DASNR
International
Student of the Week
Home Country:
Mexico
Above: Great Palace, Mayan Ruins in Palenque
Chiapas , Mexico :
Chiapas is the southernmost state of Mexico, located towards the southeast of the country. Chiapas is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest, and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean. Chiapas has an area of 74,211 km2 (28,653 sq mi). The 2005 census population was 4,293,459 people.
In general Chiapas has a humid, tropical climate. In the north, in the area bordering Tabasco, near Teapa, rainfall can average more than 3,000 mm (120 in) per year. In the past, natural vegetation at this region was lowland, tall perennial rainforest. Rainfall decreases moving towards the Pacific Ocean, but it is still abundant enough to allow the farming of bananas and many other tropical crops near Tapachula. On the several parallel "sierras" or mountain ranges running along the center of Chiapas, climate can be quite temperate and foggy, allowing the development of cloud forests like those of the Reserva de la Biosfera el Triunfo, home to a handful of Resplendent Quetzals and Horned Guans.
The state capital city is Tuxtla Gutiérrez; other cities and towns in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, and Tapachula. Chiapas is home to the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque, Yaxchilán, Bonampak, Chinkultic, and Toniná.
The energy resources of Chiapas include the seven hydroelectric plants on Grijalva and its tributaries and petroleum in the north. Six out of these seven are located in the Central Valley, including the Manuel Moreno Torres plant in Chicoasén, the most productive in Mexico. All of the hydroelectric plants are owned and operated by the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE), while the petroleum resources are owned by Petróleos Mexicanos, PEMEX.
The state’s population is about 55% Mestizo, and 40% Indigenous, mostly of Maya ancestry. Around 35% of the indigenous population does not speak Spanish as a first language.
The 20th century saw massive population growth in Chiapas. From less than one million inhabitants in 1940, the state had about two million in 1980, and over 4 million in 2005. Overcrowded land in the highlands was relieved when the rainforest to the east was subject to land reform. Cattle ranchers, loggers, and subsistence farmers migrated to the rain forest. The population of the Lacandón was only one thousand people in 1950, but by the mid-1990s this had increased to 200 thousand.
Chiapas is only 3% of Mexican population. They produce 13% of country's maize, 54% of its hydroelectric power, 5% of the nation's timber, 4% of its beans, 13% of its gas, and 4% of its oil. (Source: Wikipedia)
Horacio Gonzalez Perez
March 17, 2009
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From the Department of Agricultural Economics
This week’s international student of the week is Horacio Gonzalez-Perez. He is a visiting Master's student in the Agricultural Economics Department. Horacio is originally from the State of Chiapas, Mexico. He speaks Spanish and English. Horacio graduated from the Universidad Autonoma de Chapingo in Mexico with a BS in Agricultural Economics. He is currently in the Masters in Agricultural Economics and Natural Resources in the same university.
In his free time Horacio likes to read, talk to his friends, dance, and play volleyball. Horacio is a good athlete, and he was part of the volleyball and basketball teams in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. He visited Cuba and Texas A&M as an athlete. Horacio comes from a large family of five children. His parents live in Chiapas and his siblings live in Tijuana, Guadalajara, and Puerto Vallarta, and he also has 6 nephews and 5 nieces. Horacio’s family has been his support to achieve academic success.
Horacio came to OSU as part of the program for visiting scholars between OSU and Universidad Autonoma de Chapingo. Although Chapingo has programs with other Universities, Horacio picked OSU because the Agricultural Economics Department has good prestige around the world. Horacio’s future plans are to pursue a Ph.D. He believes that the world demands are for people with the ability to solve problems. He also believes that people with education have better opportunities.
Horacio’s advice to students: I encourage students to come to OSU because it has a wide variety of research topics, it also has very good professors. In OSU you can meet people from all over the world, OSU is a wonderful place. Interview by Sandra Rodriguez
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