Huajuapan de León

Huajuapan de León (in full, Heroica Ciudad de Huajuapan de León; in _mi. Ñuu dee, meaning "Place of Brave People") is a small sized city with a surrounding municipality located in the northwestern part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is a historic city with a 2005 census population of 45,321, the sixth-largest community in the state in population. It is located at the intersection of Federal Highways 125 and 190.

Name

The name of "Huajuapan" comes from the Nahuatl words "huaxin" = huaje, "ohtli" = road, and "apan" = river. Literally, River of the "huajes". The town was elevated to an honorary Mexican status in June 1843 in remembrance of "The siege of Huajuapan", a battle between the royal army and the insurgents led by José María Morelos. The battle was won by the insurgents. The city was named after Antonio de León, a hero of the Mexican War of Independence.

Geography

Huajuapan serves as municipal seat of the Huajuapan municipality, which has an area of 361.06 km² (139.41 sq mi) and a population of 57,808. It is located in a rugged and mountainous area of Oaxaca, The Mixteca Baja (part of the Mixteca region of Oaxaca), and the climate in this area is dry most of the year.

History

During the Mexican War of Independence, Huajuapan de León was the site of several events. The longest siege of the Independence War, which lasted approximately 111 days took place here; it was sustained by a group of hometown people under the orders of Colonel Valerio Trujano. The siege ended on July 23, 1812 with the help of General José María Morelos.

Notable sites

In the center of the city is found the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe) and the adjacent Capilla del Señor de los Corazones (Chapel of Our Lord of the Hearts). Nearby are some pre-hispanic ruins at the Cerro de las Minas (Hill of the Mines) where the remains of plazas, residential areas, and a ball field.cite journal |last= Quintanar Hinojosa |first=Beatriz |year=2007 |month= August |title=La Mixteca y sus fabulosos conventos |journal=Guía México Desconocido: Oaxaca |volume= 137 |pages=82 |url= ]

Demographics

The great majority of the people living in Huajuapan de León are of Mixtec descent. The Mixtec language is not generally heard in the city, however. The Mixteca region of which Huajuapan is part has a high rate of immigration to the United States and remittances are important for the local economy.

Notable people

*José López Alavéz, composer of the well-known Canción Mixteca.
*Antonio de León
*Valerio Trujano
*Sergio Hernández (painter)
*Ricardo Osorio (soccer player)

Education

Huajuapan has a relatively low rate of illiteracy (6.8%) in comparison with national and state statistics. However, according to municipial statistics, one can note that at most, forty-seven out of every hundred inhabitants finished primary school while those that partly attended high school reach a 23%. These statistics are low compared with the national average of people that finish their primary, which stands at 7.34 years. State average is 5.29 years.

An important regional university (Universidad Tecnológica de la Mixteca) has been operating in Huajuapan since 1991 with the aim of promoting development of the area.

"Senor de los Corazones" is the city's most important local religious festival.

Notes

References

* [http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/sistemas/conteo2005/localidad/iter/ Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005] INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
* [http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_oaxaca Oaxaca] Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

* [http://www.e-mixteca.org/ Culturas populares Huajuapan] , online news and reportage of events and culture in the Huajuapan municipal region es icon