Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-central Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the north and east, Hidalgo, México, Tlaxcala and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south. The origins of the state lie in the city of Puebla, which was founded by the Spanish in this valley in 1531 to secure the trade route between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz. By the end of the 18th century, the area had become a colonial province with its own governor, which would become the State of Puebla, after the Mexican War of Independence in the early 19th century. Since that time the area, especially around the capital city, has continued to grow economically, mostly through industry, despite being the scene of a number of battles, the most notable of which being the Battle of Puebla. Today, the state is one of the most industrialized in the country, but since most of its development is concentrated in Puebla and other cities, many of its rural areas are undeveloped.
The state is home to the china poblana, mole poblano, active literary and arts scenes, and festivals such as Cinco de Mayo, Ritual of Quetzalcoatl, Day of the Dead celebrations (especially in Huaquechula) and Carnival (especially in Huejotzingo). It is home to five major indigenous groups: Nahuas, the Totonacs, the Mixtecs, the Popolocas and the Otomi, which can mostly be found in the far north and the far south of the state.
Geography
The state is in the central highlands of Mexico between the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Madre Oriental. It has a triangular shape with its narrow part to the north. It borders the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Morelos, State of Mexico, Tlaxcala and Hidalgo. The state occupies 33,919 km<sup>2</sup>, ranking 20th of 31 states in size, and has
4,930 named communities.
Mountains
Most of the mountains of Puebla belong to the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The first is locally called the Sierra Norte del Puebla, entering the state from the northwest and then breaks up into the smaller chains of Sierra de Zacapoaxtla, Sierra de Huauchinango, Sierra de Teziutlán, Sierra de Tetela de Ocampo, Sierra de Chignahuapan and Sierra de Zacatlán, although these names may vary among localities. Some of the highest elevations include Apulco, Chichat, Chignahuapan, Soltepec and Tlatlaquitepec. The highest elevations are the volcanoes Pico de Orizaba or Citlaltepetl (5,747masl), Popocatépetl (5,452masl), Iztaccíhuatl (5,286masl) and Malinche (4,461masl) which are found on the state's borders with Veracruz, Mexico State and Tlaxcala respectively. In the south of the state, the major elevations are the Sierra de Atenahuacán, Zapotitlán, Lomerio al Suroeste and the Sierra de Tehuacán. Dividing much of the state from Veracruz is a small chain of mountains called the Sierra Madre del Golfo.
Natural attractions
thumb|View from the summit of Pico de Orizaba
Natural attractions in the state include the Bosque Mesófilos de la Sierra Madre Oriental in the north of the state, Piedras Encimadas Valley, Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National Park, La Malinche National Park, and the Pico de Orizaba National Park. The best known wilderness area is the Izta-Popo National park, which the state shares with neighboring State of Mexico. It is located only west of the state capital and the two often snow covered volcanoes are easily visible from this area, and important to the state culturally. The park is an area protected by the federal government because of its biological diversity and considered to be the "lungs" of the area due to its forests. Access to the park, especially to the volcanoes themselves is more restricted than in the past due to past ecological damage. Even further restrictions are put into place when the Popocatepetl volcano is active. However, the park has numerous hiking and horse paths in the forests that cover the lower elevations. On the slopes, there are many small caves, which in pre-Hispanic times were often used for ceremonies.
The Sierra Madre Oriental, locally called the Sierra Norte, is a series of rugged mountains covered in abundant vegetation, which has had an isolating effect on the people here over the centuries. The Valle de Piedras Encimadas (Valley of the Stacked Stones) is located near the town of Zacatlán. It is really a series of small valleys covering 400 hectares filled with conifer forest. The attraction here are the stone formations which resemble stones stacked one over the other which take on numerous forms. Some have been said to resemble objects such as dogs, elephants, human heads and monsters. Most of the area is only accessible by foot or horseback.
In the center of the state, just before the land rises to the north to form the Sierra Norte, there is an area called the Oriental Basin filled with lakes, both with water and dry. The dry lakebeds contain water only during the rainy season, which runs from summer through fall. The two largest are Salado and Totocingo Lakes. The first is seven km long and two km wide and the second is larger. The largest "wet" lakes are Laguna Preciosa, Laguna Quechulac, Laguna de Atexcac and Laguna de Aijojuca.
History
thumb|175px|[[Olmec figurine of Las Bocas]]
Pre-Hispanic period
The territory of the state was one of the first in modern Mexico to be inhabited by humans. Most of the earliest settlements have been found in the valley of Tehuacán, with the oldest near the Agujereado Mountain, which dates back to 10,000 BCE. At this site the oldest sample of corn ever found in the world has been found, which dates back to 1500 BCE. Along with Agujereado Mountain, there are more than 450 prehistoric sites in the Tehuacan Valley alone. Stone tools date to between 6500 and 4900 BCE, and evidence of agriculture to 3500 and 2000 BCE in areas such as Aljojuca, Totimiuacan, Cholula and Izucar. By 900 BCE, there is ample evidence of the cultivation of corn, beans, squash, chili peppers and cotton. The rise of city states was established by 700 BCE.
By the Mesoamerican period, the area was inhabited by a number of ethnicities. The regions of Acatlán and part of Chiautla were dominated by the Mixtecs. Tepexi was dominated by the Popolocas. The central part of the state was dominated by the Olmec-Xicalancas and Nahuas, with strong cultural links to the Toltec-based culture at Cholula. The north was populated by the Totonacs, the Mazatecs and the Otomi, whose cultural center was in El Tajín. In the 14th century, Nonoalca ruler Xelhua, came to dominate almost all of the territory of Puebla. In the 15th century, Aztec domination took over the same area and more. Initially, the center and south areas were under the control of Tenochtitlan with Texcoco dominant in the north. Aztec domination continued until the Spanish Conquest. The Spanish takeover of the Puebla area was relatively easy. Many of the peoples here were under Aztec domination and saw the foreigners as a way to escape. The city was laid out by Hernando de Elgueta, marking out residential areas, commercial areas etc. The city received its royal seal in 1532 but flooding forced the settlement to move across the San Francisco River and start over that same year. The city's (and now state's) seal was granted in 1538.
thumb|right|upright|Former Franciscan monastery at Tecali de Herrera
upright|thumb|right|[[Cuetzalan del Progreso]]
The Franciscans were in charge of the evangelization process in the state, starting from 1524, when they founded the monastery of Huejotzingo. Between 1540 and 1560, they founded others such as those in Tecamachalco, Quecholac, Tecali, Calpan, Cuautinchán, Zacatlán, Cholula, Huaquechula, Tepeaca, Tehuacán, Xalpa and Coatepec. The Augustinians arrived next, constructing monasteries in Chiautla, Chietla, Huatlatlauca, Tlapa, Xicotepec and Papaloticpac. The last of the evangelists were the Dominicans, who built monasteries at Izúcar de Matamoros, Tepapayeca, Huehuatlán and Tepexi. The bishopric was established in 1526. Initially, the seat was in the Yucatán, but it was eventually moved to Tlaxcala, then to Puebla by 1550. Eventually, its extension included the current states of Tlaxcala and Puebla during much of the colonial period. After Independence, the first governor of the state was Carlos García Arriaga in 1821. The first state congress was seated in 1824, with the first state constitution adopted the same year. The new state was divided initially into 21 parts. The Spanish were expelled from the state in 1827. In 1849, the state was reorganized into eight departments and 162 municipalities and again in 1895 with 21 districts and 180 municipalities. Today, Puebla's economic development is centered on its capital. This capital is part of the megalopolis centered on Mexico City.
The 1999 Tehuacán earthquake did major damage to much of state, especially many of its colonial era churches, and the colonial buildings of the historic center of the city of Puebla. The state of Puebla was declared a disaster area.
In the 2000s, organizations such as Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) have accused state governmental officials of restricting and suppressing the press. Some of the threats against reporters have included false arrests and death threats.
More than two years after the 2017 Puebla earthquake when 621 buildings—mostly 16th to 19th-century churches—were damaged in the state, 46 have been restored, 88 are in process, and 380 have not been restored at all.