Nopaltepec is a village and municipality in Mexico State, 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...

. It is about 250 km from Toluca

Toluca

Toluca, formally known as Toluca de Lerdo, is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the...

 the state capital. The name comes from Náhuatl

Nahuatl

Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...

 meaning "on nopal

Nopal

Nopales are a vegetable made from the young cladode segments of prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the spines. These fleshy pads are flat and about hand-sized. They can be purple or green...

 (paddle cactus) hill". It was originally called "Santa María de la Asunción Nopaltepec" but after 1960, only Nopaltepec has been used.

The village

The village begins to appear in records around 1603 though villages in this area have existed since pre-Hispanic times. The village officially becomes the municipal seat in 1872. In 1901 the Parish of Nopaltepec is established and was expanded in 1932. The village had a population of 3,224 in 2005.

The municipality

As municipal seat, the village of Nopaltepec has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Ex-hacienda la Puerta, San Felipe Teotitlán, San Miguel Atepoxco, Santa Inés Amiltepec, Ex-hacienda de Tepatepec, Colonia Venta de Cruz, Las Ambrises, and Rancho San Felipe (Moratepec).

The municipality has 87.94 square km of territory and a total population of 8,182 as of 2005. It is bordered by the municipality of Axapusco

Axapusco

Axapusco is a town and municipality, in Mexico State in Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 260.01 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 21,915...

 and the state of Hidalgo.

The municipality is principally rural, mainly flat plateau with small elevations. With no lakes or rivers, all water supplies come from underground aquifers. Its flora is adapted to its semi-arid climate and include: pirúl, mezquite, licorice root, sweet acacia, date palm

Date Palm

The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...

, maguey, various varieties of nopal

Nopal

Nopales are a vegetable made from the young cladode segments of prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the spines. These fleshy pads are flat and about hand-sized. They can be purple or green...

 eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

, camphor

Camphor

Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...

, pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

, trueno, mimosa

Mimosa

Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word μιμος , meaning "mimic."...

, ash tree

Ash tree

Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...

, and ornamental palms. Wild fauna include: rabbits, hares, squirrels, skunks, cacomixtle, tlacuache, chachahuate, lizards, cencuate, trout, rattlesnakes, linger and scorpions. Agriculture is the primary economic activity with the production of cactus fruit, pulque

Pulque

Pulque, or octli, is a milk-colored, somewhat viscous alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant, and is a traditional native beverage of Mexico. The drink’s history extends far back into the Mesoamerican period, when it was considered sacred, and its use was limited to...

 and basic grains for auto-consumption. There is some fish-farming here as well. There is almost no livestock here and only a few home-based workshops producing clothing, plastic items, plumbing, and metalworks.

The villages of this area in the pre-Hispanic era, were dominated by the Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...

 culture. Around 1134, the Chichimeca

Chichimeca

Chichimeca was the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico and southwestern United States, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian"...

s migrated here from what is now the north of Mexico, taking over these same villages. What now the municipality was part of the dominion of Xaltoca around 1200 and when this lord fell, the kind Xolotl

Xolotl

In Aztec mythology, Xolotl was the god with associations to both lightning and death.Although often depicted in relation to the underworld, Xolotl was not a psychopomp in the Western sense. Xolotl did, however, aid the dead on their journey to Mictlan, the afterlife in some myths.Xolotl was also...

 consolidated this area along with Teotitln, Atepoxco as well as other villages that existed at the time. During the Aztec empire, this was part of the Acolhua

Acolhua

The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others....

 region. After the Conquest, this area became part of the "alcaldia mayor" (lit. major mayorship) of Otompan

Otompan

Otompan or Otumba was a pre-Columbian altepetl or city-state in the upper Teotihuacan Valley...

 and would remain so through the 18th century. The municipality would not be officially declared until 1871 with th ename of Santa María de la Asunción Nopaltepec.

The Battle of Venta de Cruz took place here in 1816 as part of the Mexican War of Independence

Mexican War of Independence

The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...

.