The Chiapas highlands or the central highlands of Chiapas, is a geographic, sociocultural and administrative region located in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico.
The Chiapaneca regional government recognizes the highlands as a socioeconomic region called “altos Tsotsil-Tsetsal” that is formed by 17 municipalities:
Culturally, the region is subdivided in Tsotsil and Tsetsal. Spanish is the main language spoken in San Cristobal, however in all of the rural municipalities the main language spoken is either Tsotsil or Tsetsal. In fact, Tsotsil is the lingua franca in the region and is spoken amongst many indigenous of other denominations and some Latinos.
Natural history
The Chiapanecan Central highlands constitute a portion of the Central American highlands, that run from the Tehuantepec Isthmus in Mexico to the lowlands of Nicaragua. The Chiapas highlands comprise a limestone mass with extrusive volcanic rocks at the highest peaks, extending for over 11 000 km2, ca. 160 km along a northwest–southeast axis, and ca. 70 km at its widest. The height of the relief varies from 300 meters to 2,898 m above the sea level with a land area of 3,711.90 km2. The higher elevations are covered by extensive pine forests, while oak and liquidambar stands are found at lower elevations (
Climate
, a city in the Chiapas highlands has a mild subtropical highland climate moderated by its altitude. The dry season, which runs from November to April is cool with a January average of. Owing to its altitude and the relative aridity of the dry season, San Cristóbal de las Casas has a fairly high diurnal temperature range and nighttime temperatures are cool. Extended periods of frosts are rare, occurring only 2–3 days per year in December to February. Humidity is high, even during the winter months, and fog or mist is quite common during the winter months, occurring 13–17 days per month with fog. Usually, this clears off during the day. The wet season, which runs from May to October is warmer, with a June average of and precipitation is significantly higher during these months. Fog is less common during this time. Average annual precipitation is most of it concentrated in the wet season. The wettest month recorded was September 1998 when of precipitation was recorded, and the wettest day recorded was on October 4, 2005 with. Extremes range from a low of to.
Economy
The seasonal pattern of rain is ideal for the cultivation of maize and beans which are the staple food for most local indigenous people. However, at high elevations in Tierra Fria production only reaches subsistence levels. On the flanks of the highlands between an altitude of 4,000 and 5,500 ft coffee can be produced. Coffee constitutes a major crop and unlike beans and maize it is sold for cash also face hardships when trying to commercialize their produce, as described by Brown it is a usual practice for intermediaries also known as coyotes to charge producers a high fee to transport their harvest from their community to the cabezera municipal or San Cristobal to be sold. In that same way, products sold directly in the communities tend to be more expensive than when sold in San Cristobal. As a result, some indigenous coffee producing communities have self organize in to coffee cooperatives offering an alternative to independent indigenous producers to commercialize their product.
Marginalization
Economic activity in Los Altos is constrained by a high degree of marginalization. The region's total population is 601,190 distributed in 1,182 villages of which only two have more than 15,000 inhabitants. The vast majority of people live in communities with less than 2,500 inhabitants. In fact there are more than 900 communities with less than 500 inhabitants. The largest population center is San Cristobal de las Casas with 158, 000 inhabitants. This city is the regional economic and political center of the region. San Cristobal or 'Jovel'. In Los Altos the social order was composed of extreme castes, the majority of the inhabitants were impoverished Indians while few Spanish concentrated the social and economic power Ethnic segregation was and still is at the core of the economic system. Since colonial times and until recently Los Altos indigenous population has provided a steady flow of labor to other regions and to the non indigenous living within the region. As described by ) San Cristobal was a “parasitic city that used its political, administrative, and religious powers to strip the Indians of the fruits of their labors.” The city was key in establishing an exploitation system in the region. At the center of the exploitation system there are long term ethnic divisions where mestizos, ladinos and indigenas. Brown, talks extensively about the inequalities that the system has created for indigenous peoples and how despite the efforts of the Mexican government those inequalities still persist.
Government intervention
Starting in the 1940s the Instituto Nacional Indigenista. As a consequence bringing products to the communities can be a difficult task.
