxaca.

Rosalba, the accordionist of the mural of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca.

Ecotourism

In recent years the so-called ecotourism has had a boom, thanks to the biodiversity that the state has and its orography; It is worth noting some sites in the northern highlands of the state such as Cuajimoloyas and Benito Juárez where there are natural viewpoints; Llano Grande, Nevería, Capulalpan de Méndez, Ixtlán de Juárez and Llano de las Flores where landscapes, forests and diversity of orchids are found. In the Mixteca region is Santiago Apoala, a small town where there is a waterfall, a cave in which there is an underground river and a cliff, where you can practice caving, rappelling and climbing. Apoala is a population that has a tourist hostel with all the basic services, where you can be in direct contact with nature and with the local population, which is very friendly. It is worth mentioning that a replica of an ancient codex is housed in the library.

Infrastructure

Energy

In the Papaloapan Basin Region, there is the most important hydraulic complex in the State and which ranks fifth and eighth in Mexico, for having a large water storage capacity, formed by the Miguel Alemán Valdez dams (Temascal) and Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, (Cerro de Oro) with an installed capacity of 365 MW, which generate electricity that supplies the States of Veracruz, Puebla and Oaxaca, extension to the southeast of Mexico.

In the region of the isthmus of Tehuantepec, the third largest dam of the Oaxacan entity is located, that is, the Benito Juárez Dam located in Jalapa del Marqués.

In the Mixteca Region, there is the fourth important dam for the State of Oaxaca, the Yosocuta mini-hydroelectric, known as Lázaro Cárdenas, located in the part of San Francisco and San Marcos Arteaga, whose mouth or source is located in the area known as the Boquerón is where the curtain is and which was made in the time of President Lázaro Cárdenas.

Central eoloelectric "La ventosa" located in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The "La Venta" It is located in the common La Ventosa, municipality of Juchitán de Zaragoza, about 30 km northwest of the City of Juchitán, Oaxaca. It was the first wind farm integrated into the grid in Mexico and Latin America, with an installed capacity of 84,875 MW, and consists of 105 wind turbines, since as of January 5, 2007, 98 new generating units came into commercial operation.

According to the files of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), 917 wind turbines are currently planted and operating in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in 16 wind farms, which are controlled by 10 companies, including the Federal Energy Commission. Electricity (CFE). According to what the Mexican Wind Energy Association (AMEE) reports on its page, the 15 wind farms in operation are La Venta I, II and III, Parque Ecológicos de México, Eurus phase I and phase II, Bii Ne Stipa I, II and III, La Mata-La Ventosa, Fuerza Eólica del Istmo I and II, Oaxaca I, II III and IV, Piedra Larga phase I. According to data from the Ministry of Energy (SE), the companies that built and control them are: Federal Electricity Commission, Iberdrola Energías Renovables, Acciona Energía, Eléctrica del Valle de México, Cemex, Peñoles, Enel México, Gamesa Energía, Energías Ambientales de Oaxaca and Demex. The CRE specifies that the 16 parks occupy an area of more than 11,000 hectares of land, only 10% of what is usable in the entire wind power corridor (10,000 MW in total has been quantified). These spaces generate 92% of the wind energy produced in Mexico, which represents 1,263 megawatts of electrical energy. The SE reported that there is an investment of 2,507 million dollars to date with these 16 plants.

In the Cuenca del Papaloapan Region, in January 2008 a sugarcane-based ethanol production plant came into operation. It will produce 240,000 liters per day with a milling capacity of 140 t of cane/h.

PEMEX refinery

In Salina Cruz, is the oil refinery Ing. Antonio Dovalí Jaime which began operations in April 1979, with 600 hectares, with the capacity to process 330,000 BPD of crude.

Communications

The orography of Oaxaca hinders communications between the different regions of Oaxaca, despite this difficulty communities in mountainous areas such as Villa Talea de Castro, has a community cellular network with a fixed monthly fee with which they make local calls, national and international at low cost.

Transportation

The port of Salina Cruz, one of the most important in the country.

Xoxocotlán International Airport in Oaxaca.

Transport: by land, cargo services through vans, trucks and trailers stand out, as well as the railway, Oaxaca - Mexico and the so-called trans-isthmic.

The passenger service, which is provided by different companies, among the most outstanding: ADO, Cristóbal Colón, SUR, Fletes y Pasajes, AU, which transit through the main federal highways. Lately, the so-called tourist transport service has sprung up outside the law, through suburban-type vans, which travel within the entity to the City of Oaxaca, several of them covered by the acronyms of different political organizations. social.

In terms of air transport, the companies Aeroméxico, Aerocaribe, Aviacsa and Aerocalifornia stand out, which provide their service from the capital of the country to the City of Oaxaca, in addition to other routes from Acapulco, Villahermosa and Tuxtla Gutiérrez, It should be noted that the same companies also carry out international flights with a stopover in Mexico City, their main tourist destinations being Oaxaca de Juárez, Huatulco and Puerto Escondido, where they have international airports.

The Oaxaca City Airport has a runway length of 2,450 meters, located in a total area of 435 hectares and has two hangars.

It is noteworthy that by sea, transport is carried out through foreign tankers or belonging to the PEMEX maritime fleet, setting sail from the port of Salina Cruz, loaded with fuel, with destinations to coastal states Pacific, as well as the United States and Japan.

Lately, as part of the tourism development process, ocean liners from various parts of the world have begun to arrive at the Huatulco complex.

The main federal land highways in the state of Oaxaca are: the Oaxaca-Cuacnopalan toll superhighway, the Oaxaca-Tehuacán sun track, Pue.; the 190 Pan-American or International that crosses the entire entity, from the limits with the state of Puebla in the part of the district of Huajuapan de León-Nochixtlán-Oaxaca-Tlacolula-Tehuantepec and from La Ventosa to the limits with the state of Chiapas.

The 200 called Costera, which starts from the limits with the state of Guerrero-Pinotepa Nacional-Puerto Escondido-Pochutla-Huatulco-Salina Cruz.

The 185 Transístmica, which starts from the limits with the state of Veracruz-Matías Romero-la Ventosa-Juchitán-Tehuantepec-Salina Cruz.

The 125 that starts from the limits with the state of Puebla-Chazumba-Huajuapan de León-Putla de Guerrero-Pinotepa Nacional. and the stretch: Yucudaa-Teposcolula-Tlaxiaco-Putla de Guerrero-Pinotepa Nacional.

The 135 that starts from the limits with the state of Puebla-Teotitlán de Flores Magón-Cuicatlán-San Francisco Telixtlahuaca and the section: Oaxaca-Ejutla-Ocotlán-Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz-Pochutla.

The 175 that leaves from Buenavista (Tlacotalpan, Veracruz) going through Cosamaloapan, - Tuxtepec-Valle Nacional-Ixtlán de Juárez-Oaxaca de Juárez., Miahuatlán, Pochutla and Puerto Ángel, Oax. The 147 Tuxtepec-María Lombardo de Caso-Palomares, as well as the 182 that starts from Tuxtepec-Jalapa de Díaz-Huautla de Jiménez-Teotitlán de Flores Magón.

The Zimatlán-Sola de Vega-San Pedro Mixtepec-Puerto Escondido highway with its branch: El Vidrio-Santa Catarina Juquila. The section: Mitla-Ayutla-Santiago Zacatepec with its branch; Yacochi-Chinantequilla-Choapan.

On the other hand, in the 80's the railroad had a great boom in Oaxaca, since it was a cheap and safe means of transportation, although very slow; The main routes were Oaxaca-Tehuacán-Puebla-Mexico City and vice versa, however, the construction and start-up of the Oaxaca-Cuaucnopalan super toll highway had a negative impact on this means of transportation and, added to the internal problems, left from operating in the 90s, in the capital city; while in the Isthmus and Tuxtepec regions it is still used to transport goods and various cargoes to the south-southeast of the country.

Education

In Oaxaca, the population aged 15 or over on average has completed primary education (average grade of schooling 6.4).

Throughout the country, the population aged 15 or over has completed two grades of secondary school on average (average grade of schooling 8.1).

Average level of education by federal entity (year 2005)

Of every 100 people aged 15 and over...

18 do not have any level of schooling.

20 have incomplete primary school.

20 finished primary school.

4 have not completed high school.

17 finished high school.

5 did not complete upper secondary education.

8 completed upper secondary education.

2 did not complete professional education.

6 completed professional education.

Currently there is the possibility of continuing to study through the online system offered by the Coordination of Open University and Distance Education (CUAED) of the UNAM, which is part of the Baccalaureate in the distance modality of the University Autonomous Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO).

Illiteracy

In 2005, in Oaxaca, the illiterate population was: 437,729 people

In other words, 19 out of every 100 inhabitants aged 15 or over cannot read and write.

At the national level, there are 8 out of every 100 inhabitants.

Higher Education

Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca

UABJO.

In education, it has a public university called Universidad Autónoma "Benito Juárez" From Oaxaca. It is commonly known as the "Maximum House of Studies of Oaxaca". The university arises on January 8, 1827 in the state capital, on San Nicolás street, today Avenida Hidalgo. The Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca is located in the City of Oaxaca de Juárez in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. Being the most offered in the state. Two outstanding figures of national history such as Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz come from this house of studies.

University of the Sierra Sur

The “Universidad de la Sierra Sur” (UNSIS), located in the City of Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz in the Sierra Sur part of the State of Oaxaca, is a decentralized public body of the Government of the State of Oaxaca, in addition to have the full support of the state and federal governments, it is endowed with its own personality and legal capacity, to achieve the purposes of teaching in higher education, scientific research, the dissemination of culture and the promotion of development, it has various careers such as: nursing, municipal administration, computer science, in addition to the master's degrees in Electronic Government, Municipal Strategic Planning and Public Health; The prestige at the state and national level of UNSIS lies in the high technology it has in nursing laboratories, where there are robots that can react as closely as possible to the attitude of humans. On November 11, 2008, the XI International Meeting of Didactics of Logic was held, which took place from November 11 to 14, 2008, at the UNSIS facilities. Among the most relevant academic activities we can highlight: the magisterial conferences and the Research ese. Currently the University offers 6 degrees:

1. Bachelor of Municipal Administration
2. Bachelor of Nursing
3. Bachelor of Business Sciences
4. Bachelor of Public Administration
5. Bachelor of Computers
6. License in Nutrition.

Of which the Computer Science Degree has level 1 in the CIEES certification.
Normally a Computer Conference is held during the first days of October.

For more information visit the official website of the University http://www.unsis.edu.mx

Technological University of the Mixteca

The Technological University of the Mixteca began its functions in February 1990, but it was officially inaugurated on February 22, 1991. The president of Mexico, the president of Costa Rica, and the governor of Oaxaca attended this inauguration. as well as the Secretary of Public Education. Its educational plan is based on teaching, research, the dissemination of culture and the promotion of development. It has extremely modern and appropriate facilities to achieve academic levels of excellence, having a full-time teaching system. It is an internationally recognized University and is reflected in the awards and recognitions, such as the First place in the world in the Student Design Competition SIGHCI in Florence, Italy, in 2008. The races offered by the UTM are:

• Computer Engineering
• Engineering in Electrónica
• Engineering in Design
• Bachelor of Business Sciences
• Bachelor of Applied Mathematics
• Industrial Engineering
• Food Engineering
• Engineering in Mechatronics
• Engineering in Applied Physics
• Civil engineering
• Bachelor of Mexican Studies

University of Cañada

The University of La Cañada (UNCA), located in Teotitlán de Flores Magón, is part of the system of State Universities of Oaxaca, it is a Public Institution of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Government of the State of Oaxaca, with support and recognition of the Federal Government.

Inaugurated in 2006, UNCA is a development instrument for the Cañada region, as a center of higher education and scientific research, focused on the training, specialization and comprehensive development of professionals in various aspects of the country's needs., as well as to generate companies and activate the economy.

The careers currently offered by UNCA are:

• Bachelor of Clinical Chemistry
• Bachelor of Computers
• Degree in Nutrition
• Food Engineering
• Engineering in Agribusiness
• Engineering in Pharmacobiology

Technological Institute of Oaxaca

It is a public higher education institution founded on October 28, 1968. It offers 10 undergraduate courses and 2 postgraduate courses in the areas of social and administrative sciences, and engineering. It is part of the General Directorate of Higher Technological Education, of the Ministry of Public Education of Mexico.

Technological University of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca (UTVCO)

Located 40 minutes from the state capital, in the Municipality of San Pablo Huixtepec. He teaches 3 innovative careers: TSU in Business Development, TSU in Food Processes and TSU in Renewable Energies.

It is part of the National System of Technological Universities of the SEP, starting activities in 2009.

The Technological University has an innovative model of 70% practical and 30% theoretical to train competent professionals with high technological levels in just two years to respond to the needs of the social and productive sectors of the region and the state.

University of the Isthmus

• Ixtepec Campus.
• Tehuantepec Campus.
• Juchitan Campus.

Educational offer

It has a wide variety of study plans.

High school:

Oaxaca State College of Bachelors (COBAO) It is an institution of Higher Secondary Education in the state of Oaxaca, which offers education in propaedeutic areas and technical training in 5 areas: physical-mathematical, economic-administrative, chemical-biological, humanities-social sciences.

Among the extracurricular activities are dance, theater, declamatory, oratory, wall newspaper, plastic arts, music, chess, war band and escort.

The sports activities offered are: Basketball, Soccer, Babyfoot, Volleyball and Athletics.

Specialized High School in Accounting and Administration (BECA) and High School No. 1, High School No. 2, High School No. 3, High School No. 4, High School No. 5, High School No. 6 and High School No. 7 Technical Level: Music Instructor (School of Fine Arts).

Culture

Map of the socio-cultural regions of Oaxaca

In Oaxaca, a diversity of cultures flourishes, a mirror of an entire society where empire and custom fork. It has a constant influx of tourists, and the surreal space between the traditional, the novel and the pragmatic of this essence borders on the downtown area. This city inhabits a diversity of beliefs that are amalgamated with a diverse cultural expectation.

There are various popular attractions, as well as museums and galleries on every corner of downtown. Oaxaca has one of the best libraries on painting in Latin America: BIAGO (Library of the Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca), as well as a museum of Oaxacan painters (MUPO), museum of philately (MUFI), textile museum, museum of Santo Domingo and an infinity of proliferations contributing to the same cultural dynamic: exchange between the dreamlike and the ecstatic.

Traditions

Labrada de cera de la Virgen del Rosario en el Istmo de Tehuantepec.

Day of the Dead In the region of the isthmus, the traditional day of the dead is celebrated, during which relatives and loved ones who have died are awaited with great devotion; Rich breads such as marquesote, pan de muerto, among others, are baked by the ladies of the region.

As in many other towns and regions of Mexico, the Day of the Dead or "Fiesta de Todos Santos y Fieles Difuntos" is celebrated in Oaxaca with great devotion.

Since mid-October people start buying the items they will need for the party; In the city of Oaxaca and the towns of the Valley, the celebration begins with the Plaza de Muertos where peasants and artisans prepare their products for the celebration.

On October 31, each family places an altar in a prominent place in their home where they place offerings to honor the dead. In these offerings are placed various foods and some gifts that the deceased liked, along with a photo of the person who died; The religious element cannot be missing, for which a religious image or the Bible is placed. On November 1, it is customary to "bring the dead" that is, giving relatives and friends a sample of the offerings that were made at home. It is believed that on November 2 the deceased leave, so they are fired by collecting the offering and taking flowers to the pantheon. Also in various places in the state, the custom is to stay the night before in the pantheon with the belief that they are keeping the deceased company.

During the first two days of November it is also customary to perform the "Comparsas", that is, a group of musicians sing and pray before each altar where some of the the offerings.

In Oaxaca, each day of the calendar points to a celebration, each name of a town refers to a patron saint, that is why in Oaxaca there is not a day without a party. There is also the famous night of radishes, where the artisans of the Oaxaca valley exhibit works of art using the product harvested from their lands and their deceased appear in the ceremony.

Cultural heritage

Archaeological zone of Monte Alban.

Mexico is a founding member of UNESCO, and Oaxaca was the first state to present its project for Heritage, in February 1986 and when this became known, more states joined, presenting their project the same year that the country, obtains the declaration of three Archaeological Zones: Teotihuacán, Monte Albán and Palenque. Three historical centers: The cities of Oaxaca, Mexico and Puebla. To the pride of the Oaxaqueños, 2 of these 6 appointments were for Oaxaca.

As patrimony it has the historic center as well as the archaeological sites and sculptures found throughout the state.

Unesco has recognized and inscribed on the World Heritage List number 274, on December 11, 1987, the Zone of Historical Monuments of the City of Oaxaca and the archaeological zone of Monte Albán together with Mitla, although in the project Called "Oaxaca, Cultural Heritage of Humanity", originally it also included the monumental complex of Cuilapan de Guerrero, a former Dominican Convent from the 16th century. Despite the latter, it is not yet part of the World Heritage list.

Mitla, Oaxaca.

The prehistoric caves of Yagul and Mitla were registered as a new Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The candidacy was approved by the members of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, as there are studies that have shown that the caverns house pumpkin seeds from 8,000 to 10,000 years old; Therefore, they constitute the oldest remains of domesticated plants known up to now in the American continent. The recognition of the organization is currently in process.

Oaxaca is more than the name of a territorial location, it is identity and it is the sample of its own face and a true heart, when exploring its interiors you have encounters with the origin of a great Zapotec culture, observing is feeling its constructs in being and giving, Oaxaca, its territory and its people, is a wealth that is distinguished by its wide and delicious gastronomy, its ancient archaeological zones and that in the course of the discovery work offers heritage to humanity as the last offered and declared internationally the news this August 2: its caves of Yagúl and rock paintings of white horse, which are located between the city of Tlacolula and Mitla. So much expression in tradition and custom, reflects his need and dedication in the spiritual sense for life, the moral and ethical values of the family, society, our harmonious relationship with nature, our permanent optimism for life, despite the most terrible hardships. Our genetic bank is reflected in our differences that despite our different characteristics that each population has and that only territorial distances separate us from each other, the different characteristics unite us and make us Oaxaca, land of Juárez and of a whole world.

The fountain of the eight regions was built in the middle of this century. Its design, of modern artistic expression, stands out for a series of sculptures that represent the regions of the State in a folkloric way. which poses a dancer representing the Central Valleys with the unmistakable "Dance of the Feather ". Around the first pile and within it are female sculptures approximately 2 meters high, whose exceptional features and clothing immediately identify the other regions of the state: Isthmus, Coast, Mixteca, Cañada, Tuxtepec, and the Sierra Norte and Sierra South, in the middle of small waterfalls and harmonic jets of water. It is a monument that symbolizes regional identity. The plasticity of its mystical dances, songs and syrups refer to the presence of our peoples and a prolongation of the offerings to the ancient gods. The Guelaguetza is an offering, and it is offered splendidly in the presence of the eight regions of the state in each of the human figures in bronze with their pose, their clothing and expressive movements of each region.

Starting in 1927, a regional unification of a folkloric nature was convened in the state of Oaxaca to bring together the most important of each place, thus forming a mosaic with the first seven regions that constitute a bond of folkloric and spiritual union, integrated to make it known to locals and strangers: to the former so that they always remember and preserve the origin of their roots and their traditions and, to the latter so that they carry the memory of our cultural expression and our historical presence that has been enriching from pre-Hispanic to colonial and modern times in a mysticity of expressions.

On February 21, 2010, the statue of the Sierra Sur was placed in the Fuente de las Regiones, once the State Congress approved the opinion sent by the then governor of Oaxaca Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, to create the eighth region.

Currently the font represents the following 8 regions of Oaxaca: Canada, Coast, Isthmus, Mixteca, Papaloapam, Sierra Sur, Sierra Norte and Central Valleys.

Architecture

Monte Albán, acropolis of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca.

Temple and ex-convention of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, in the Historic Center of the city of Oaxaca.

Ex-convention inner courtyard.

Temple of St. Matthew, the work of the centuryXVI.

Typical houses of the vernacular architecture of the village in Capulálpam de Méndez.

Historical center

In the esplanade, a variety of architectural forms stand out in its monuments, including the one known as Los Danzantes, where human figures of the Olmec culture can be seen.

After the arrival of the Spanish in the city, they chose Villa de Antequera, a place where the Aztecs founded a garrison to be able to control the valley to which they gave the name Huaxyacac.

The historic center of the city, as well as the archaeological zone of Monte Albán considered the base and origin of the current community of Oaxaca, were declared by UNESCO in 1987 as "Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Historical center illuminated.

The Mesoamerican civilizations managed to have great aesthetic and functional development at the service of the Human and Cosmic scale, the form evolved from simplicity to aesthetic complexity.

Background

Like the vast majority of the great Mesoamerican Cosmohuman gathering centers, Monte Albán was a city with a multi-ethnic congregation. During its time, the city maintained very strong links with other important peoples in Mesoamerica, especially with the Teotihuacanos during the Early Classic.

In one way or another, an ancient architecture is based on these bases, which, based on a syncretism, incorporates the various influences and religious-political processes.

During the colonial period the predominant orientation was established by religious architecture, where the mendicant monasteries were one of the architectural solutions devised by the friars of the mendicant orders in the XVI for Evangelization in New Spain, designed for a huge number of non-Catholic indigenous people. They were based on the European monastic model, but added innovative elements in New Spain such as the atrial cross and the open chapel, as well as being characterized by various decorative trends and a strong appearance like military fortresses.

The New Spanish Baroque is an artistic movement that appeared in what is now Mexico at the end of the XVI century, approximately, and which was preserved until the middle of the XVIII century. New Spain's history also descends on domains such as the Basilica de la Soledad (1697) basically composed of green quarry and in contrast to its yellow quarry façade in which one of its reliefs shows the Virgin Mary kneeling at the foot of the Holy Cruz, the cathedral (1535-1733) and the church of San Agustín (1596), famous for its harmonious doorway and the Baroque altarpiece that illuminates its apse, as well as the Temple of the Company of Jesus and the Temple of Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves, headquarters of the Jesuit Seminary of San Juan. The small church of San Cosme y San Damián, the temple of San Felipe Neri and also those of San Juan de Dios —formerly a hermitage of Santa Catarina Mártir and home to Juan López de Zárate, the first bishop of Oaxaca in 1537—San Matías Jalatlaco and Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

The surroundings of the Zócalo housed, according to colonial custom, the institutional buildings and the homes of each main family, but the order of Santo Domingo was the main promoter of constructions since it began its work in 1529. The civil architecture of Oaxaca, had its part with the excellent mansions, in the style of that belonging to the mayorazgo of Pinelo and Lazo de la Vega, current headquarters of the Museum of Oaxaca, and the baroque profiles that identify buildings such as those that house the Institute of Graphic Arts and the Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art. As for the predominant stimulus in facades like these, the best perceived intensity derives from a joyous profusion of wrought iron, visible in keyholes, balconies, grilles, and knockers. In Oaxaca, balcony railings with storied drawings abound, in various combinations made with motifs. simple, with balusters twisted in various shapes, with curves and countercurves, and sumptuous fence finishes.

19th century

Patio de un Museo en la Ciudad de Oaxaca.

In the XIX century, the neoclassical movement emerged as a response to the objectives of the republican nation, where the strict plastic art of the classical orders are represented in its architectural elements, new religious, civil and military buildings also appear, demonstrating the presence of neoclassicism.

It is evident in places like the Alameda de León, an attractive garden inaugurated to honor the State Governor, General Antonio de León, on October 13, 1843, the romanticism of this place is intensified in the construction style of the Central Building of the University, in the building of the Institute of Sciences and the Government Palace completed in 1887.

20th century

At the beginning of the XX century, eclecticism characterized Oaxacan architecture. Thus, apart from the School of Medicine, in the former hacienda of Aguilera 1913 is the Fountain of the Seven Regions, as a symbolic summary of the cultural reality of the region.

The Macedonio Alcalá Theater became a reality between 1903 and 1909, exemplifying the fusion of modernist ingredients in a neoclassical ensemble adding nationalist details, as can be seen in the Federal Palace, where features of the Mixtec tradition appear.

The Plaza de la Constitución appropriates tradition and versatility with its origin in the layout made in 1529 by Juan Peláez de Berrio, later corrected by Alonso García Bravo, providing references to the XIX, for example, the previous kiosk from 1857 and the surrounding grove of trees were modified on September 15, 1885, when it was replaced by a statue of Juárez.

Since 1901, the modernist kiosk has superimposed a brushstroke of Art Nouveau on the Zócalo. With these transformations made in the name of the most modern trend at all times, time leaves its mark on this and other spaces in the city.

Contemporary

At the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century he wandered through nationalism and deco geometricism, towards modernism rationalist promoted by José Villagrán García and students such as Juan Legorreta with hotel and commercial projects mixing ancestral and popular Mexican elements with contemporary approaches.

Other interventions that are setting standards are, for example, the Guelaguetza Auditorium, the main performance venue in Oaxaca, it was built at the request of the governor Fernando Gómez Sandoval, this building being an outdoor stage, in 2008 work began and culminated in 2010.

Also the architect Mauricio Rocha, who was in charge of the contemporary architectural intervention of the new San Pablo Academic and Cultural Center in the former convent of San Pablo and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca, MACO.

And contemporary insertion projects: Textile Museum of Oaxaca, MTO. 2008 and Children's Library, BS. 2007, The Library of the La Salle University opens its doors in August 2010, by the architect Juan José Santibáñez, and also the La Salle College or the Museum of Philately (MUFI), both by the architect Daniel López Salgado. Juan José Santibáñez represents a more intimate and personal architecture, while Daniel López represents a more cultured and distilled one. Both are based on the roots of architecture and Oaxacan and Mexican culture with a contemporary language. It is very important to highlight that many of the works cited and certainly the most successful have been promoted by the Alfredo Harp Helú Foundation and financed by the federal and state governments, without whose effort and sponsorship, surely contemporary Oaxacan architecture would be nothing more than a shadow of what is

With this, a trend of architectures based on the enhancement of heritage properties is oriented using new technologies for new needs and in the new works brushstrokes of ancestral shapes, materials and images are exposed, reinventing the use of traditional materials in line with the vocation of sustainability.

Trend that has been reinforced by researchers and academics such as those of the association Nuevos Horizontes para la Arquitectura de las Comunidades, led by Arch. Pastor Alfonso Sánchez Cruz, as referents for the recovery of the values of vernacular architecture, bioarchitecture, bioclimatic architecture and the vision of architectural heritage as part of sustainable development.

Orientation endorsed by the National Congress of Mexican Architecture, Oaxaca 2008 and materialized in the Oaxaca Charter 2008, on the insertion of contemporary architecture in centers of architectural heritage and in the International Colloquium on Regional and Sustainable Architecture 2011.

Music

Wind bands in the Sierra; sounds and syrups in the Mixteca; Chileans on the Coast; sones and huapangos in the Papaloapan basin with harp and jarana accompaniment, marimba music in the Center; Zapotec songs on the Isthmus; and the Mixtec song is the most recognized, along with the Oaxacan anthem, the waltz God never dies, by the composer Macedonio Alcalá, with bands like those from Tlaxcaltepec or Aguatlán mixe that are from the municipality of Cacalotepec.

Among the outstanding musicians of the state we find the illustrious Macedonio Alcalá (1831-1869) born in the City of Oaxaca on September 12, 1831, he was the third son of Mr. D. Gabriel Alcalá and his wife Doña Tomasa Antonia Tight. Among his compositions of which we are aware today (although not known by all) are "Funeral March", "Sólo dios en los cielos", "El Cohete" and "Ave Maria". The latter a work for two voices. And what is considered the Oaxacan anthem "God never dies".

So we also have musicians like Álvaro Carrillo born in San Juan Cacahuatepec, Oaxaca, on December 2, 1921, and died in a car accident on April 3, 1969. Author of more than 300 songs, among which My love, Taste of me, Like a mole, The wanderer, Moonlight, God will know, I will continue my journey, Pinotepa and The lie.

Another of the important musicians within the musical geography of Oaxaca is Jesús Rasgado. This istmeño composer was born in the town of Ixtaltepec, former district of Juchitán, on January 7, 1907.

Her parents were Mrs. Mónica Rasgado, originally from the same town, descendant of a family of musicians, and Spanish Cayetano Irigoyen, from a family of bohemians, who back in the mother country stood out for their beautiful letters. His top songs were a total of thirty-six, plus many funerals and masses sung to Santo Domingo de Guzmán and San Juan Degollado. Among the most outstanding songs we have: "Naila", "La misma noche", " We are three", "Cruel fate", "Life is a moment", "Full Period", "Life and Love", "Penultimate Kiss ", "Come back again", "Haughty", "Empress", "Resignation", "Benita López Chente", "María Cristina", "Tehuanita", among others.

Lila Downs, born in Tlaxiaco, is considered one of the highest exponents of Mexican music in the world.

We will not fail to mention another great Oaxacan musician: Amador Pérez Torres “Dimas“. He was born in Villa de Zaachila on April 15, 1902 and died in Mexico City on January 30, 1976. His parents were Gildardo Pérez and Macrina Torres. Among his most outstanding works to the rhythm of danzón Nereidas, as well as Adela, Circulando, Cuando Canta el Cornetín, El Acahual, Let the tour sing, etc.

Without leaving aside Rodolfo Villegas Bolaños 1950–2004, a man of great musical talent, who pays fervent tribute to the women of the eight regions of the state, with perhaps the most representative melody of our folklore worldwide "Oaxacan Woman".

Oaxacan singer Lila Downs has been considered an ambassador of Mexican music to the world. She has a wide repertoire of popular songs sung in indigenous languages, as well as in Spanish and English. She mixes traditional and modern sounds based on the sounds of Oaxaca.

In the viceregal era, the figure of two Oaxacan musicians were transcendental for understanding the musical history of Mexico and the world: Juan Matías el viejo, an indigenous musician who, according to Father Burgoa, said he was born in San Bartolo Coyotepec. He is the first known free musician who does not want to be "sold" to the church and is the first "pure indigenous" to be named Chapel Master in the Oaxaca cathedral.

There is another Juan Matías who is a Creole, who lives a century after the first Juan Matías. This musician was called Juan Matías de los Reyes and Mapamundis. Harp musician and player of various other instruments, who had a large family and who takes them to church to play along with him. This Juan Matías is the culmination of the great process of baroque music in Oaxaca. His teacher was Manuel Sumaya and he was a personality in music in Oaxaca.

Among others Demetrio López, was one of the best Oaxacan Zapotec composers. He wrote & # 34; The Ugly & # 34; to dedicate it to her beloved, with her, he proposed to her. The song "El Feo" After some time, it was translated into Spanish, Mixteco, and there were even several versions in English and Latin. In 2002, a female version was born, with the voice of the Mexican singer: "Lila Downs", in 2009 it was interpreted by "Camila" with her original name & # 34; Naa Nga Ti Feu & # 34;, which came to life for some time throughout the republic and part of the world.

Grupo Miramar, originally from Rio Grande, is considered one of the pioneers of group music.

The lyrics of the song read as follows:

Pa guiní cabe naa, xpádua huíine

Pa guiní cabe na, neza lú lu

Gudxi laacabe naa nga xpidó

Gudxi laacabe naa nga xpidó lo.

Naa nga ti feu

Ti feu ni froga xhii

Né guidubi ládxi do

Ne zachaga na ne lii.

Within popular music, it is worth mentioning the Grupo Miramar, originally from Río Grande, which achieved great notoriety as an initiator of grupera music and which achieved such success that its music reached all of Latin America.

Dance

La Guelaguetza, indigenous party and Oaxacan mestiza that is held on Monday of the Cerro in the month of July.

Important events prior to the Guelaguetza Festival.

The contest for the election of the representative of the Goddess Centéotl, takes place on Fridays and Saturdays, before the first Monday of the hill or Guelaguetza festival. This contest is organized by the Ministry of Tourism, this agency invites ladies from different regions of the state to participate in this activity. The contest is held in the Pañuelito garden, the juries are personalities members of the Authenticity Committee, who are knowledgeable experts in the traditions of each one of the regions of the state, they evaluate the knowledge of the traditions and customs that each one of participants must have from their region. In the contest, during the first day, the participants talk about traditions, festivities, food, legends, etc. of the region in which they live. On the second day they give an explanation of the costume they wear, as well as the elements that compose it. At the end of the exhibition, the Authenticity Committee counts the points obtained by each of the ladies, the one who obtains the highest number of points is named as the representative of the Goddess Centéotl, she will have the honor of presiding in the company of the Governor of the State the festivities of the Guelaguetza. This event is very beautiful, since it gives us the opportunity to learn about the different regions of the state, the meaning of their costumes, their worldview, and on some occasions even listen to her mother language.

The two Mondays following July 16, the Guelaguetza takes place, a dance and music show starring representative groups from the 8 traditional regions, who show their cultural heritage to thousands of tourists who take advantage of the occasion to have a bath of history, culture and tradition. The guelaguetza, which means "contribution or tribute" It is a very old Oaxacan festival, which dates back to pre-Hispanic times. For the Zapotecs, the last two Mondays in July were the sacred days on which the most beautiful maiden in the region was chosen to represent the goddess Centéotl (goddess of corn), whom they worshiped on these dates, so that the harvests were plentiful. With the conquest, on those same dates, and through evangelization, the Virgen del Carmen took the place of worship of the goddess Centéotl. The Virgen del Carmen, whose temple is currently located on García Vigil street, was located at the highest point of the city, near the hill of the fort or the lily. With the colony, the character of the religious festival took on the character of family coexistence, since after attending the ceremony of adoration of the Virgin, the families gathered on the slopes of the hill of the fort or of the lily, to enjoy the view of the then small town and previously prepared food. The rich girls took the opportunity to show off their best clothes, while the humblest dedicated themselves to selling their products to the entire audience. The charros of "culito" They were called like that because they were in a drunken state, but to hide it, they greeted all the maidens with a bow, in which they showed part of that aforementioned anatomical structure in such a vulgar way. Currently, the guelaguetza is a party in which the 8 regions of the state of Oaxaca meet to show through dance and music, the exuberance of their traditions, and a "guelaguetza&#34 is delivered to all the guests.; which is a gift that the dancers offer to all those who have the joy of witnessing a show as full of tradition and symbolism as the guelaguetza.

It is important to mention that on the Sunday before the Guelaguetza, there is a representation of the arrival of the Spaniards: the conquest of America staged by the Oaxacans themselves, and at the end of the guelaguetza hill such representation; The dancers from the different regions go to the towns of Villas de Etla, San Antonino Castillo, Zaachila, Cuilapam and Tlacochahuaya to stage in the upper part of these regions this tradition that dates back to pre-Hispanic times.

In the zócalo of the capital there are also constant exhibitions, on Tuesdays and Thursdays the state band plays in the kiosk of the capital's zócalo, (which by the way, is a beautiful example of French-style architecture introduced by the illustrious Porfirio Díaz) Wednesdays are danzón and every Sunday at 12 noon a concert begins next to the state cathedral, where the Oaxaca state philharmonic orchestra delights all locals and visitors with beautiful native melodies and international character, without being able to miss the Oaxacan anthem, the incomparable: "God never dies" of the illustrious composer: Macedonio Alcalá.

However, there are several clubs open every day where you can also find current music: salsa and miniature.

Feather Dance

The main dancer represents the sun. He executes circular movements through which he enters into a dialogue with the other dancers who represent the celestial bodies. The diagonal movements represent the winter solstice and the parallel type the spring equinox.

The clothing for this dance has had variations since the conquest, as well as during the French intervention, in the XIX century, when the steps and music of the mazurka and chotis were incorporated into the dance. The sun wears an enormous plume, adorned with mirrors and feathers. This dance closes the Guelaguetza Festival, an annual event in which groups of dancers from the seven regions into which the state of Oaxaca is divided culturally and geographically converge.

Painting

Oaxacan School of Painting.

Oaxaca has given the Mexican nation important painters of international fame during the XX century, its plasticity has been incomparable that makes this state a Mexican corner where culture emerges from its land and is considered a land of painters.

Rufino Tamayo was an artist always in search of new techniques. Together with Lea Remba he created a new type of graphic technique, known as mixography; print on paper to which depth and texture are added. One of Tamayo's most famous mixographies is "Two Characters Attacked by Dogs".

Francisco Toledo is considered one of Mexico's greatest living artists. He is an expert printer, draughtsman, painter, sculptor and ceramicist. His art and his plastic art reflect a great appreciation for the aesthetics of nature, particularly that of animals that are not conventionally associated with beauty (bats, iguanas, toads, insects) . Toledo's moral vision affirms that the world of humans and that of animals are one with nature. Toledo shows a very well developed sense of the fantastic when creating hybrid creatures, part human and part animal, at the same time monstrous and playful, his beautiful kites, handmade notebooks, masks, jewelry and intrinsic engravings are another example of his genius.

Rodolfo Morales (1925-2002) forms, with Rufino Tamayo and Francisco Toledo, the great trilogy of Oaxacan painters, central to the development of Mexican art of the century XX. His painting is characterized by a palette that strongly refers to the daily life of Oaxaca and, however, his theme starts from that same daily life, but to transcend it in strongly dreamlike and symbolic compositions.

He studied at the San Carlos Academy and later traveled throughout Europe, the United States, and Latin America, before settling permanently in his homeland in 1985. He had his first exhibition in 1978, at the Estela Shapiro gallery in Mexico City. The last years of his life were dedicated to the dissemination and conservation of art and culture in Oaxaca and, more specifically, in Ocotlán de Morelos (Guelachiró), his hometown.

Crafts

Alebrijes.

Oaxaca is famous for its handicrafts, among which alebrijes, gold and silver pottery, and some indigenous and contemporary textile designs stand out, including pozahuancos woven from cotton and dyed with cochineal scarlet, indigo blue, and dye of the purple snail. Black clay pottery in the Valleys; saddlery on the Coast and the Mixteca, jewelry, tin, palm and basketry. Located in the Xochimilco neighborhood, in the center of Oaxaca, is the house of handicrafts, donated by the painter Francisco Toledo. Oaxaca is world renowned for its textiles, made with cotton threads, made on waist or bun looms; her designs are unique by combining colors and embroidery. Among the most outstanding are the mixes, triquis, huipiles from Yalalag, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Tuxtepec, among others. The textiles are traditionally made on a pedal or waist loom, some come from towns near the city and from other regions of the state. From Teotitlán del Valle, Mitla and Tlacolula come quilts, blankets, jorongos and rugs, made on a pedal loom, with wool thread, natural and dyed with natural dyes. In Mitla and Santo Tomás Jalietza there are shawls, blouses, huipiles, bags, table runners, napkins, tablecloths; made with cotton threads. In San Antonino Castillo Velasco we find blouses embroidered in silk thread. From Tlaxiaco, Tuxtepec and Huatla are the huipiles and tangles, some of them made on a waist loom and embroidered with brightly colored animal figures. From the Isthmus region come the beautiful regional istmeña costumes made of silk, velvet and lace fabrics with fine embroidery of brightly colored flowers.

Literature

In the panorama of national letters, Oaxaca has contributed two fundamental names: José Vasconcelos and Andrés Henestrosa.

Gastronomy

Oaxaca is known for its gastronomic variety, condiments and seasoning. Among the various dishes and foods are: tlayudas, tamales, tejate, pozonque, chilacayota and chia water, memelas, tortilla chips, empanadas, quesillo, chorizo, cecina, beef jerky, pinole, Oaxacan bread of the dead, yolk bread, bread salt, chocolate, moles, sea products, etc.; In addition, it is one of the states where more varieties of insects are consumed, such as grasshoppers, maguey worms and chicatanas (ants).

Even though the industry has reached many dishes of its gastronomy, especially Chocolate, there are still artisan groups that rescue the original preparation and flavor, such as the so-called "chocolateconalas". Likewise, small artisan groups for other products can be found on the outskirts of the city.

Fish fillet to herbs, Oaxaca, Méx.

Mezcal also stands out, a drink made with pineapple or the heart of agave. In recent years, mezcal has had great acceptance and diffusion in various places, especially since 1997, the year in which the International Mezcal Fair was implemented, held in the city of Oaxaca.

Chocolate with milk and bread, Oaxaca, Mexico

Historical Archive

The General Archive of the Executive Power of the State of Oaxaca (AGEPEO) is the Institution in charge of preserving and promoting the use of written memory, favoring research and knowledge by society of the various aspects of history and reality from the state of Oaxaca. The archive changed its name to the General Archive of the State of Oaxaca in 2018. Its historical collection was organized by the Apoyo al Desarrollo de Archivos y Bibliotecas de México A.C. association. in a joint project with the state government that lasted six years.

The Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca Foundation supported the construction of the building where it is currently housed, known as the Ciudad de las Canteras Park, a place that inspired a story for children related to Oaxacan documentary heritage and the new archive building.

Historical Archive of the Archdiocese of Antequera Oaxaca

The Historical Archive of the Archdiocese of Antequera-Oaxaca (AHAAO), is the enclosure that protects historical documentation corresponding to the activity of the Church of Antequera; It is located in the historic center of the city of Oaxaca, inside the building currently occupied by the Diocesan Curia. The documents offered by the AHAAO can be consulted by anyone, as long as they meet the essential requirements; this with the purpose of enriching the history in which we develop and make it bear fruit.

The AHAAO documents experienced critical moments in the long pilgrimage of the Oaxacan church. In the 19th century, after the seizure suffered by the "Reform Laws", as well as during the Revolution and also at the time of the so-called "religious persecution", the documentary heritage was extracted from the building that housed it and a series of movements in which much of the information was lost and other remained in the hands of individuals. Only until the end of the first half of the last century was this material deposited in one of the halls of the Cathedral of Oaxaca.

The last movement of this collection occurred in 1985 when it moved to its current enclosure, the spaces of the old baptistery of the Cathedral. There, with the support of some institutions and specialists, they began to catalog and order the documents. As of November 2004, Fr. Francisco Reyes Ochoa, chancellor secretary of the Archdiocese of Oaxaca, is in charge of the AHAAO, being in charge of Ms. Berenice Ibarra Rivas.

Sports

The mixed ball, an Oaxacan sport of great tradition.

Surf on the beaches of Zipolite.

The Eduardo Vasconcelos baseball stadium in the city of Oaxaca.

Guerreros de Oaxaca is the professional baseball team of the city of Oaxaca. In October 1995, the World Series of baseball was played, attended by C.P. Alfredo Harp Helú together with the group of shareholders of the Diablos Rojos del México, Roberto Mansur, José Marrón, Carlos Helú G., as well as Pedro Treto Cisneros, who at that time was president of the Mexican Baseball League Of summer. The group of executives received information that the Charros de Jalisco team was for sale due to the poor performance shown by the club in recent years. It was then that Don Alfredo Harp, a lover of the king of sports, glimpsed the possibility of taking the franchise to his beloved Oaxaca, where he had chosen to carry out his cultural and philanthropic projects, which would be complemented with the sporting aspect. Steps were taken before the state government headed at that time by Lic. Diódoro Carrasco, who supported the project. In December, and within the framework of the International Baseball Convention held in Los Angeles, California, the issue of Oaxaca as an aspirant for a venue within summer baseball was put up for consideration, to which the assembly unanimously agreed. The president of the summer circuit. The news caused a real stir in the state capital and not only there, but in the eight regions that make up Oaxaca. For many years, the sporting dream of the entity had been to have professional baseball of a good level, since the vast majority of the population is fond of the sport of intelligence.

Alfredo Harp Helú presented in May 2013 the annexation of Alebrijes de Oaxaca as the representative soccer team of the state after being part of the Tecamachalco Project, a club that played in the affluent district of Tecamachalco in Huixquilucan to the west and in the Neza stadium 86 to the east Mexico City. Once the facilities project approved by the FMF was presented, it was made official that the club would play in Ascenso MX from the 2013 Apertura. The Tecamachalco board received numerous proposals: for weeks, the possibility of playing in various federative entities was discussed, but none of them convinced. Finally, the opportunity to play in Oaxaca arose and the board did not think twice: because of its roots, its tradition, the caliber of its citizens and the weight that this state has within the national culture and history, the board decided that this was the home of the team.

The team was there and the house was there: a name was missing. The name of the team was not a minor thing and, again, the board took months to make the decision. A name was sought that would emphatically represent the state of Oaxaca.

After a popular consultation –carried out on social networks- and the help of Dr. Julio César Santaella, the new team acquired its identity: Alebrijes de Oaxaca FC. The team's conception was complete.

Mixtec ball: link with the pre-Hispanic past of which there are great vestiges, it is this game that is practiced today. Passed from father to son, oral tradition played a key role in preserving the game. At present it is practiced in three areas: indigenous, rural and urban, adults and young people participate. This sport has transcended borders due to migration, reaching the United States. Tournaments are held in the patron saint festivities of the Mixteca, in the November festivities in Puerto Escondido, in the July festivities of the Guelaguetza and in the same month in Huajuapan de León during its fairs. For this reason, it belongs to the Mexican Federation of Autochthonous and Traditional Games and Sports, A.C.

Golf: there is a 9-hole golf course with a double exit just 20 min. From the center of the city; It is a semi-flat course, with 4 artificial lakes, it is a par 68 with a distance to cover of 5218 yards. It was founded in 1983 in an extension of 12 hectares. It is located in an area where the climate is very cool, but for those who go to the beaches, there is also an 18-hole golf course with 78 hectares in Tangolunda Bay, Santa María Huatulco, with paradisiacal landscapes.

Mountain biking: due to its orography and natural landscapes it is a good option, it is practiced mainly in: Sierra Norte: Ixtlán de Juárez, San Antonio Cuajimoloyas, Santa Catarina Ixtepeji, Benito Juárez Lachatao, San Isidro Llano Grande; and in the Mixteca in Santiago Apoala and H. Huajuapan de León. Tours are available from hours to days.

Surfing: on the coasts of Oaxaca it is practiced, mainly in Puerto Escondido on Zicatela beach with a tournament in November and in Huatulco on La Bocana beach in Bahía Conejos with a tournament in May.

Snorkeling or diving: in Puerto Escondido mainly in Carrizalillo beach and Manzanillo beach, Marinero beach and Puerto Angelito; and Huatulco in the entire complex of bays.

Raft or Kayak: on the Copalita River in Huatulco.

Sport fishing: in Puerto Escondido with a tournament in November and in Huatulco with a tournament in May, catching sailfish, dorado, marlin and roosterfish, as well as Huajuapan de León on the Yosocuta dam with tournaments in July, for fishing of black bass.

Football (soccer and rapid 7): on the artificial grass field. The main influx of this sport is located in the City of Oaxaca and in Huajuapan de León, having an international soccer champion such as the Mexican player Ricardo Osorio, selected by the Mexican sports federation and proudly Oaxacan from the region of the mixtec.

Basketball: This sport is practiced throughout Oaxaca, due to the simplicity of the development of the game. This sport is very popular due to the rugged topography of the state, it is easier to practice basketball in the mountains than to play soccer or other sports. In the Sierra Norte, most people know how to play basketball, and this has gained great importance in the patron fairs, where lightning basketball tournaments with attractive prizes are held, which has led players from other states to come to the skills. In the Sierra Norte the Copa Juárez is held; This is carried out regionally with the participation of the municipalities of the districts of Villa Alta, Ixtlán de Juárez and Mixe. This tournament has gained importance at the state level, and has motivated many scouts or scouts to offer scholarships to youth players and take them to important universities, to mention a few, the " Tecnológico de Monterrey". In the northern sierra of Oaxaca as in other regions of the state.

Schooling

Information about education in Oaxaca (News)

In Oaxaca, the average level of schooling for the population aged 15 and over is 6.9, which is equivalent to practically the first year of high school.

In Mexico, the population aged 15 and over has finished high school (average grade of schooling 8.6).

Of every 100 people aged 15 and over...13.8 have no education. 61.6% have finished basic education. 0.1% have a technical or commercial career with completed primary school. 14.2% completed upper secondary education. 9.9% completed higher education. 0.4% not specified.

Illiteracy

In Oaxaca, 16 out of every 100 people aged 15 and over cannot read or write.

At the national level...they are 7 out of every 100 inhabitants.

Governors of Oaxaca

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