Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/273





State, which includes the national capital and the federal district, lies between 16° 34' and 21° 7' of north latitude and 100°, 17, '30" and 105°, 7', 30" W. longitude from Paris. It is bounded, west by the States of Guanajuato and Michoacan; south-west by the shores of the Pacific for 87 leagues; north by Queretaro; east by Puebla; and north-east by Vera Cruz. Its greatest breadth from east to west, from Chilapa on the boundaries of Puebla, to the haven of Zacatula, is, 104 leagues, and its extreme length from north to south, from Berdosas on the confines of Vera Cruz, to the west coast in the neighborhood of Acapulco and the boundary of Puebla in that direction, is, 124 leagues. The area of the State is 5,842 square leagues, more than two-thirds of which are covered with mountains and spurs of mountains, interspersed with vallies lying between 6,500 and 7,500 feet above the level of the sea. The Nevada de Toluca is the only mountain of extraordinary elevation in the State of Mexico, which breaks the uniformity of its lofty table lands. Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, on the eastern limit of the Valley of Mexico, belong, it will be recollected, to the State of Puebla.

The political divisions consist of eight districts, with 38 partidos, or cantons, and 183 ayuntimientos or municipalities, subdivided into about 450 cities, towns and villages, as well as into a great number of haciendas, and minor dependencies.

1st. The district of Acapulco, with the cantons of Acapulco, Técpan. Chilapa, Tixtla, and 13 municipalities.