TravelChiapas.com
Title
Chiapas Mexico Travel Information : TravelChiapas.com
Description
1. Chiapas has one of the largest and most diverse indigenous populations with approximately 959,066 indigenous language speakers over the age of five, or 27% of the state’s population. It is home to nine major ethnicities and was a center of Mayan Empire with ceremonial city centers in Palenque and Yaxchilán. However, it is second only to Oaxaca in both indigenous population size and that population’s marginality in terms of socio-economic development. Ironically, Chiapas is also one of the states with the most diverse resource base, and the generator of 35% of Mexico’s electricity through hydropower. The history of Chiapas indigenous peoples is different from other parts of Mexico in that much of the state was a frontier, that has only recently been settled and freed from a long period of relatively lawless exploitation by diverse interests. It is only in the highlands that indigenous territories were left alone. Elsewhere, many indigenous communities had their territories expropriated to establish commercial estates and were either converted to indentured labor or fled to frontier areas to create new settlements. With colonization has come a number of indigenous populations from neighboring states with different traditions and customs.
Methodology
2. The state-level profile included an extensive secondary literature survey of census records and ethnographies combined with new field work by CIESAS anthropologists who have spent many years researching Chiapas. The state-level profile provides detailed information on the Lacandon Maya (Hach Winik), Tojolabal and Mam groups. An in-depth monograph provides information on the Tzotzil and Tzeltal in the Altos region.
3. Demographic Movements. The demographic trends in Chiapas are both complex and dynamic. There are 111 municipalities in the state, 99 of them with indigenous populations. . The main indigenous groups in Chiapas in descending population order are Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Ch’ol, Mam, Tojolabal, Zoques, Kanjobal, and Mayas Lacandones (Hach Winik). The most populated regions of Chiapas are the Altos and the Centro which include the capital of San Cristobal de las Casas and Tuxla Gutierrez and the region of Soconusco, an area known for its coffee plantations. Most of the indigenous population is in the Altos and Selva regions even though there has been much movement of population into other regions. The Tzeltal and Tzotzil live mainly in Altos and the Selva and have expanded west and south. The Ch’ol have lived in the Selva and have expanded to the south, the Mam have lived in Fronteriza, Sierra, and Soconusco and have expanded to the Selva, and the Tojolabal have lived in Fronteriza and expanded to the Selva. The mestizo population also makes up 65% of the total population, according to INI estimates.
Languages
English
Contact
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