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Home › Culture › Travel › Mexico › Chiapas

Chiapas





This southern state, which borders Guatemala, is one of the poorest and most beautiful states of Mexico. Its terrain is very diverse, having mountains, valleys, highlands, dormant and active volcanoes, jungles, undeveloped ocean beaches, rivers, and lakes. The second largest rain forest in the western hemisphere straddles the Chiapas-Guatemala border with up to 300,000 trees in one square mile of the forest. In the mountains near the Pacific Ocean are cloud forests where orchids abound naturally. Chiapas is also unofficially known as “The Orchid State” having over 600 different kinds. In another region, thousands of species of butterflies make their home. Along a river a few miles from the capital city, monkeys, crocodiles, buzzards, and herons can be seen. More than half of the species of plants and animals of Mexico can be found in Chiapas. There are more species of plants in Chiapas than in the U. S. and Canada combined.The capital city is Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which has a population of about 400,000. Near the city, on the Grijalva River, is a canyon where there is a cliff measuring 1000 meters (3300 feet) above the water. During a losing fight for freedom, many native people jumped from this cliff to their deaths rather than be subjugated by the Spanish conquerors.

This state has the highest concentration of native people, mainly Maya, in Mexico. Each village has its particular color and design for clothes, and market days in San Cristóbal can be quite colorful. The poverty of not only the natives but also the Mexicans does not seem to be a priority for the governments, both federal and state. Similar complaints can be heard in the U. S. and Canada about their governments. Within Chiapas, there is a tendency for a class distinction between the Mexicans and the Maya. Any bonds between the two cultures are mainly economic – buying and selling of products. There is also discontent among native villages, based mostly on political ideology and religious preference. Therefore, when any of the villagers accept another denominational belief, there is trouble, with some ultimately paying for their lives. Here, as anywhere in the world, there is no tolerance for individual thinking; and each religious denomination vies for supremacy at the expense of the people. Politics is directly related to religious preferences.

The Zapatista uprising supposedly came about because of a lack of concern for Mayan poverty and land rights. Although there was a siege for five days in 1994 in San Cristóbal, the media have not been entirely accurate or fair in their reporting.

Chiapas produces roughly 30% of the electricity in Mexico and is the third leading producer of petroleum and natural gas. However, there is much untapped mineral wealth in the state. There are few really good roads in Chiapas. There are many archaeological sites, with only a few, such as Palenque, easily accessible by road.




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