Tepalcatepec, also known as Tepeque, is a city and its surrounding municipality in the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

. It is located in the state's southwestern

Tierra Caliente ''Tierra caliente'' is an informal term used in Latin America to refer to places with a distinctly tropical climate. These are usually regions from 0 to 3,000 feet above sea level.Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein ...

region, bordering the state of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

to the north and west.

Population

The total population of Tepalcatepec in 2010 was 34,568, and the total population of the municipality was 42,879.

Violence

María Guadalupe López Esquivel, aka "La Catrina", 21, leader of the

Jalisco New Generation Cartel The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (, ), or CJNG, is a Mexican Organized crime, criminal syndicate, based in Jalisco and headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho"). The drug cartel, cartel has been characterized by extreme violence and pu ...

(CJNG) in Tepalcatepec, was killed in a gun battle with state and federal security forces in the area in January 2020. Serving

municipal president A ''presidente municipal'' ( English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines during the Spanish and American colonial periods; it is comparable to a mayor of the tow ...

Martha Laura Mendoza Mendoza and her husband were murdered by gunmen outside their home in Tepalcatepec on 17 June 2025.

Fauna

The Michoacán club-tail iguana (''

Ctenosaura clarki ''Ctenosaura clarki'', commonly known as the Balsas armed lizard, Balsas spiny-tailed iguana, Michoacán dwarf spiny-tailed iguana, or ''nopiche'', is a species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species native to Mexico. Etymology The sp ...

'') is endemic to Tepalcatepec. The habitat of this species is dry, hot, cactus-covered rocky hillsides.

Notable people

* Diego Casillas (born 1994) – footballer

References

Populated places in Michoacán {{Michoacán-geo-stub