Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-28

east or west OF MEXICO
Name the two territories of Mex
ico.' is a question on which many
Americans who can name the AS
American State capitals and the Ca
madam provinces %N ould fall says ii
bulletin of the National Geographic
Society.
Has Two Territories.
Lower California, dry, arid, noun
famous and sparsely populated. is one
Mexican territory not yet granted
status of a State. Fifteen hundred
miles away from lower California lies
Mexico's other territory, Quinta ma
Roo, farthest South and farthest East.
1T is common to think of Mexico
as a great horn sprouting south from
Southwest United States. The posi-
ton of the two Mexican territories
punctures this geographic myth.
Mexico is not a thin nation. 1t is
just as wide as it is long. While its
weSternmoSt city is Tiajuana, across
the international line from San Diego
Calf. the outermost point of the
Yucatan Peninsula lies as far east as
Indianapolis.
1.-The United States has one smaller
State than Mexico's smallest. Rhode
Island is 300 square miles smaller than
TaXacala. which lies so miles east of
Mexico City. Colima, state on the
Pacific coast of Mexico directly west
of the capital, measures less than
Delaware. But the largest state of
Mexico. Chihuahua, across the border
from New Mexico. is much smaller
than the American giant, Texas. 1t
approximates Oregon or Illinois and
Indiana taken together
Conceded With Indian Tribes.
"The states of Mexico were origi-
nally laid out TO coincide roughly with
the areas occupied by the Indian tribes
which the Spaniards conquered. Then
the conquerors apportioned the dis
tricts among themselves. Thus Her
nando Cortes was Marques del Vale
of Oaxaca. AS marques he laid waste
the Zapotec Indians chief town, built
a new city on the same site and named
it Antequera, after a town of Spain
near Malaga. When Mexico won its
independence from Spain the city re
sumed it's old Zapotec name, Huaxi-
acac modified in Spanish to OaXacab.
and the state took the same title. This
is a story repeated with variations
many times in Mexico. Practically all
the states have resumed their Indian
names. There are exceptions such as
the states of Vera Cruz, San Lois Pc
tosi. Guiana juato and Nuevo Leon.
Although the ancient AZtecs,
Zapotecs, and Mayas are responsible
for the boundaries of modern States
of Mexico. the borders often outline
definite geographic units. There is
classification handy for Mexican
States which our Republic cannot use
to advantage. In Mexico there are
low States. high States and higher
States. The low States are the East
ern seaboard units from north to
south Tamaulipas, NuevO Leon, Vera
Cruz and Tabasco. The Yucatan
Peninsula group of Campeche, Yucca
tan and Quintanar Roo also hugs sea
level Pacific coastal States are, for
the most part, low States, too, but not
so low as east coast States; Sonora,
Sinaloa, Nayarit Colima, Michoacan,
Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas Then
come the high States, that is, those
which are 5000 feet above sea level,
Chihuahua, Coafuila and Durango, all
of which lie in the Rio Grande basin
between the wide open arms of the
mountain ranges that border the
famous Valley of Mexico.
Richest States Higher.
South Of Durango are the higher
States. and. it may be added the
smaller. and the most populous and
the richest States of Mexico. The
average elevation of II States and the
Federal District is more than a mile
above sea level. Oriza ba Peak, f25
| miles southeast of Mexico City. is the
key pin of Il gigantic pair of dividers
opened to II so degree angle Each
arm of the dividers is d mountain
range, the left arm connecting with
the Rocky Mountains and the right
losing itself at Monterey.
Between the arms spreads the
fertile mile high or higher region of
blue lakes and fruitful valleys, ele-
waited, enough to have an equable
climate. Just as the mountain ranges
converge on Orizaba, so the trade
routes converge on Mexico City. Like
Washington. the Mexican capital has
been isolated within a small 'Distrito
! Federal administered by the national
Congress, But there is this differ
ence. Mexico City is the New York
as well as the Washington of Mexico
It's population of 10000 nearly equals
that of the most populous of the ma
tons provinces.
lust as the United States has. in
he State of Washington, common
wealth named for the hero of it's Rev
olution, so Mexico has honored, the
father Of its freedom from Spain
Padre Hidalgo was a parish. priest
In Dolores, i'm the State of Guiana
juato. until he led the revolution in
1910. -
Town Named for Hero i
.''Dolores has now become Dolores
Hidalgo. A nearby area of $500
square miles OF the Valley Of Mexico
has been carved out to make the
state of Hidalgo. South of Mexico
City another relatively small, state,
Morelos, honors another hero Of Mex
ico's revolution.
difficulties of pronunciation are q
barrier to a development of American
interest in Mexico. A man confront
ed with the name 'Oaxaca' Is inclined
to let the whole subject drop.
Mexican. names are difficult In
Mexico there are far more names in
honor of the Indian than in the
United States. Aztecs and Mayas
loved IT and &C. and * OF course
they had no written language intel
ligible today. SO the cracking In
dian names must be expressed in soft
Spanish. In the United States we
have Anglicfzed the Spanish-Indian
names. The name OF Mexico and its
capital serves as good example. The
central shrine of the Aztec capital was
dedicated to Mexitli the war god.
Spaniards .revamped the name to Mex
leo, pronounced meh -he-ko. AS far
north as central Texas is. a town
Mexia. pronounced 'ma,he',a,' but
Mexico, Mo-. has the hard Anglo