Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala, is one of the 32 federal entities that comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipalities and the capital city and the largest city is Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl.

It is located in east-central Mexico, in the altiplano region, with the eastern portion dominated by the Sierra Madre Oriental.

The state is named after its capital, Tlaxcala, which was also the name of the prehispanic polity. The Tlaxcaltec people allied themselves with the Spanish to defeat the Aztecs, with concessions from the Spanish that allowed the territory to remain mostly intact throughout 300 years of colonial period. After Mexican Independence, Tlaxcala was declared a federal territory, until 1857 when it was admitted as a state of the federation.

Most of the state's economy is based on agriculture, light industry and tourism. The tourist industry is rooted in Tlaxcala's long history with major attractions being archeological sites such as Cacaxtla and colonial constructions in and around Tlaxcala City.

Name

The name Tlaxcala pre-dates the state by centuries; it derives from the name of the capital city, which was also used to denote the territory controlled by this city in pre-Hispanic times. According to some historians, the name comes from an ancient word (), which meant 'crag'; however, an alternative etymology stems from the Nahuatl word which means 'place of corn tortillas'. The Aztec glyph that referred to this place has both elements, two green hills and two hands holding a corn tortilla.

Natural geography and climate

thumb|View of the La Malinche volcano

Tlaxcala is a land-locked state situated on the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The average altitude for the state is 2,230 meters above sea level, making it a bit higher than the Valley of Mexico just to the southwest. Most of the state is rugged terrain dominated by ridges and deep valleys, along with protruding igneous rock formations. Variations in altitude produce sub-climates between semi-tropical to temperate, with frosts likely in the higher elevations during the winter. Although the state has 15 dams and 483 wells to provide water for agriculture, 88% of the state's agriculture is dependent on the summer rainy season, leaving it vulnerable to climatic phenomena such as El Niño or La Niña.

Most commercial activity in the state occurs in the municipalities of Apizaco, Chiautempan, Tlaxcala, Huamantla, San Pablo del Monte and Zacatelco. In the last economic census in 2003, INEGI registered 21,307 commercial establishments in the state, most of these being small individually or family-owned enterprises. There are also fifty-nine tianguis (tent markets which are movable), seventeen municipal markets, eleven malls, twenty-six department stores and fourteen commercial centers of other types.

In addition, the state is an important link between Mexico's major eastern port, Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico City, in the interior. Tlaxcala's major attractions are the archaeological sites of Cacaxtla, Xochitécatl and Tizatlán, and probably reached its peak between 600 and 800 A.D. There is evidence that occupation of the sites extends much further back in time than the early city's known habitation. The ceremonial center is situated on a hill with four main structures called "The Spiral Building," "The Volcano Base," "The Serpent Pyramid" and "The Flower Pyramid." The last is the most important, and is topped by two monolithic pillars. The main attractions here are the murals, painted with pigments sourced from local minerals. Some of the best works include the Scorpion Man at the Venus Temple, Cacaxtli with corn plant at the Red Temple, the Battle Mural (which is 22 meters long, portraying 48 human figures), and the Bird Man and the Jaguar Man found in "Porch A." Just about every municipality has colonial-era structures such as churches, municipal palaces and plazas but the best examples are in and around the city of Tlaxcala. Many other festivals are in the state, many of which display the state's long tradition of bullfighting. Here one can camp, mountain bike, horseback ride, rappel and climb the volcano itself. At the peak of La Malinche, it is possible to see the volcanos of Popocatépetl, Iztaccíhuatl (in Puebla/Mexico State) and Pico de Orizaba (Veracruz). Roots of the practice of sex trafficking date back to the 1960s. An unnamed Mexican charity told the BBC that it estimated of the 10,000 inhabitants of Tenancingo, 1,000 are sex traffickers. Sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and pimping are a major source of income for the town, although an exact dollar amount is not known. These practices have been denounced by three NGOs. Modern-day investigations (as well as the 2014 documentary "Pimp City: A Journey to the Center of the Sex Trade") by the US Department of Justice have revealed Tenancingo to be a hub for providing female sex slaves to the United States. According to the documentary, the entire political structure and police force of the town are implicated in human trafficking and the sex trade.

Demographics

When Hernán Cortés and the Spanish landed on the Veracruz coast, they were greeted by the Totonacas, who were a subject people of the Aztecs and saw the Spanish as a way to free themselves of rule from Tenochtitlan. They allied with the Spanish, and when Cortés decided to go inland to Tenochtitlan, the Totonacas guided them to other subject peoples who would be willing to ally with them, including and especially the Tlaxcalans. However, after entering Tlaxcalan territory, the Spanish were met by a hostile Tlaxcalan force of 30,000. The Tlaxcalans fought the Spanish and their indigenous allies in a number of battles, with the Spanish inflicting heavy casualties on the Tlaxcalans despite their superior numbers. The Spaniards' prowess in battle impressed the Tlaxcalan King Xīcohtēncatl Āxāyacatzin, who then not only allowed the Spanish to pass through his territory, but also invited them into the capital city of Tlaxcala. He particularly focused on ways that the Tlaxcalans shaped the polity's history for its own advantage, and how the four-part organization of the polity was maintained during the early colonial era. A particularly important source for the early colonial history of Tlaxcala is a set of records in the indigenous language of Nahuatl, now published as The Tlaxcalan Actas. These town council records are a type of indigenous language source used by scholars in the field known as the New Philology. James Lockhart drew on these materials in his study The Nahuas After the Conquest For the most part, the Spanish kept their promise to the Tlaxcalans.

Post-independence era

After victory in the Mexican War of Independence and the end of the First Mexican Empire with the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, on November 24, 1824, Tlaxcala was declared a federal territory, Tlaxcala Territory. Tlaxcala was finally admitted as a state of the federation on December 9, 1856.

Education

The formal state educational system of the state accommodates only 53% of eligible schoolchildren. Almost all of the rest are schooled in pre-schools, indigenous educational systems and other centers. Primary and secondary education is mostly provided by the state Secretary of Education. Indigenous education is a system of preschools and primary schools which meet the cultural demands of indigenous populations of the state. These are largely located in the municipalities of Ixtenco, Contla de Juan C., San Pablo del Monte, Teolocholco, Tetlanohcan and la Magdalena.

High school and vocational education is provided by state school systems named CBTIS, CETIS, CECYTE, CBTA, COBAT, and CONALEP. Most of these schools are of the vocational type. Higher education is provided by both public and prívate institutions, with the most important of these being the Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala (UAT), which also offers the widest range of majors. Other public universities and colleges include the Instituto Tecnológico de Apizaco, Instituto Tecnológico Agropecuario de Xocoyucan, Escuela Normal Estatal Lic. Benito Juárez, and the Universidad Tecnológica de Tlaxcala. Private institutions include the Universidad del Valle, Universidad de Calpulalpan, Instituto Tecnológico de Tlaxcala and UPAEP Tlaxcala.

See also

  • Estado de México

Notes

References

  • Government of the State of Tlaxcala