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Oaxaca (city)

Oaxaca
City & Municipality
Oaxaca de Juárez
MonteAlbanWest.jpg El teatro Macedonio Alcalá Oaxaca Mexico.jpg
Florecer en Oaxaca.jpg
Colonial Oaxaca.jpg Zócalo a Oaxaca.jpg
Un lugar para disfrutar.jpg
Official seal of Oaxaca
Seal
Oaxaca is located in Mexico
Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 17°04′04″N 96°43′12″W / 17.06778°N 96.72000°W / 17.06778; -96.72000
Country Mexico
State Oaxaca
Founded 1532
Municipal Status 1879
Government
 • Municipal President Javier Villacaña Jiménez PRI Party (Mexico).svg PRI 2014-2016
Area
 • City 85.48 km2 (33.00 sq mi)
Elevation of seat 1,555 m (5,102 ft)
Population (2014) Municipality
 • City 300,050
 • Metropolitan 650,000
Time zone CST (UTC−6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC−7)
Postal code (of seat) 68000
Area code(s) 951
Website (Spanish) /Official site
Official name Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iii, iv
Designated 1987 (11th session)
Reference no. 415
State Party Mexico
Region Latin America and the Caribbean

The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name. It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, on the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín extending to the banks of the Atoyac River. This city relies heavily on tourism, which is based on its large number of colonial-era structures as well as the native Zapotec and Mixtec cultures and archeological sites. It, along with the archeological site of Monte Albán, were named a World Heritage Site in 1987. It is also the home of the month-long cultural festival called the "Guelaguetza", which features Oaxacan dance from the seven regions, music and a beauty pageant for indigenous women.

It is nicknamed "la Verde Antequera" (the green Antequera) due to its prior name (Nueva Antequera) and the variety of structures built from a native green stone. The name Oaxaca is derived from the Nahuatl name for the place, Huaxyacac, which was Hispanicized to Guajaca, later spelled Oaxaca. "de Juárez" was added in honor of Benito Juárez, who was a native of this state. The coat of arms for the municipality bears the image of the decapitated Donaji, who was an indigenous princess in the years immediately after the Conquest.

There had been Zapotec and Mixtec settlements in valley of Oaxaca for thousands of years, especially in connection with the important ancient centers of Monte Albán and Mitla, which are close to modern Oaxaca city. The Aztecs entered the valley in 1440 and named it "Huaxyacac," a Nahuatl phrase meaning "among the huaje" (Leucaena leucocephala) trees. A strategic military position was created here, at what is now called the Cerro (large hill) del Fortín to keep an eye on the Zapotec capital of Zaachila and secure the trade route between the Valley of Mexico, Tehuantepec and what is now Central America. When the Spanish arrived in 1521, the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs were involved in one of their many wars. Spanish conquest would end this fighting.


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Wikipedia

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