Zinacantan

Zinacantán
Municipality
Partial view of Zinacantan with San Lorenzo (Saint Lawrence) Church in the middle
Zinacantán Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 16°45′35″N 92°42′20″W / 16.75972°N 92.70556°W / 16.75972; -92.70556
Country	Mexico
State	Chiapas
Area
• Total	66.2 sq mi (171.4 km2)
Elevation	8,392 ft (2,558 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	36,489
• Density	550/sq mi (210/km2)
Climate	Cfb

San Lorenzo Zinacantán (pronunciation: /siˈnɑːnkɑːnˌtɑːn/) is a municipio (municipality) in the southern part of the Central Chiapas highlands in the Mexican state of Chiapas. 99.1% of its population is Tzotzil Maya, an indigenous people with linguistic and cultural ties to other highland Maya peoples.

Zinacantán literally means "land of bats" and comes from the Nahuatl language. People in Zinacantán speak Tzotzil (a Mayan language) and they call their own land "Sots'leb", that is, "land of bats" in their own language.

As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 36,489.

As of 2010, the town of Zinacantán had a population of 3,876. Other than the town of Zinacantán, the municipality had 60 localities, the largest of which (with 2010 populations in parentheses) were: Navenchauc (4,625), Pasté (3,771), classified as urban, and Nachig (3,260), Apas (1,485), Patosil (1,452), Zequentic (1,201), and Bochojbo Alto (1,088), classified as rural.

Many feasts are celebrated during the year. In every feast men are in charge of the celebration—they are: martomoetik, alperesetik, and moletik. The first two of these three names are loan words from the Spanish mayordomos and alférez, respectively. They have to pay whatever is needed in order to celebrate the feasts. These three kinds of cargos (“charges”) are in fact a hierarchy. They constitute an ascending scale in the same order as they are described below. One can never become one of the moletik if he hasn't been a martomo first and then an alperes. These charges are just for men, although their wives have important roles in their husbands' charges. There are twelve martomoetik, twelve alperesetik and six moletik, who are chosen by the inhabitants of Zinacantan every year. Each one has a different feast assigned to him during the year, although they each have to assist in every feast throughout the year.