Huajuapan de León
| Huajuapan de León | ||
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| Municipality and city | ||
Cathedral of Huajuapan
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 Location of the municipality in Oaxaca |
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 Huajuapan de León
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| Coordinates: 17°48′N 97°46′W / 17.800°N 97.767°W | ||
| Country |
 Mexico
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| State | Oaxaca | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 361.06 km2 (139.41 sq mi) | |
| Population (2005) | ||
| • Total | 45,321 | |
| Time zone | Central Standard Time (UTC-6) | |
| • Summer (DST) | Central Daylight Time (UTC-5) | |
| Area code(s) | 953 | |
| Website | (Spanish) http://www.huajuapandeleon.gob.mx | |
Heroica Ciudad de Huajuapan de León [waˈxwapan de leˈon] (Mixtec: Ñuu dee, meaning Place of Brave People) is a rural city with a surrounding municipality located in the northwestern part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Huajuapan District in the north of the Mixteca Region. It has a population of about 45,321, the sixth-largest community in the state in population. It is located at the intersection of Federal Highways 125 and 190. 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.
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 45,321. 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. In 1980 it was the worst-affected region of an earthquake which left 300 homeless across Oaxaca.
The first inhabitants of this area are called the Ñuu Yate (ancient people) who formed their settlement in what is now the town of Huajuapan around 400 BCE. The initial settlement had about 500 to 1500 inhabitants, but as the city grew to it height between 350 and 800 CE it had up to 300,000 people in the valley. The next culture to flourish here was the Mixteca-Puebla culture at about 1200. During this time period, Huajuapan was one of several population centers on the slopes of the Cerro del Sombererito and Cerro de Acatlima, but it was the economic, cultural and ceremonial center of the valley. Sometime shortly after 1521, the Spaniards took control of this region. It is known that Francisco Orozco, along with Augustinians Fray Bernardino Minaya and Fray Gonzales Lucero were the first Spanish to arrive here. However, no Spanish records exist for this region until 1542.
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