Mexican Political Geography

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Oaxaca

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

Oaxaca city (1990 pop. 212,818), capital of Oaxaca state, S Mexico. The city is officially called Oaxaca de Juárez. Situated in a valley encircled by low mountains, Oaxaca is a commercial and tourist center with gardens and many examples of colonial church architecture. The church and monastery of Santo Domingo de Guzmán is a national monument. Oaxaca is noted for hand-wrought gold and silver filigree, pottery, and sarapes that rank among the finest in Mexico. The city has two museums that feature pre-Hispanic art and a contemporary art museum, and the ancient Zapotec capital of Monte Albán is nearby. There is an annual festival that celebrates indigenous culture. The chief city of S Mexico, Oaxaca is linked with the federal capital by rail and the Inter-American Highway. The city is subject to severe earthquakes.

According to Aztec tradition, Oaxaca was founded as Huasyacac in 1486, during the brief ascendancy of the Aztecs over the Mixtecs and Zapotecs; the present city was laid out by Spanish conquerors in 1529. Prominent in the Mexican revolution against Spain, the city also joined in the War of the Reform and in resistance to the French intervention. Both Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz were born in Oaxaca in the 1800s. During May-Nov., 2006, the city was torn by a bitter protest against Oaxaca state's governor by teachers, leftists, and others and a heavy-handed state response; in October, federal police intervened with force to restore order to the central city.

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Oaxaca

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Oaxaca (officially Oaxaca de Juárez) State capital of Oaxaca, s Mexico. Oaxaca is an agricultural state: coffee is the principal crop. Tourists use the city as a base for exploring archaeological sites, such as Monte Albán. The city is renowned for its jewellery and hand-woven textiles. Founded by the Aztecs, Spain captured Oaxaca in 1521. It played a major role in Mexico's struggle for independence. Pop. (2000) 256,848.

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Oaxaca

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Oaxaca, Mexico A state and a city founded in 1529 on the site of an Aztec military camp established in 1486. The name may be taken from the Nahuatl huaxaca ‘at the place of the acacia’.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Oaxaca." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Oaxaca." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Oaxaca.html

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Oaxaca." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Oaxaca.html

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Oaxaca

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

Oaxaca •alpaca, attacker, backer, clacker, claqueur, cracker, Dhaka, hacker, Hakka, knacker, lacquer, maraca, paca, packer, sifaka, slacker, smacker, stacker, tacker, tracker, whacker, yakka •Kafka •anchor, banker, Bianca, canker, Casablanca, Costa Blanca, flanker, franker, hanker, lingua franca, Lubyanka, rancour (US rancor), ranker, Salamanca, spanker, Sri Lanka, tanka, tanker, up-anchor, wanker •Alaska, lascar, Madagascar, Nebraska •Kamchatka • linebacker • outbacker •hijacker, skyjacker •Schumacher • backpacker •safecracker • wisecracker •nutcracker • firecracker • ransacker •scrimshanker • bushwhacker •barker, haka, Kabaka, Lusaka, marker, moussaka, nosy parker, Oaxaca, Osaka, parka, Shaka, Zarqa •asker, masker •backmarker • waymarker •Becker, checker, Cheka, chequer, Dekker, exchequer, Flecker, mecca, Neckar, Necker, pecker, Quebecker, Rebecca, Rijeka, trekker, weka, wrecker •sepulchre (US sepulcher) • Cuenca •burlesquer, Francesca, Wesker •woodpecker

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Return to Oaxaca.(Travel) Newspaper article from: The Register Guard (Eugene, OR); 2/3/2008
	Oaxaca: the 'Paris of Mexico' delights the senses.(Going Places) Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 5/25/2003
	Oaxaca's guardian angel. (Mexican painter Francisco Toledo) Magazine article from: Town & Country; 2/1/1997