Apaxco

Apaxco
Municipality and town
Seal
Country	Mexico
State	Mexico (state)
Area
• Total	80.34 km^2 (31.02 sq mi)
Population (2005)
• Total	25,738
Time zone	Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)
Website	Official website

Apaxco is a municipality located in the northeastern part of the state of Mexico in Mexico, although both are commonly called Apasco. Apaxco de Ocampo is the town seat, it's located at a northern pass leading out of the Mezquital Valley and about 128 km northeast of the state capital of Toluca. This name come from Nahuatl and means "place of the water fall".^[1]

The municipality was founded on October 16, 1870, this covers an area of 80.34 km². As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 25,738.

Geography

The town of Apaxco de Ocampo, a municipal seat, has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Coyotillos, Santa María, Loma Bonita and Colonia Juárez. The total municipality extends 84.37 and borders with the municipalities of Tequixquiac, Hueypoxtla and the state of Hidalgo.

The Gran Canal de Desagüe is an artificial channel that crossing Apaxco, was named Xothé river in otomi language, this channel connect with Tula river and Enthó dam. Other small river is Treviño, Zarco, El Codo and Teña, connect with Gran Canal.^[2]

The municipal seat is in a small, elongated valley but most of the municipality is on a high mesa which transitions from the Valley of Mexico to the Mezquital Valley.^[3] The highest mountain in Apaxco is the El Estudiante in Tezontlalpan Sierra, other mountains are Mesa Ahumada or Cerro Colorado^[4] in the border between the municipalities of Huehuetoca and Tequixquiac.

Apaxco municipality is a rural territory of Central Mexican Plateau, here there is a semi-desertic climate, is southem of Mezquital Valley.

Flora & fauna

Semi-desertic landscape in Apaxco municipality.

Apaxco municipality is a rural territory of Central Mexican Plateau, here there is a diversity in plants and animals of semi-desertic climate (Mezquital Valley).

The native plants are maguey (agave americana), cardón or cholla (cylindropuntia imbricata), nopal or pickly pear (opuntia ficus-indica), viznaga or golden barrel (echinocactus), órgano or fencepost cactus (pachycereus marginatus), garambullo or billberry cactus (myrtillocactus geometrizans), palo dulce (eysenhardtia polystachya), mesquite (prosopis juliflora), encino or netleaf oak (quercus rugosa), tepozán (buddleja cordata), huizache (vachellia farnesiana), cedro or white cedar (cupressus lusitanica), xaixne or creosote bush (larrea tridentata), dingandán or pepicha (porophyllum linaria), depe or creeping false holly (Jaltomata procumbens), tule (schoenoplectus acutus), carrizo (phragmites communis), and fruit trees as tejocote (crataegus mexicana), capulin (prunus serotina), white sapote (casimiroa edulis), ojo de gallo (sanvitalia procumbens).

The native animals are cacomistle, skunk, gopher, Virginia opossum, rabbit, Mexican gray squirrel, turkey, colibri, turkey vulture, northern mockingbird, rattlesnake, pine snake, xincoyote, red warbler, rufous-crowned sparrow, lesser roadrunner, great horned owl, frog, toad, red ant, bee, others.

History

The first settlers in the region date back to 5000 BC, evidence of which is the expression carved on the stones of the Cerrado cincunvecinos. It estma that the inhabitants were otomiano group in later years lived in Tollan Xicocotitlan.

The civilizations that inhabited what is now Apaxco had a direct relationship with the Teotihuacan civilization, until they declined to between 650 and 900, after that were dominated by the Toltecs.

In 1215, during the pilgrimage to the mythical promised city of the Aztecs, was the site Apaxco held the second fire again before moving on to the south, towards ending their long journey Ecatepec on the banks of the hill of Chapultepec.

With the rise of the Aztec Empire, Apaxco region and all the neighbors were under the government of Tacuba, one of the members of the Triple Alliance. Apaxco remained in this position until the fall of Tenochtitlan before the army of Hernán Cortés.

In colonial times Apaxco Commit entered the system imposed by the Spanish conquerors, and came under the command of Cristóbal Hernandez Mosquera in 1530.

Apaxco was erected as a township in 1870 after the end of the French intervention, the first school was founded in 1880. But during the Porfirio Díaz government, the municipality entered into a phase of strong economic recession and the town disappeared in 1899 for failing to keep administrative or economically, from that date until 1923 Apaxco was a part from Texquiquiac Township.

Politics

Municipality House in Apaxco de Ocampo.

Mayor	Time
Daniel Parra Ángeles	2012–2015
Jesús Cruz Parra	2016–

References

1. "Apaxco". Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México. Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal. Archived from the original on May 27, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
2. Apaxco municipality INEGI, 2009.

Coordinates: 19°59′00″N 99°10′00″W / 19.9833°N 99.1667°W