Geography of the state of Hidalgo

The geography of the State of Hidalgo refers to the physical geography and human geography of Hidalgo, a state in central Mexico.

It's located in the region east of the country, bordering to the north with San Luis Potosí and Veracruz, to the east with Puebla, to the south with Tlaxcala and the state of Mexico, and to It's located between the coordinates: to the north, 21°2355; to the south, 19°3552 of the latitude north; to the east, 97°5906; to the west,. It's made up of eighty-four municipalities.

According to INEGI, it has an area of 20 813.57 km2, and represents 1.06% of the area of the country. It's the 6th least extensive state - ahead of Querétaro, Colima, Aguascalientes, Morelos and Tlaxcala, the least extensive. The largest municipality is Zimapán, with an area of 872.24 km2 representing 4.19% of the state area; And the least extensive municipality is Tlahuelilpan, with an area of 28.18 km2 representing 0.14% of the state area.

Characteristics


The state of Hidalgo shows a great geographical diversity, which causes the existence of an extensive variety of flora and fauna, as well as climatic and geomorphological conditions. From north to south, there are three clear regions: the first is the Northern Gulf Coastal Plain, and the one with the lowest altitude; the second is composed of the Eastern Mother Sierra, with medium altitude, and the third is the Neovolcanic Axis, with the highest altitude in the state.

So different and contrasting between one region and another that they directly affect the economic aspects and way of life of its inhabitants; this has made it possible to classify and identify ten natural regions that group municipalities with similar characteristics. The geocultural regions of Hidalgo constitute an exercise in the grouping of geographical spaces based on the cultural characteristics they share.

In this way, in the northwestern portion of the state, the Huasteca region has been fully identified. In the part corresponding to the Sierra Madre Oriental, located in the center of the territory, with a southeast–northwest direction, municipalities are grouped into four different regions: Sierra de Tenango, Sierra Baja, Sierra Alta, and Sierra Gorda. In the Neovolcanic Axis, in the center is the Mining Valley, in the southeast fraction is the Tulancingo Valley and the Altiplanicie pulquera, to the west and southwest the Mezquital Valley, to the south is the Cuenca de México.

The Huasteca is a long and narrow strip of abundant vegetation, it has a little rugged surface, except for some peaks and hills it lacks remarkable mountains. La Sierra Alta es una región en donde destacan bruscas elevaciones que forman parte de la Sierra Madre Oriental. In the Sierra Baja its landscape is not precisely of high hills or sharp mountains, but of a plain that suddenly seems to sink through its barrancas and canñones.

The Sierra Gorda was born in Hidalgo as a branch of the Sierra Madre Oriental, in this part there are very rugged surfaces with rough and boluda mountains. The Sierra de Tenango also called Sierra Otomí-Tepehua is a region of less abrupt mountains and has small intramontaneous plain. The Tulancingo Valley in a large valley that could formerly be a basin Lakester, begins where the mountain ends its conformation, is characterized by the presence of some rock formations of volcanic origin. The Mining Region has a relief of serranía is an area rich in deposits of metals such as lead, gold and silver.

The Altiplanicie pulquera also known as the plains of Apan, is an Highland with three lake areas, small the so-called lagoons of Tochac-Atocha, Apan it has cultivation landscapes, especially the maguey pulque. The Basin of Mexico also called Pachuca-Tizayuca Valley corresponds to semi-arid plains that are highly usable for agricultural activities, it's a corridor protected by a chain of hills on each side. The Mezquital Valley is made up of various valleys and plains, limited by isolated volcanic mountains and basaltic spills; it includes a surface of extreme aridity.

Delimitation
The number of regions that make up the state of Hidalgo depends on the work and the author consulted. Sometimes the Sierra Alta and the Sierra Baja are placed in a single region called the Sierra Hidalguense. and to the Tulancingo Valley, the Mining Region, the Altiplanicie pulquera, the Basin of Mexico; they are placed in a single region called the Altiplano Hidalguense. The Sierra de Tenango, is confused with the slopes that go down to the Huasteca; some geographical letters name it as part of the Sierra Norte de Puebla and others as part of the Sierra de Huayacocotla. Even the Acaxochitlán is named as part of the Totonacapan region.

The Huasteca is a multicultural region that includes the southern part of the state of Tamaulipas, the north of Veracruz, the east of San Luis Potosí, the north of the state of Hidalgo, a northern portion of Querétaro. The Huasteca Hidalgo, is located to the north of the state territory, but some sources extend it to the south, to the municipalities of Molango de Escamilla, Metztitlán and Zacualtipán de Ángeles. Even annexing parts of the municipality of Huasca de Ocampo, And the Sierra de Tenango, reaching the northern part of Puebla.

The Basin of Mexico was an endorheic basin formed by a large system of lakes: Chalco, Xochimilco, Texcoco, San Cristóbal-Xaltocan. The region is made up of four valleys, the Valley of Mexico, Valley of Cuautitlán, Valley of Apan and the Pachuca-Tizayuca Valley; it's comprised between four federal entities: the state of Mexico, Mexico City, Hidalgo and Tlaxcala. The Sierra Gorda is born in Hidalgo as a branch of the Sierra Madre Oriental and culminates in San Luis Potosí, after crossing Querétaro and Guanajuato. The Mezquital Valley can extend to the northern part of the state of Mexico and a limited area of the southeast of the state of Querétaro.

Climate


Geographically, three well-defined climatic zones are distinguished in the state of Hidalgo: zone of warm and semi-warm climates, zone of temperate climates, and Zone of dry and semi-dry climates. To a lesser extent, the semi-cold climate appears in small areas, which develops in the highest parts of the state.