por What is the Anahuac plateau?
The Anahuac plateau It is a geographical region located in the south-central part of Mexico, which is also known as the Valley of Mexico, and covers an area of 9,600 km².
This valley, along with three other large ones located in the Mexican territory, make up the so-called Basin of Mexico, made up of the valleys of Cuautitlán, Apan, Tizayuca and the Valley of Mexico itself.
In this territory the Aztec civilization flourished, due among other things to its agricultural strength supported by fertile lands, the abundance of water, its developed irrigation systems and the favorable climate.
Origin of the Anahuac plateau
In this intermontane valley there was formerly a lake basin. At present, the natural lakes of Texcoco, Zumpango and San Cristóbal, and several artificial dams or reservoirs, are barely preserved.
Anahuac, in Nahuatl, means «near the water» or «between the waters», since this region was originally formed by various bodies of water.
Initially, it comprised the natural lakes Xochimilco, Texcoco and Chalco, which were fed by bodies of water that drained or filtered from the Sierra Nevada, Sierra de Las Cruces and Sierra de Ajusco-Chichinauhtzin. But later it spread to other areas of Mexico City.
Drainage of the lakes that made up the Anahuac plateau began around the 1600s. It continued more rapidly centuries later, with the opening of the Tequixquiac tunnel in 1900, used to divert water to the east of the region.
Then, in 1951, another additional system of aqueducts began to be used to transfer drinking water and feed hydroelectric plants to serve the growing population of Mexico City.
Unlike others, the Valley of Mexico basin has an artificial origin. The current tributaries provide drinking water to Mexico City and other populations located in its metropolitan area.
The water currents coming from the Anahuac plateau are channeled towards the Tula River, which in turn feeds the Pánuco River, which finally flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Characteristics of the Anahuac plateau
It is a large area located in south-central Mexico, bordered to the south by the Trans-Mexican Neovolcanic mountain range, to the east by the Sierra Madre Oriental, to the west by the Sierra Madre Occidental and to the north by the Rio Grande. The mountains of Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Querétaro cross it in a northwest-southeast direction and divide it into two large areas. The northern area or Bolsones Region (to the north) has a desert climate. The southern area or Mesa Central del Sur, has on average more altitude than the northern one. It was surrounded by lakes, and hence its name, «near or next to the waters».
Location of the Anahuac plateau
This plateau is located in the south central region, right in the heart of the country. It has an altitude of more than 2,000 m asl and in 2005 20.54 million inhabitants lived in its territory.
However, before the Spanish conquest, it is estimated that between two and three million people lived in this territory.
The capital city of Mexico is located on this plateau, which was formerly inhabited by various peoples, such as the Olmecs, Toltecs, Chichimecas, Otomi and Aztecs or Mexicas, among other Mesoamerican civilizations.
The monumental city of Teotihuacán was built there, later it was the power center of New Spain during the colony, and it is currently Mexico City.
This valley or plateau forms the Neovolcanic axis of the Basin of Mexico (not to be confused with the Valley of Mexico Basin).
It is surrounded by the mountain system that makes up the Monte Alto, Monte Bajo and Las Cruces mountains, as well as Pachuca, the Sierra Nevada and the Chichinauhtzin mountain range.
On the Anahuac plateau or Valley of Mexico, the presence of two volcanoes stands out in one of its national parks: the active volcano Popocatépetl, located on the border between the territories of the states of Mexico, Morelos and Puebla, and the inactive volcano Iztaccíhuatl, located about 10 kilometers north.
References
Valley of Mexico. Recovered from britannica.com.
Mexico’s valley. Retrieved from es.wikipedia.org.