Municipalities of Oaxaca

Map of Mexico with Oaxaca highlighted
Map of Mexico with Oaxaca highlighted
Regions and districts of Oaxaca
Regions and districts of Oaxaca

Oaxaca is a state in Southern Mexico that is divided into 570 municipalities, more than any other state in Mexico.[1][2] According to Article 113 of the state's constitution, the municipalities are grouped into 30 judicial and tax districts to facilitate the distribution of the state's revenues. It is the only state in Mexico with this particular judicial and tax district organization.[3][4] Oaxaca is the tenth most populated state with 4,132,148 inhabitants as of the 2020 Mexican census and the fifth largest by land area spanning 93,757.6 square kilometres (36,200.0 sq mi).[1][5]

Municipalities in Oaxaca have some administrative autonomy from the state according to the 115th article of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico.[6] Every three years, citizens elect a municipal president (Spanish: presidente municipal) by a plurality voting system who heads a concurrently elected municipal council (ayuntamiento) responsible for providing all the public services for their constituents. The municipal council consists of a variable number of trustees and councillors (regidores y síndicos).[7] Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, and the maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries.[8] They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1984, they have had the power to collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own income.[8]

The largest municipality by population as of the 2020 census is Oaxaca de Juárez, seat of the state capital, with 270,955 residents (6.55% of the state's total), while the smallest is Santa Magdalena Jicotlán with 81 residents, the least populated municipality in Mexico.[1] The largest municipality by land area is Santa María Chimalapa which spans 4,547.10 km2 (1,755.65 sq mi), and the smallest is Natividad with 2.20 km2 (0.85 sq mi), also the smallest municipality by area in Mexico.[5] The newest municipality is Chahuites, established in 1949.[9]

  1. ^ a b c "Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020 - SCITEL" (in Spanish). INEGI. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  2. ^ "Panorama de los Municipios en México" [Panorama of the Municipalities in Mexico]. www.fenamm.org.mx (in Spanish). Federación Nacional de Municipios de México. 2022. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "Political Constitution of the State of Oaxaca" (PDF) (in Spanish). Government of the State of Oaxaca. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  4. ^ Jorge Hernández-Díaz & Víctor Leonel Juan Martínez (2007). Dilemas de la institución municipal. Una incursión en la experiencia oaxaqueña (PDF) (in Spanish). Mexico: Porrúa. p. 48. ISBN 978-970-701-932-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2021-02-28 – via Biblioteca Legislativa de la Cámara de Diputados.
  5. ^ a b "México en cifras - Medio Ambiente - Nayarit" (in Spanish). INEGI. January 2016. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  6. ^ Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (Article 115) (in Spanish). 1917. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Archived February 21, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ OECD (November 12, 2004). New Forms of Governance for Economic Development. OECD Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 9264015329. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Mexico Company Laws and Regulations Handbook. International Business Publications. 2009. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-4330-7030-3.
  9. ^ Estado de Oaxaca División Territorial de 1810 a 1995 (PDF) (in Spanish). Mexico: INEGI. 1996. ISBN 970-13-1507-3.