Apatzingán | ||
---|---|---|
City | ||
Apatzingán de la Constitución | ||
|
||
Nickname(s): La Perla de Tierra Caliente, Cuna de la Constitución Mexicana | ||
Location of Apatzingán in Mexico | ||
Coordinates: 19°05′19″N 102°21′03″W / 19.08861°N 102.35083°WCoordinates: 19°05′19″N 102°21′03″W / 19.08861°N 102.35083°W | ||
Country | Mexico | |
State | Michoacán | |
Municipality | Apatzingán | |
Founded | 1617 | |
Government | ||
• Municipal President | Uriel Chávez Mendoza (PRI) | |
Elevation | 325 m (1,066 ft) | |
Population (2010) | ||
• Total | 99,010 | |
Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) | |
Area code(s) | 453 | |
Website | Official Website |
Apatzingán (in full, Apatzingán de la Constitución) is a city and its surrounding municipality, in the west-central region of the Mexican state of Michoacán.
The Municipality of Apatzingán is located in the Tierra Caliente Valley. It has an area of 1,656.67 km² (639.64 sq mi), and reported a population of 99,010 (2010).
The city of Apatzingán is the fourth-largest in Michoacán (behind Morelia, Uruapan, and Zamora), with a 2005 census population of 93,180 persons.
The major Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range and the municipality of Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares are to the west.
Mexico's Constitution of Apatzingán was signed in the city in 1814, during the Mexican War of Independence in the Viceroyalty of New Spain against the Spanish Empire.
Recently Apatzingán has received media attention because of the strong presence of notorious, powerful and wealthy drug trafficking cartels. The city is home to the Knights Templar Cartel, led by Servando Gómez Martínez, known as "La Tuta", originally a teacher in Arteaga. In October 2013, the cartel carried out a series of attacks on electricity plants and offices of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, and attacked a protest march organized by community defense groups against the cartels. The Bishop of Apatzingán, Miguel Patiño, released a letter calling Michocacán a failed state ruled by drug lords, and described the citizens of Apatzingán as living in perpetual fear of the cartels and the related violence, extortion and kidnappings.