Arriaga is a city

Settlement classification in Mexico

Mexico's states classify their settlements in a variety of fashions:-Aguascalientes:Under Article 106 of the Municipal Law of the State of Aguascalientes, the state defines its settlements as follows:...

 and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas

Municipalities of Chiapas

The Mexican state of Chiapas is divided into 118 municipalities :...

, in southern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 34,032.
It covers an area of 653.3 km² and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 and the neighbouring state of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, as well as by the Chiapas municipalities of Cintalapa

Cintalapa

Cintalapa is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 64,013. It covers an area of 2404.6 km²....

, Jiquipilas

Jiquipilas

Jiquipilas is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 34,937. It covers an area of 1197.3 km²....

, Villaflores and Tonalá.

The name of the city honours Ponciano Arriaga

Ponciano Arriaga

Ponciano Arriaga was a lawyer and politician from San Luis Potosí.Arriaga rose to prominence in the late 1840s and is particularly known for pushing for the equality of people through property rights. Arriaga proposed a law in which the government would confiscate lands from the local hacienda...

, the name given to it upon creation of the municipality on 28 May 1910. It was given city status on 1 December 1943.