Abejones ( Spanish: meaning "beetles", from ''abejón'') is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

in south-western

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The municipality covers an area of 122.48 km². It is part of the

Ixtlán District Ixtlán District is located in the Sierra Norte region, in the northeastern area of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The district includes 26 municipalities, bringing together a total of 161 settlements. At the 2000 census, they contained a total of ...

in the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca region. It shares borders with San Pablo Macuiltianguis to the north, with Santa Ana Yareni and Santa María Jaltianguis to the south, with San Juan Bautista Atatlahuca, San Miguel Aloapam and San Juan Bautista Jayacatlán to the west, and with San Pablo Macuiltianguis, San Juan Atepec and San Juan Evangelista Analco to the east. Its approximately 94 km from the city of Oaxaca. This area has a very uneven terrain and there is no hectare that is a complete level in the whole municipality. The local mountains are called the Sierra Marcos Pérez and some of its mountains reach the three thousand meters. It is quite a dry region but the cold weather helps some fruit trees and forests. The only river near is the Rio Grande. As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 1,114.

Toponymy

The name Abejones has an interesting meaning and background. There is no actual name in Spanish for the municipality. In Zapotec the name for Abejones is "Beruc-ni" (the name of a type of bird). The name for the municipality was taken in memory of the bird. The bird used to be eaten by primitive communities in this zone of Oaxaca. The municipality is then called "Abejones" because of the quantity of bees (abejas) existing in the zone.

References

{{Ixtlán District, Oaxaca Municipalities of Oaxaca