ANTH 3311

Sim-tzuntzan Exercise #1 -- From Nation to Municipio

Instructions:

This exercise requires that you (and your team, if you are working collaboratively) examine a set of comparative data for the municipio of Tzintzuntzan, for five other municipios that surround Tzuntzuntzan, for the state of Michoacán, and the nation of Mexico as a whole.

Various tables of comparative data drawn from the Mexican government census for the year 2000 are provided for you (see DATA for Sim-Tzuntzan Exercise 1). (Note: These tables are in .html format, but can be exported fully or partially into Excel, into MS Word, or into some other program, as you wish.)

For your geographical orientation, a sketch map of these municipios is provided (see MAP), as well as a sketch map and political map of the state of Michoacán (showing its 113 municipios -- see MICHOACAN MAP), and a map of Mexico (showing all states, see MEXICO-STATES MAP). In addition, you may wish to consult the INEGI aerial photos and images of the Tzintzuntzan region.

You may choose any two of the first seven tables for your analysis. Tables 1-7 focus on different themes of contemporary life. In some cases, you may need to use data from another table to supplement the data in the table you have selected.

Note: the total population in the municipio of Tzintzuntzan, in the surrounding five municipios, in the state of Michoacán, and in the nation of Mexico will be found in the final table (Table 8). You will need the total population numbers in order to calculate the percentages involved for the municipios, for the state, and for the nation.

An example: suppose that you wished to analyze the data in Table 8 to determine the distribution of population in the municipios, in the state, and in the nation according to the size of settlement. You would first find the total population of the nation (see Table 8 "Total population" for "Mexico"), which = 97,483,412. Then, look on Table 8 for the "Population in places with 1-49 residents" for "Mexico" which is = 1,483,739. Calculate the percentage, which yields 1.52%. Then, do the same for Michoacán (which means dividing 91,785 by 3,985,667), to get the result = 2.3%. Then, do the same calculation for all six municipios. The results are as follows: for Erongarícuaro, 0.36%; for Huiramba, 1.37%; for Lagunillas, 0.97%; for Pátzcuaro, 0.48%; for Quiroga, 0.75%; and for Tzintzuntzan, 1.4%. Then, you would repeat this calculation for all of the remaining size categories (i.e., 50-99 inhabitants, 100-499, 500-999, 1,000-1,999, 2,000-2,499, 2,500-4,999, 5,000-9,999, 10,000-14,999, 15,000-19,999, 20,000-49,999, 50,000-99,999, 100,000-499,999, 500,000-999,999, and 1,000,000+). Once all of the calculations are done (note: you can do these quickly with a little spreadsheet knowledge), you can see the pattern and offer an analysis.

You will want to focus on the municipio of Tzintzuntzan and how it compares with the five surrounding municipios and then with its state and with the nation at large. In this example, we can see that the municipio of Tzintzuntzan has a bit more of its inhabitants living in very small hamlets (population of 1-49 residents) than do the surrounding five municipios, but it has fewer than the state of Michoacán or the nation at large. And, when you examine the other size categories, you would find other interesting patterns -- the most obvious being that the municipio of Tzintzuntzan has no settlements beyond the 2,500-4,999 category. In sum, it is essentially "rural" in character.

Follow the guidelines for preparing this report (see SYLLABUS) and be attentive to the deadline for submitting your report. REMEMBER: Analyze TWO of the first seven Tables and then offer some comparative findings in the conclusion to your paper.