Colima - WikiHQ

Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 federated entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.

Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the central Pacific coast, and includes the four oceanic Revillagigedo Islands. Mainland Colima shares borders with the states of Jalisco and Michoacán. In addition to the capital city of Colima, the main cities are Manzanillo, Villa de Alvarez and Tecomán. Colima is the fourth smallest state in Mexico and has the smallest population, but has one of Mexico's highest standards of living and the lowest unemployment. It is also the state with the highest murder rate per capita and one of the highest crime rates, due to its ports being a contested area for cartels.

Geography

thumb|left|View of the volcanoes from Carrizalillos Lake

thumb|left|La Audiencia Beach in Manzanillo

The state covers a territory of 5,455 km<sup>2</sup> and is the fourth smallest federal entity after Tlaxcala, Morelos and the Federal District of Mexico City, containing only 0.3% of the country's total territory. The state is in the middle of Mexico's Pacific coast, bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the states of Jalisco and Michoacán.

Colima's territory includes the Revillagigedo Islands—Socorro, San Benedicto, Clarión, and Roca Partida. These are under federal jurisdiction but are considered part of the municipality of Manzanillo.

The state is in an offshoot of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range and geographically consists of four mountain systems. The most important of these is the Cerro Grande and its related peaks of Jurípicho-Juluapan, Los Juanillos, La Astilla, El Ocote, El Peón, El Barrigón, San Diego, and La Media Luna. The second consists of mountain chains parallel to the coast between the Marabasco and Armería Rivers, which include El Espinazo del Diablo, El Escorpión, El Tigre, El Aguacate, El Centinela, El Tora and La Vaca. The third is located between the Armería and Salado Rivers and includes the Alcomún y Partida, San Miguel y Comala and San Gabriel/Callejones peaks. The last is between the Salado and Naranjo or Coahuayana Rivers and contains small mountain chains such as the Piscila, Volcancillos, La Palmera, El Camichín and Copales. Three quarters of the state is covered by mountains and hills. The last major eruptions of the Colima Volcano occurred in 1998 and 1999.

The main rivers of the state are the Cihuatlán River, also called the Chacala, Marabasco, or Paticajo, which forms the state's border with Jalisco on the west; the Armería, which descends from the Sierra de Cacoma and crosses the state north–south into the Pacific, and the Coahuayana River, which forms Colima's eastern border with Michoacán. The Salado is another important river, which flows entirely within Colima before emptying into the Coahuayana. Many of the state's streams and arroyos empty into the Salado.

Coastal lagoons include the Potrero Grande in Manzanillo along with the Miramar and the San Pedrito. On the Tecomán municipality coast there are the lagoons of Alcuzahua and Amela, with the Cuyutlán lagoon split between the municipalities of Armería and Manzanillo. Inland, there are various fresh water lakes, with the larger ones near the coast and smaller ones in the Valley of Colima. The valley lakes are fed by the runoff from the Colima Volcano and include the Carrizalillo, Las Cuatas, El Jabalí, El Calaboso, La María and La Escondida.

| list_by_pop =

| div_name =

| div_link = Municipalities of ColimaMunicipality

| city_6 = Coquimatlán| div_6 = Coquimatlán| pop_6 = 14,892

| city_7 = Quesería (Colima)Quesería| div_7 = Cuauhtémoc Municipality, ColimaCuauhtémoc| pop_7 = 9,931

| city_8 = Cuauhtémoc, ColimaCuauhtémoc| div_8 =Cuauhtémoc Municipality, ColimaCuauhtémoc| pop_8 = 9,746

| city_9 = El Colomo, Colima El Colomo| div_9 =Manzanillo Municipality, Colima Manzanillo| pop_9 = 9,664

| city_10 = Comala| div_10 = Comala| pop_10 = 9,649