| Chiapas State
is located at the very southern end of Mexico,
on the Guatemala border. However, its capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez
is located more north than Acapulco because Mexico
is not oriented North-South but East-West. West to Chiapas
State, the American continent narrows to the point of being
only 300 km wide: It is the Téhuantepec Isthmus, the place
where the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans are the closest. At the
north-east of the Isthmus, there is the birthplace of the Zapotec
and Mixtec civilizations : the region of Oaxaca.
The Indians represent about
40% of the population of Chiapas.
The most important are the Tzotziles, the Tzeltales, the Choles,
the Tojolabales and the Zoques. This state is the poorest and the
most rural in Mexico even if it has richness such
as production of coffee, cacao, corn, cotton and cattle. It has
the most important oilfields and gas reserve in Mexico.
The different Governors of the State always supported the cattle
farmers, the wood sellers and the great landlords. They hold the
economic and political power to the detriment of the Indigenous
communities who were given the less productive lands. This was the
reason of the uprising of 1994. This movement was fast hushed up
but the international impact was not insignificant.
 Chiapas
State is surrounded by the States of Oaxaca,
Veracruz, Tabasco and Guatemala at the east. Its surface is 73 887
km2, (eighth place on a national level), with more than 3,600,000
inhabitants (in 2007). This region, like Oaxaca
State, has a tropical climate. However, only Téhuantepec
Isthmus and the coasts have oppressive heat. Most of the cities
were built in the mountains, with a pleasant climate all year long.
"Tropical" means two seasons: a wet season and a dry season
(November -April). On a geographical point of view, Chiapas
State comprises low tropical lands at the north, lands shared
with the states of Tabasco and Campeche.
These low lands, covered by jungle at the east, are inhabited by
the Lacandóns (they
left their original region, the Yucatán,
when the Spanish arrived at the seventeenth century), and oil complexes
of the Reforma. These two regions are parted by high lands, mountains
and plateaus oriented east-west until Guatemala. The fertile central
valley of Chiapas lies south of this plateau. It is itself lined
with the ranges of the Sierra Madré de Chiapas at the south.
The landscapes remind us of both the Rocky Mountains and the Amazon
jungle.
The Chiapas is one of the only
states in the world to possess such big biological diversity. Its
unique fauna and flora and its diverse vegetation, forests and jungle
are part of the big appeals of the region.
You access to the Chiapas either through Oaxaca
State, via the city of Tehuantepec (road 190) on the Pacific
Coast, either through Veracruz State or through the capital of Tabasco,
Villahermosa (293 km). Oaxaca-Tuxtla
: 542 km.
This state was part of Guatemala until a treaty was made at the
late nineteenth century to incorporate it to Mexico.
Tuxtla
Gutiérrez, capital
The
archaeological sites
Tourism
Practical
and useful information
Discovering
celebrations, traditions, craft and gastronomy
Zapatista
movement
The history of the state of Chiapas : 
Map of the state :
 Click
here to display the selection of photos about the state of Chiapas
 
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