Aldama, Tamaulipas

Aldama is a municipality of the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. According to the census of 2010, the municipality had an area of 3,672 square kilometres (1,418 sq mi) and a population of 29,470, including the town of Aldama with a population of 13,661.

The region of Aldama prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the early 16th century was the northern outpost of the Huastec culture, a maize growing culture remotely related to the Maya. The first European to traverse the region was Francisco de Garay in 1523. Maize cultivation reached approximately to the Tropic of Cancer beyond which lived the hunter-gathering Coahuiltecan people.

Spanish settlement of Aldama began in 1785 when arrival of 76 families comprising 293 persons from the Mexican state later known as Guerrero. A Catholic mission called San Vicente del Platanal was established to convert the local Indian people, wean them away from their semi-nomadic livestyle, and concentrate them into settlements. Aldama was founded on April 15, 1790 under the name of Villa de la Divina Pastora de las Presas del Rey. In 1828, the municipality was renamed Aldama in honor of Ignacio Aldama, a hero of the Mexican Revolution.

Aldama is bordered by the municipalities of Soto La Marina to the north, Altamira to the south, Casas and González to the west and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. The northwestern corner of Aldama is at the southern extremity of the mountain range known as the Sierra de Tamaulipas.

The primary natural vegetation found in Aldama is tropical thorn forest (Tamaulipan matorral). At higher elevations with higher rainfall and lower temperatures, are three major vegetation types. Tropical deciduous forest is found at elevations of 1,000 to 2,300 feet (300 to 700 m). The average height of this closed-canopy forest is about 25 feet (7.6 m). Montane scrub is found in dry areas between 2,000 and 2,900 feet (610 and 880 m) elevation. This vegetation type consists of low thickets and savanna. Huisache is a common shrub. Pine-oak forests are found a small area of elevation greater than 2,600 feet (790 m).

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