Yautepec is a municipality located in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The municipal seat is the city of Yautepec de Zaragoza.[1] It stands at 18°53′N 99°04′W / 18.883°N 99.067°W.
The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Yautepec. In the 2020 census the municipality had a population of 105,780,[2] the fifth-largest community in the state in population (after Cuernavaca, Jiutepec, Cuautla, and Temixco). The municipality, which has an area of 203 km2 (78 sq mi) reported 102,690 inhabitants in the 2015 census.[3] Yautepec de Zaragoza had 44,353 inhabitants in 2020.[2]
Other large towns in the municipality are La Joya (population 14,126), Cocoyoc (population 10,178), Oaxtepec (population 7,097), Los Arcos (San Carlos) (population 5,736), Oacalco (population 2,543), Lázaro Cárdenas (El Empalme) (population 1,503), Itzamatitlán (population 1,366), Corral Grande (population 1,189), San Isidro (population 1,153), Ignacio Bastida (Santa Catarina Tlayca) (population 1,119), and La Nopalera (population 1,005).[2]
Yautepec, has its etymological roots derived from Yautli: Bright-colored plant with an aniseed flavor and yellow flowers in bouquets that indigenous people used for cleansing baths; Tepe-tl: (hill) and "k" contraction of Ko: (adverb of place); it means "On the hill of the pericón flower" in English.[4] President Benito Juarez changed the name from La villa de Yautepec de Gómez Farías to Yautepec de Zaragoza (of Zaragoza) in 1869 in honor of General Ignacio Zaragoza,[5] the general who had led the Cinco de Mayo, 1862, victory over the invading French forces in Puebla.[6]