Jala, Nayarit

Jala is both a municipality and a town in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 16,071 in 2005, in a total area of 364.60 square kilometers. The population of the municipal seat of the same name was 9,631.

The name Jala--place where there is a lot of sand--is derived from the Nahuatl word “Xali”, which means "sand", and the variant "Tla", which means "place with an abundance of ".

The municipality of Jala is located in the southern part of the state of Nayarit; between parallels 21º 5’ and 21º 20’ latitude north and meridians 104º 18’ and 104º 31’ longitude west. It is bounded in the north by the municipalities of Santa María del Oro and La Yesca; in the south by the municipalities of Ahuacatlán and Ixtlán del Río; in the east with Ixtlán del Río and in the west with Santa María del Oro.

The Rio Grande de Santiago passes in the north of the municipality.

The economy is based on agriculture with the main crops being corn (maize), sorghum, peanuts, sugarcane, and fruit trees. There is also cattle and swine raising. There are sugarcane mills, sawmills, brickworks, furniture factories, a packing plant for peaches, and several small transformation industries.

Tourist sites

The main site of touristic interest is the volcano of Ceboruco. It is reached by an 18 km. stone-covered road from the main highway. The crater is a 3 km. walk up a path from the end of the road.

Ceboruco last erupted from 1870 until 1872 to produce a large flank flow of andesite. According to researchers, in prehistoric times Ceborucco had at least 2 very large eruptions that produced 2 concentric calderas. Ceborucco rises about 1000 m above its base and has a summit elevation of 2164 m. The original volcano was comprised mostly of thin andesite lava flows and pyroclastic layers. Since the calderas formed, however, the flows have tended to be thick. See photos at [http://community.webshots.com/album/66264280UTcbUW] .

External links

* [http://www.rivieranayarit.com/ Official Website of Riviera Nayarit, Mexico]
* [http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_nayarit Enciclopedia de los municipios de México]
* [http://www.geo-images.com/mex/ceb.html Photos of Ceboruco]
* [http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1401-03= Information about Ceboruco Volcano]
* [http://www.costacustodio.com/ceboruco.htm Ceboruco volcano excursion]
* [http://redescolar.ilce.edu.mx/redescolar/publicaciones/publi_volcanes/ceboruco.htm Ceboruco in Spanish]
* [http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/naywand.html Wandering through Nayarit]
* [http://community.webshots.com/album/66264280UTcbUW Webshot phots of Jala]
* [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000BVol...62...20G Scientific article on Ceboruco]
* [http://www.nayarit.nayar.com.mx/cebruc.html Photos and info about Ceboruco (in Spanish)]
*coord|21.884120|104.752579
* [http://jala-nay.blogspot.com Jala´s Blog]