La Yesca

La Yesca is a municipality and the municipal seat of the same in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 12,025 (2005) in a total area of 2,218.5 km². The population of the town and municipal seat was 356 inhabitants in 2005. The population density was 7 inhabitants per square kilometer, one of the lowest in the state.

The name is derived from a species of porous and soft wood called "yesca". This wood is found in the region and catches fire when carved with flint.

La Yesca is located at the following extreme geographical coordinates: 22° 00’ to 21° 10’ north latitude and 103° 43’ to 104° 33’ west longitude. It is located in the southern part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. It is bounded in the north with the municipality of El Nayar and the state of Jalisco; in the south with this same state and with the municipalities of Ixtlán del Río and Jala; in the east with Jalisco, and in the west with the municipalities of Jala, Santa María del Oro and El Nayar. See map at [1]

Mountainous zones comprise 95% of the area. The main elevations are Sierra el Pinabete at 1,420 mts, la Sierra Pajaritos with an elevation of 2,500 mts. and la Sierra de Álica with an elevation of 2,200 mts.

The rivers are: the Río Grande de Santiago, Bolaños, Camotlán, Huaynamota and Jora Viejo.

La Yesca has vast forest and mineral resources, as well as pastures for extensive cattle raising.

The soil is generally rocky, eroded and with few lands for agriculture.

The census of 1995 registered 4,350 indigenous inhabitants, which made up 35.92% of the population. La Yesca had the second largest indigenous population in the state after El Nayar.

The road system is precarious and the main means of transport is by plane.

The economy is based on agriculture, which is almost all seasonal. Most of the planted area is used for corn. Cattle raising is the main activity of the municipality and there were more than 80,000 head in 1995.

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Wikipedia