Tlaxiaco - The City

The City

The city of Tlaxiaco stands at 17°16’N, 97°41’W, at 2040 metres above sea level, some 180 kilometres to the northeast of state capital Oaxaca de Juárez. To the north the municipality borders with Santiago Nundiche; to the south with San Antonio Sinicahua, San Miguel El Grande, San Esteban Atatlahuca, Santa Cruz Nundaco, Santo Tomás Ocotepec, and Putla Villa de Guerrero; to the east with Santa María del Rosario, Santa Catarina Tayata, San Cristobal Amoltepec, and Magdalena Peñasco; and to the west with San Juan Mixtepec. The municipality covers a total surface area of 343.2 km².

Tlaxiaco is located in temperate valley, surrounded by two mountains belonging to the Sierra Mixteca: Cerro Negro and Cerro Yucuninu, the latter of which is the highest point in the municipality at 2875 above sea level. Like most of the Mixteca region, the Tlaxiaco valley is drained by the Río Balsas system, which is fed by numerous small streams that rise in the hills near the municipal seat.

The climate is subhumid temperate, with a rainy reason in the summer. The average annual temperature is 18°C, although in winter temperatures can drop to zero or below. Unlike other areas in the Mixteca region, the Tlaxiaco valley and its surrounding mountains still possess some conifer forests, inhabited by species including deers, armadillos, rabbits, and other small mammals.

XETLA, a government-run indigenous community radio station, is based in Tlaxiaco.

The city's Santa María Asunción church is notable for a number of colonial-era santos (statues of saints).