29 Facts About Chiapas

Chiapas is the southernmost state in Mexico, and it borders the states of Oaxaca to the west, Veracruz to the northwest, and Tabasco to the north, and the Peten, Quiche, Huehuetenango, and San Marcos departments of Guatemala to the east and southeast.

Chiapas has a significant coastline on the Pacific Ocean to the southwest.

Recent excavations in the Soconusco region of the state indicate that the oldest civilization to appear in what is modern Chiapas is that of the Mokaya, which were cultivating corn and living in houses as early as 1500 BCE, making them one of the oldest in Mesoamerica.

The first contact between Spaniards and the people of Chiapas came in 1522, when Hernan Cortes sent tax collectors to the area after Aztec Empire was subdued.

Chiapas advocated adapting the teaching of Christianity to indigenous language and culture.

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In 1821, a number of cities in Chiapas, starting in Comitan, declared the state's separation from the Spanish empire.

The State of Chiapas was officially declared in 1824, with its first constitution in 1826.

Universidad Pontificia y Literaria de Chiapas was founded in 1826, with Mexico's second teacher's college founded in the state in 1828.

Chiapas changed state policies to favor foreign investment, favored large land mass consolidation for the production of cash crops such as henequen, rubber, guayule, cochineal and coffee.

Chiapas supported and worked with Marist priests and nuns following an ideology called liberation theology.

Chiapas is still considered isolated and distant from the rest of Mexico, both culturally and geographically.

Chiapas is located in the south east of Mexico, bordering the states of Tabasco, Veracruz and Oaxaca with the Pacific Ocean to the south and Guatemala to the east.

Lacandon Jungle is situated in north eastern Chiapas, centered on a series of canyonlike valleys called the Canadas, between smaller mountain ridges oriented from northwest to southeast.

Chiapas is located in the tropical belt of the planet, but the climate is moderated in many areas by altitude.

Chiapas's rainforests are home to thousands of animals and plants, some of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Chiapas is ranked second in forest resources in Mexico with valued woods such as pine, cypress, Liquidambar, oak, cedar, mahogany and more.

Chiapas has one of the greatest diversities in wildlife in the Americas.

Chiapas has about thirty percent of Mexico's fresh water resources.

Four of Chiapas's indigenous languages, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal and Chol, are high-vitality languages, meaning that a high percentage of these ethnicities speak the language and that there is a high rate of monolingualism in it.

The concept of "mestizo" or mixed indigenous European heritage became important to Mexico's identity by the time of Independence, but Chiapas has kept its indigenous identity to the present day.

Chiapas Ch'ols are closely related to the Chontal in Tabasco as well.

Those who live in Chiapas are referred to locally as the "Mexican Mam " to differentiate them from those in Guatemala.

However, unlike many other migrant workers, most indigenous in Chiapas have remained strongly tied to their home communities.

Oil production began during the 1980s and Chiapas has become the fourth largest producer of crude oil and natural gas among the Mexican states.

Chiapas opened its first assembly plant in 2002, a fact that highlights the historical lack of industry in this area.

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Chiapas is one of the states that produces a wide variety of handcrafts and folk art in Mexico.

Unlike many other states, Chiapas has a wide variety of wood resources such as cedar and mahogany as well as plant species such as reeds, ixtle and palm.

Art in Chiapas is based on the use of color and has strong indigenous influence.

Puerto Chiapas serves to import and export products across the Pacific to Asia, the United States, Canada and South America.