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Xalapa, Veracruz Mexico

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Xalapa-Enríquez, commonly Xalapa or Jalapa is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the year 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which it serves as municipal seat reported a population of 413,136. The municipality has an area of 118.45 km². Xalapa lies near the geographic center of the state and is the second-largest city in the state after the city of Veracruz.

The full name of the city is Xalapa-Enríquez, named in honor of 19th-century Governor Juan de la Luz Enríquez. Its name is pronounced [xaˈlapa] in Spanish and IPA: /həˈlɑːpə/ in English. The city's nickname "La ciudad de las flores" (The City of Flowers), was bestowed by Alexander von Humboldt, who visited the town on 10 February 1804.

Xalapa comes from the Nahuatl roots "xalli" (sand) and "apan" (water place), which approximately mean "spring in the sand." This name is pronounced [ʃaˈlapan] in Nahuatl, though final [n] is often omitted in Nahuatl pronunciation; the [ʃ] sound (like English 'sh') was written 'x' in the 16th century, but does not occur in modern Spanish (but is common for place names in Mexico), and its normal counterpart is the [h] sound (IPA [x] or [h]) which is normally written 'j' in modern Spanish. The spelling Xalapa (like the word México) reflects the archaic spelling.

 

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