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To Earth (Geography Home Page) México

México--part: Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, México State, Queretaro State, Morelos, Federal District (México City), Michoácan, Guanajuato State, Colima State (including the Revillagigedo Islands); Clipperton Island (France)

How is the land laid out?

This area lies near the end of the Western1 and Eastern2 Madre Mountains3 chains, and of the plateau between them. Within the plateau is the famed Valley of México. Great heights--over 5,000 meters--are attained, most notably at Iztacchíhuatl and Popocatépetl along the Puebla/ México state border.

Part of the Chicontepec Formation of oil fields lies within Hidalgo.

Who lives there?

This is one part of a large area of the Americas where Spanish and Roman Catholic Christianity represent the majority.

There are numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

NameLocation
Archeological Monuments Zone of XochicalcoMorelos
Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México4 (UNAM)México City (Federal District)
Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of PopocatepetlCuernavaca and other places in Morelos State, and beyond this area
Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of QuerétaroQuerétaro State
Historic Centre of México City and XochimilcoMéxico City (Federal District)
Historic Centre of MoreliaMorelia, Michoacán
Historic Monuments Zone of QuerétaroQuerétaro, Querétaro State
Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent MinesGuanajuato, Guanajuato State
Luis Barragán House and StudioMéxico City (Federal District)
Protective City of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de AtotonilcoSan Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato State
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve Michoacán and México State

Besides the World Heritage Sites, the ruins of Teotihuacán is a major tourist site.

Major airports are located at México City and at Tolcuca.

México City, the capital of México, and co-terminous with México State, is the only city whose metropolitan area exceeds ten million.

For other metropolitan areas, and other cities see Center-West Mexican cities.

Map

map of the West-Center_Mexico and Clipperton Island: showing borders and rivers

Who was there before?

A sampling of pre-Columbian languages follows: I. The Aztecs,6 who spoke Nahuatl,7 migrated from the north to the Méxican Valley in the early 12th century and spread their language through parts of central México by establishing imperial rule in the 14th century. They were the final wave of Uzo-Aztecan migrations. Before they arrived in the high valley, Nahuatl had already become a lingua franca and was probably the language of the Toltecs who dominated central and southern México and beyond in the beginning of the second millenium C.E. II. The Mayan languages spread north into central México--having already arrived in southeast México by 800 B.C.E. Their influence in central México dminished with the arrival of the Toltecs. III. In eastern Hidalgo Totonacan was spoken. IV. Purepecha was spoken in Michoácan.

The best known religions were: I. A rain god, Chac, held first place among the Maya; the Uzo-Aztecans later called him Tlaloc. Human sacrifice may have been a late decadent development. II. The principle god of the Aztec Empire and important to earlier Uzo-Aztecans was Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent. Ritual warfare and human sacrifice were common. III. Further back in time Tezcatlipoca, the Smoking Mirror or Shining Smoke, was more important than Quetzalcoatl, who was considered by some a foreign introduction.

Around the area

north
southeast
southwest
northwest

Footnotes

1. Occidental in Spanish.
2. Oriental in Spanish.
3. Sierra Madre in Spanish. Madre means mother.
4. National Autonomous Unversity of Mexico in English.
5. Ciudad de México in Spanish.
6. Méxica was their name for themselves.
7. Some regard Nahuatl today as consisting of several languages.