User:Ketchupstan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This user page or section is in the middle of an expansion or major revamping.
You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well.
Please view the edit history should you wish to contact the person who placed this template. If this article has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. Consider not tagging with a deletion tag unless the page hasn't been edited in several days.

This is the badass motherfucking header
BOLD
Italics

1 Geography
2 Energy
3 References
4 Further Reading
5 External Links

[edit] Geography

Chiapas is geographically divided into 5 zones. These are the rainforest, the highlands, the central valley, the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, and the Soconusco.

[edit] Rainforest

Main article: Lacandon Jungle

The tropical rainforest of Chiapas, which includes the Selva Lacandona, is quickly being deforested. This is due to population pressures forcing highlanders into the rainforest. These include ladino (Spanish-speaking) landowners, indigenous and mestizo campesinos of the Ch'ol, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal and other groups. Migrants from Chiapas are being joined by Guatemalans fleeing the Civil War. These colonists constantly compete with one another for land, with the campesinos seizing or squatting on claimed land while landowners respond with the military or police. The economic activities of both groups contribute to the massive deforestation of the Lacandón. Rain falling on the forest drains into the Usumicinta river, which forms the border between Chiapas and the Petén department of Guatemala. The river flows into the sea in Tabasco, and deforestation may be a cause of the floods which innundated Villahermosa in 2007^[1]

[edit] Highlands

The Central Highlands have been the population center of Chiapas since the Conquest. European epidemics were hindered by the tierra fría climate, allowing the indigenous peoples in the highlands to retain their large numbers. Indigenous peoples provided labor for Spanish conquistadors, who also heavily settled the highlands. Indigenous highlanders were conscripted into labor service on plantations, drafted into debt servitude, which was so widely practiced that Chiapas earned the illustrious title of "Mexico's slave state" in the late 19th century ^[2]. Since World War Two, the highlands have benefitted from a boom in the energy and petroleum sectors. However, economic growth in these industries did not reach the subsistence farmers of the highlands.^[3] High population and land reform pressured the poor and rich alike to move into the eastern rainforest.

[edit] Central Valley

The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is cut through the middle by the Río Grande de Chiapas, known outside of Chiapas as Río Grijalva. The river flows from southwest to northeast. This area contains six of Chiapas' seven hydroelectric plants. The construction of these dams flooded hundreds of thousands of hectares, making lakes out of former ejido lands. The capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez is located in the Central Valley, which enjoys a roughly tierra templada climate.

[edit] Sierra Madre de Chiapas

Main article: Sierra Madre de Chiapas

A continuation of the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Sierra Madre de Chiapas runs from northwest to southeast along the Pacific Ocean coast. It is extremely volcanic, resulting in high peaks, occasional eruptions and earthquakes, and rich soils. The mountains partially block rain clouds from the Pacific, a process known as Orographic lift, which creates a particularly rich coastal region called the Soconusco.

The largest city in the Soconusco is Tapachula, site of the seventh Chiapaneco hydroelectric plant, José Cecilio del Valle^[4].

[edit] Soconusco

Main article: Soconusco

The Soconusco lies in the southernmost corner of Chiapas. It shares many ties with Guatemala, which claimed the territory until 1882. Since it was a part of the Aztec empire, Soconusco has been known for its agricultural products. Then it was cacao, now the main product is coffee, which is grown on large plantations. These plantations were owned by German-Guatemalans and employed indigenous peoples of the Mam group. The tierra caliente climate of Soconusco allowed plantation agriculture to succeed, and in addition to coffee also grows sugar cane, rice, maize, and plantains.

[edit] Energy

The energy resources of Chiapas include the seven hydroelectric plants on Grijalva and its tributaries and petroleum in the north. six out of these seven are located in the Central Valley, including the Manuel Moreno Torres plant in Chicoasén, the most productive in Mexico. All of the hydroelectric plants are owned and operated by the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE), while the petroleum resources are owned by Petróleos Mexicanos, PEMEX ^[5].

[edit] References

[edit] Further Reading

Benjamin, Thomas. 1996. A Rich Land, a Poor People: Politics and Society in Modern Chiapas. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Benjamin, Thomas. 2000. A Time of Reconquest: History, the Maya Revival, and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas. The American Historical Review 105, no. 2: 417-450. http://www.jstor.org/

Collier, George A. 1994. The Rebellion in Chiapas and the Legacy of Energy Development. Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 10, no. 12: 371-382. http://www.jstor.org/