Map of Michoacán
Michoacán is a first-level division of Mexico. Its largest mapped city is Morelia, with about 644,306 people in the metropolitan area. The interactive map below is centred on Michoacán, and the tables list its 7 mapped cities along with the lakes, ports, World Heritage Sites nearest to them.
- Cities Mapped
- 7
- Largest City
- Morelia
- Country
- Mexico
Interactive Map of Michoacán
About Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia (formerly called Valladolid). The city was named after José María Morelos, a native of the city and one of the main heroes of the Mexican War of Independence.
Michoacán is located in western Mexico, and has a stretch of coastline on the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. It is bordered by the states of Colima and Jalisco to the west and northwest, Guanajuato to the north, Querétaro to the northeast, the State of México to the east, and Guerrero to the southeast.
The name Michoacán is from Nahuatl Michhuahcān, from michhuah [ˈmit͡ʃwaʔ] 'possessor of fish' and -cān [kaːn] 'place of' and means "place of the fishermen", referring to those who fish on Lake Pátzcuaro. In pre-Hispanic times, the area was the home of the Purépecha Empire, which rivaled the Aztec Empire at the time of Spanish encounter. After the Spanish conquest, the empire became a separate province which became smaller over the colonial period. The state and its residents played a major role in the Mexican War of Independence.
Today, the state is still home to a sizable population of Purépecha people as well as minor populations of Otomi and Nahua.
The economy is based on agriculture, ranching, fishing, mining, and the arts. The major tourism draw for the state is the Lake Pátzcuaro–Tzintzuntzan–Quiroga area, which was the center of the Purépecha Empire; as well as the location of the Tzintzuntzan yácata pyramids. The national and state parks which include the winter grounds of the monarch butterflies (Mariposas Monarca) are located here. Michoacán is known for its Spanish colonial towns.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Michoacán (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Michoacán in Depth
History
The earliest human settlement of the Michoacán region started during the Palaeoindian or Lithic period, pre-dating c. 2500 BC, and carried out by small groups of hunter-gatherers, as evidenced by fluted projectile points and other stone tools found together with remains of mammoths and bison.
Most documentation for this human occupation during this period is from the basin of Lake Chapala, although similar activities also happened in the late Pleistocene lakes of the region, such as Cuitzeo, Zacapu, and maybe Pátzcuaro.
There are barely any known remains of the Archaic period from Michoacán, with preceramic deposits from c. 2500 to c. 2200 BC being attested from the Los Portales Cave in conjunction with waste flakes of basalt and obsidian, one projectile point, and one mano.
Geography
Michoacán is located in west-central Mexico, in the extreme southwest of the central highlands. It borders the states of Jalisco, Guerrero, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Querétaro, and Colima, with a 217 km (135 mi) coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The state has a territory of 58,836.95 km2 (22,717.07 sq mi), making it the sixteenth-largest in Mexico (exactly at the midpoint among Mexican states in area). It also has 1,490 km2 (580 sq mi) of marine territory off its Pacific coast.
The state is crossed by the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Inter-mountain Valleys region.
Economy
The economy of the state is based on agriculture, ranching, forest products, fishing and crafts. Most of the population is employed in three sectors: agriculture (34%), mining and manufacturing (23%), and commerce (37%).
Agriculture occupies over a million hectares of land in the state or 20% of the land area. Three-fifths of this agriculture occurs only during the rainy season. Irrigation farming is restricted to areas such as the Apatzingán Valley, the Bajío area of Michoacán, the Zamora Valley and some others. Principal crops include corn, sorghum, avocados, strawberries, peaches, wheat, limes, sugar cane and mangos. While corn accounts for 43% of the crops harvested, Michoacán is the largest producer of avocados in Mexico and in the world.
Demographics
Michoacán is the seventh most populated state in Mexico and the average resident has a life expectancy of 73.3 years. It is estimated that each year about 40,000 people immigrate to the state while 78,000 leave, leading to population loss. Of those who leave, about one third go to other places in Mexico and the rest to other countries, principally the United States. The cities with the densest populations are Morelia, Uruapan and Zamora. The majority of the population are mestizos; meaning that they are part indigenous, part European (mainly from Spain), and some African. Michoacán is one of the most Catholic regions in Mexico.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Michoacán (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Michoacán: Key Facts
| Population | 4,584,471 (2015) |
|---|---|
| Area | 58,599 km² |
| Capital | Morelia |
| Established | 12 December 1823 |
Facts from Wikidata Q79861 (CC0).
History of Michoacán: Empires and States
The atlas records 6 polities whose mapped territory included part of Michoacán, from Michoacán in 1429 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here |
|---|---|
| Michoacán | 1429–1533 CE |
| The Spanish Empire | 1534–1821 CE |
| Mexicans | 1811–1819 CE |
| Federated Republic of Mexico | 1824–1864 CE |
| Centralist Mexico | 1836–1845 CE |
| Mexico | 1868–2024 CE |
Historical Maps of Michoacán
Michoacán on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Largest Cities in Michoacán
7 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morelia | 644,306 | Michoacán | Admin-1 capital |
| 2 | Uruapan | 264,531 | Michoacán | Populated place |
| 3 | Zamora | 214,947 | Michoacán | Populated place |
| 4 | Lázaro Cárdenas | 160,087 | Michoacán | Populated place |
| 5 | Apatzingán | 98,422 | Michoacán | Populated place |
| 6 | Ciudad Hidalgo | 64,154 | Michoacán | Populated place |
| 7 | Coalcoman | 10,715 | Michoacán | Populated place |
Largest Lakes in Michoacán
1 lake mapped. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Surface Area | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Presa del Infiernillo | 832 km² | Reservoir |
Ports in Michoacán
1 port mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Channel Depth | Class | Sea | Max Vessel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lazaro Cardenas | 38.4 m | Small | Pacific Coast of North & Central America | large vessels |
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Michoacán
2 World Heritage Sites mapped. Listed by year of inscription, earliest first. Sites shared with another country appear under each. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Inscribed | Type | Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Historic Centre of Morelia | 1991 | Cultural | (ii) (iv) (vi) |
| 2 | Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve | 2008 | Natural | (vii) |
Michoacán: Quick Answers
- Where is Michoacán?
- Michoacán is a first-level division of Mexico, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 19.2333° N, 101.9728° W.
- What is the largest city in Michoacán?
- Morelia is the largest city mapped in Michoacán, with a metropolitan population of about 644,306.
- How many cities are in Michoacán?
- YearMaps maps 7 cities and towns in Michoacán, with a combined metropolitan population of about 1.46 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.
- What is the largest lake in Michoacán?
- The largest lake mapped in or beside Michoacán is Presa del Infiernillo, at about 832 km².