Xalapa

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Xalapa or Jalapa is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz. In the year 2000 census, it reported a population of 390,058.

The municipal seat of the municipality of Xalapa is the city of Xalapa de Enríquez; in everyday usage, however, the city is generally referred to by the shorter name Xalapa. The name is pronounced IPA [xaˈlapa] in Spanish and [həˈlɑpə] in English.

Its name comes from the Nahuatl roots "Xalli" (sand) and "Apan" (water place), which in combination approximately mean "spring in the sand." This name is pronounced IPA [ʃaˈlapan] in Nahuatl, though final [n] is often omitted in Nahuatl pronunciation; the [ʃ] sound (like English 'sh') was written 'x' in the 16th century, but does not occur in modern Spanish, and its normal counterpart is the [h] sound (IPA [x] or [h]) which is normally written 'j' in modern Spanish. The spelling 'Xalapa' (like the name 'México' itself) reflects the archaic spelling; the spelling 'Jalapa' (like 'Méjico') is modernized but is used mostly by foreigners.

The Totonacas were the first people who established themselves around the "Macuiltepetl" 'five-peaked' hill. During the 14th century, four cultures settled in the territory today known as Xalapa. Each of them built a small village: Xalitic (in the sand) was founded by the Totonacas; Techacapan (river of waste) was founded by the Chichimecas; at the northeast Tecuanapan (river of the beasts) was founded by the Toltecas and Tlalnecapan was founded by the Teochichimecas.

Eventually, the four villages grew and joined forming one big village which was given the name Xallapan.

Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, fifth Aztec Emperor, invaded the territory during the second half of the 15th century; therefore all the land came to possession of the Aztec Empire until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores.

Xalapa is also known as the "Athens of Veracruz" because of the strong cultural influence of its three major universities.

Jalapeño peppers are named after an old factory of canned chile pepper called "La jalapeña" located in this city.

It has been a sister city of Covina, California, USA, since 1964. It is also twinned with Omaha, Nebraska.

External links

[Government site] of the Municipality of Xalapa ()
[iXalapa] – local events page. QTVR pictures, free maps and video ()

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