Puerto Ángel
| Puerto Angel | |
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| Town | |
View of the wharf at Puerto Angel
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 Puerto Angel
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| Coordinates: 15°40′00″N 96°29′26″W / 15.66667°N 96.49056°WCoordinates: 15°40′00″N 96°29′26″W / 15.66667°N 96.49056°W | |
| Country |
 Mexico
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| State | Oaxaca |
| Municipality | San Pedro Pochutla |
| Elevation | 20 m (70 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 2,440 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| Area code(s) | 958 |
Puerto Angel is a small coastal town in the Mexican state of Oaxaca located in the municipality of San Pedro Pochutla. It, along with San Agustinillo and Playa Zipolite are known as the "Riviera Oaxaqueña". It is located 9 km south of city of Pochutla approximately 50 kilometers west of Huatulco and 80 kilometers east of Puerto Escondido. Despite tourism development since the 1960s, the town is still mostly a fishing village, located on a small bay surrounded by rocky hills that lead into the Sierra Madre del Sur. It was founded in the mid 19th century as a port for the region’s coffee and lumber industries but since then other means of shipping these products has replaced it.
The community was founded in the 1850s when, through the efforts of Benito Juárez, the government built a wharf. At that time, this was a very isolated part of the country and the port was designed to help the area develop its coffee and lumber industries, by giving it a means to ship these products to other parts of the country. The port reached its height by 1870, when it was the busiest port in the state of Oaxaca. However, after this time several developments lead to the port’s decline. A rail connection and road connected Salina Cruz to the capital and it emerged as a port. Also, federal sponsorship of the wharf at Puerto Angel faded after Juárez’s death.
In the 1960s, tourists began to take interest in this part of Oaxaca’s coastline. Highway 175, which has been only a dirt trail, was paved. Highway 200, which links most of Mexico’s Pacific coast towns was built in the 1970s and 1980s, connecting Puerto Angel with more popular beach destinations to the north. Gradually, small hotels were built to accommodate tourists.
Hurricane Pauline made landfall at Puerto Angel on 8 October 1997. Damage to this town and many other coastal areas of Oaxaca was extensive.
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Wikipedia