Zacatepec, Morelos
Zacatepec de Hidalgo (Zacatepec from the Nahuatl Zacatl meaning grass and tepetl meaning hill, thus loosely meaning "grassy hill") is a town in the state of Morelos, Mexico. It is bordered by Puente de Ixtla, Tlaltizapán, Tlaquiltenango and Jojutla. Miguel Hidalgo was the priest whose call to arms on September 16, 1810, led to the Mexican War of Independence.
Zacatepec
Zacatepec de Hidalgo | |
|---|---|
Town and Municipality | |
View of a Zacatepec de Hidalgo street lined with palm trees, with the sugar mill in the distance | |
| Country | Mexico |
| State | Morelos |
| Municipality | December 25, 1938 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • President | Olivia Ramírez Lamadrid (Panal) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2,853 km2 (1,102 sq mi) |
| • Water | 84 km2 (32 sq mi) |
| • Agriculture | 1,175 km2 (454 sq mi) |
| • Industrial | 806 km2 (311 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 917 m (3,009 ft) |
| Population (2015) | |
| • Total | 36,159 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (Central Zone) |
| Postal code | 62780, 62785 |
| Area code | 734 |
The town serves as the local seat for the government, with which it shares the name. The municipality reported 36,159 inhabitants in the 2015 census.
The main industry in the town and its surrounding countryside is that of sugar cane cultivation and processing. The most noticeable feature of the town is the sugar mill located in its center and during operating hours the air of the settlement is laden with the sickly-sweet smell of sugar.
Students come from surrounding parts of Morelos to study at the public university, the Instituto Tecnológico de Zacatepc, which is located on a site adjacent to the sugar mill.