Oaxaca, Mexico Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mountains

There are five different systems of mountain ranges in the state of Oaxaca, with the major ranges being the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Sierra Atravesada (Sierra de Niltepec), and the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca. There are five peaks over 3,000 meters in the state, with the tallest being Cerro Quiexoba at 3,750 meters.

The mountainous terrain means that the rivers in Oaxaca are not navigable, though some of them, like the Coatzacoalcos River, are navigable in other regions downriver.

Answer: Puerto Escondido

Many tourists visit Puerto Escondido for its beaches. It has become known as the "Mexican Pipeline" and attracts surfers every year for competitions. Additionally, it is often included in lists of the top ten places to surf and lists of places with the best waves.

Puerto Escondido means "Hidden Port", but the name comes from a story that led to the bay to be named la Bahía de la Escondida, or "Bay of the Hidden Woman". According to the legend, Sir Francis Drake's brother, Andrés (Andrew), and his men kidnapped a Mixtec woman. She escaped from them while they were anchored in the area and hid in the jungle. The pirates were never able to find her, and so they began calling her "La Escondida".

Answer: Cool/Continental

Oaxaca experiences a variety of climates due to its mountainous terrain, even though it is located in tropical latitudes. The changes in altitude creates areas of differing climates, which include hot/subtropical climates, semi-hot/semi-humid climates, and temperate/semi-humid climates. Oaxaca's average yearly temperature is 22C (71.6F). Because of its variety of climates, Oaxaca is able to produce a wide range of agricultural products; however, its mountainous terrain limits its agricultural capacity. Even so, Oaxaca's economy is primarily based on agriculture, and its major exports include mango, mescal, and tomatoes.

Answer: Chiapas and Veracruz

The Selva Zoque region consists of the Chimalapas rain forest, Selva El Ocote, Uxpanapa, and La Sepultura. The region is home to an estimated 3,500 different plant species, including more than 300 species of orchids. Additionally, its diversity in animal life includes over 500 species of birds (some estimates say over 600), including the horned guan, resplendent quetzal, and harpy eagle.

Not only is the Selva Zoque region important because of its biodiversity, but also because of the presence of indigenous communities, like the Zoque.

Answer: Huajuapan de León

La Heroica Ciudad de Huajuapan de León is located in the northern part of the state. The siege of Huajuapan was the longest siege of the War of Independence, and it ended in a victory for the Mexican rebels. The story of the siege says that General Morelos told the men to observe a novena to pray for help, and the novena supposedly ended on July 23, the same day the siege broke.

The victory was attributed to the help of El Señor de los Corazones, a sculpture of Christ with a brown complexion. The Festival of the Señor de los Corazones lasts from July 14 until July 23, and includes fireworks, a fair, and cultural events.

Answer: Coatzacoalcos

Coatzacoalcos is also the name of the city in Veracruz that sits at the mouth of the river. The name Coatzacoalcos means "the river where the serpent hides", which references Quetzalcóatl's departure on his serpent skin raft.

The Coatzacoalcos River begins in Oaxaca in the Sierra de Niltepec and traverses Oaxaca and Veracruz before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. It is extremely contaminated, one of the most contaminated in the world. One major contributor to this is the petrochemical company Pemex.

Answer: Monte Albán

The original Zapotec name for the city is unknown, but the Aztecs referred to the site as "Ocelotepec" or "Mount Jaguar". The Spanish named it Monte Albán due to the landscape's similarity to the Alban Hills in Italy. At one time, Monte Albán was one of the most important Mesoamerican cities, and was the seat of power of the Zapotecs.

It was also used by the Mixtecs during the Mesoamerican Post-classical period.

Answer: Benito Juárez National Park

Benito Juárez was Mexico's first indigenous president and he was from Oaxaca. The Benito Juárez National Park was created in 1937. The park houses a variety of plant and animal life, including herds of wild horses and packs of runaway dogs. Some of the species found in the park are endemic to Mexico and are vulnerable or endangered. Flowers like orchids and dahlias are picked to be used for decoration, and birds are captured to be sold in the markets.

Answer: Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is between the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Tehuantepec in the Pacific Ocean. The shortest distance between the two bodies of water is only about 124 miles (200 km). Prior to the construction of the Panama Canal, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was the Tehuantepec Route, which was part of an inter-oceanic shipping route.

When plans to build a canal proved to be too expensive, the focus shifted to building a railway. The Tehuantepec Railway (now Ferrocarril Transístmico) connects Coatzacoalcos (Puerto Mexico), Veracruz to Salina Cruz, Oaxaca.

Answer: False

Despite various mountain ranges and systems converging in Oaxaca, there are no active volcanoes in the state, and it is not part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Although there are no inactive volcanoes being monitored, Jorge L. Tamayo mentioned eruptions from an underwater volcano near Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca, in 1803 and 1875 in his book "Geografía general de México". Oaxaca does have seismic activity since it is located on the boundary between the Cocos Plate and the North American Plate.

It is one of the states with the most seismic activity, and some sources say that, on average, about 25% of all earthquakes in Mexico occur in Oaxaca.

In 2017, Oaxaca was the location of the epicenter for almost half of Mexico's earthquakes!