MICHOACAN, or MICHOACAN DE OCAMPO

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 379 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MIC-MOL

MICHOACAN, or MICHOACAN DE OCAMPO , a state of

Mexico

touching on the Pacific, bounded N. by Jalisco and

Guanajuato

GUANAJUATO, or GUANAXUATO
GUANAJUATO, or SANTA FE DE GUANAJUATO

, E. by

Mexico

and Guerrero, S. by Guerrero and the Pacific, and W. by the Pacific, Colima, and Jalisco. Pop. (1900), 935,808, chiefly Indians and mestizos. Area, 22,874 sq. m. Its territory is divided into two nearly equal parts by the eastern branch of the Sierra Madre Occidental, the northern part belonging to the

great

GREAT

central

plateau

PLATEAU (a French term, older platel, for a flat piece of wood, metal, &c., from plat, flat)
PLATEAU, JOSEPH
ANTOINE
- ANTOINE, ANDRE (1858- )
FERDINAND (1801-1883)

region, and the southern to an extremely broken region formed by the diverging branches of the" Sierra Madre, with their wooded terraces and slopes and highly fertile valleys. The general slope of the southern part is southward to the river Balsas, or Mescala, which forms its boundary-line with Guerrero. The narrow coastal zone on the Pacific is only for m. long and has no ports or towns of importance, the slopes of the Sierra Madre del Pacifico being precipitous and heavily wooded and the

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

-belt sandy, hot and malarial. The Lerma, on the northern frontier, and the Balsas on the southern, are the only rivers of importance of the state, their tributaries within its boundaries being small and swift-flowing. There are several large and beautiful lakes in the state, the best known of which are Patzcuaro and Cuitzeo. Lake Chapala lies on the northern boundary. Michoacan lies within the most active volcanic region of Mexico: Jorullo (4262 ft.) is near its southern line, and Colima (12,750 ft.) is northwest of it in the state of Jalisco. Earthquake shocks are numerous, and Colima was in violent eruption in 1908-1909. The highest summit in the state is Tancitaro (12,66o ft.). The climate is for the most part temperate and healthy, but it is hot and unhealthy on the

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

. Michoacan is essentially a mining region, producing gold, silver, lead and cinnabar, and having rich deposits of copper, coal, petroleum and

sulphur

SULPHUR

. The natural products include fine cabinet and construction woods, rubber, fruit, palm oil and fibres. The soil of the valleys is highly fertile, and produces cereals in the higher
So Isa. x. 28 -describes the invader as leaving his heavy baggage at Michmash before pushing on through the pass.379
regions, and sugar-cane, tobacco, coffee and tropical fruits in the lower. Though the

plateau

PLATEAU (a French term, older platel, for a flat piece of wood, metal, &c., from plat, flat)
PLATEAU, JOSEPH
ANTOINE
- ANTOINE, ANDRE (1858- )
FERDINAND (1801-1883)

region was settled soon after the arrival of the Spaniards in Mexico, there are large districts on the southern and Pacific slopes that still belong almost exclusively to the Indians. Besides Morelia, the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

and largest city, the principal towns of the state are: La Piedad (pop. 15,123), an important commercial town on the Lerma river and on the Mexican Central railway, 112 M. N.N.W. of Morelia; Zamora (10,373), 75 M. W.N.W. of Morelia; Uruapan (g8c8), on the Mexican National, 55 m. S.W. of Morelia in a mountainous district celebrated for the fine quality of its coffee; Puruandiro (7782), a commercial and manufacturing town 40 M. N.W. of Morelia; Patzcuaro (7621), on Patzcuaro lake, with a station on the Mexican National, 7550 ft. above sea level; Sahuayo (7408), 103 M. W. by N. of Morelia near Lake Chapala; Zitacuaro (6052), 6o m. S.E. of Morelia on a branch of the Mexican National, which also passes through the mining town of Angangueo (9115) in the same district; and Tacambaro (5070), 46 m. S.S.W. of Morelia in a fertile valley of the Rio de las Balsas basin.

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