Michoacán

Michoacán, estado (state), west-central Mexico. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the southwest and by the states of Colima and Jalisco to the west, Guanajuato to the north, Querétaro to the northeast, México to the east, and Guerrero to the south. The capital is Morelia.

The state’s relief rises from a narrow coastal plain, where conditions are hot and humid, to the cool and semiarid Sierra Madre del Sur, an area of great volcanic activity. The volcano Jorullo arose during an eruption in 1759, and in 1943 Paricutín suddenly developed in a field northwest of the city of Uruapan; its eruptions continued through 1952 and buried the village of San Juan. The chief rivers are the Lerma, which drains into Lake Chapala in the northwest, and the Balsas and Tepalcatepec, which merge at the southern frontier; the flows of all have been depleted by large-scale irrigation projects. In addition to national parks in the highlands, popular tourist destinations include Lake Pátzcuaro, where fishers use lightweight, gracefully framed nets, and Lake Cuitzeo, northeast of Morelia. Lake Chapala, which is largely within Jalisco state, has been shrinking because of the diversion of its source waters. Monarch butterflies migrate annually from Canada and the United States to a forested biosphere reserve in the eastern part of the state; however, they are endangered by industrial and automotive air pollution from the adjacent Valley of Mexico.

Agriculture and mining constitute one of the largest sources of employment but contribute only a limited share of state income. Most of Michoacán’s farmers are Tarasco Indians and mestizos who grow corn (maize), tropical fruits, legumes, coffee, and sugarcane. Petroleum is important, and sulfur, gold, silver, iron, copper, and zinc are mined. Manufacturing is based on forest products and other light industry. The service sector, including retail trade, government, banking, and tourism, provides a substantial portion of employment and income. The state is well served by highway, air, and rail routes.

The Tarasco have lived in the region for centuries and were well established there by the 12th century. Later to arrive were the Chichimec. After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Vasco de Quiroga established the first enduring missions among the Tarasco in the 1530s, around Lake Pátzcuaro.

Michoacán became a state in 1824. State government is headed by a governor, who is elected to a single term of six years. Members of the unicameral legislature, the State Congress, are elected to three-year terms. Michoacán is divided into several local governmental units called municipios (municipalities), each of which is headquartered in a prominent city, town, or village.

Morelia, which includes more than 200 historic buildings in its colonial centre, was designated a UNESCOWorld Heritage site in 1991. Cultural institutions in the state include the Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo (1917) and the Michoacán Museum (1886), in Morelia; a museum of arts and crafts (1935), featuring Tarascan art, in Pátzcuaro; and an ethnographic and archaeological museum (1944), in Tzintzuntzán, with Tarascan and Tzintzuntzán artifacts. The Tarasco still produce traditional crafts in the Lake Pátzcuaro area. Area 23,138 square miles (59,928 square km). Pop. (2020) 4,748,846.