San Felipe Jalapa de Díaz

Jalapa de Díaz sits on the left bank of the Santo Domingo river in the Papaloapan basin, about 140 m above sea level. Cerro Rabón, roughly 1,228 m high and part of the Sierra Madre Oriental, rises directly behind the town and shows at the end of most streets. The name comes from the Nahuatl Xallapan, "in the sandy water", after the river's sandbanks; in Mazatec the town is Ntáxjo̲, "sand water". San Felipe honours San Felipe de Jesús and Díaz honours Porfirio Díaz.

According to Wikipedia, the Mazatecs kept a capital called Matza-apatl near the present site around the year 850, and the region later paid tribute to the Aztecs. The municipality was created in 1825. In 1866 Mazatec forces under Luis Pérez Figueroa beat French troops trying to take the Soyaltepec fort. A fire destroyed the main church and several houses in 1925, and in the 1930s about 15,750 hectares of the Playa Grande hacienda were redistributed.

The town counted about 6,100 people in 2010, and the municipality 27,979 in the 2015 Intercensal Survey, around 88% of them Mazatec speakers. Women embroider huipiles and blouses by hand, and a single garment can take about six weeks. The local economy is farming, mainly coffee, maize, beans and sugarcane, and the municipal market draws people from the outlying hamlets. The climate is hot, averaging 24.7 °C, with rain from June to October.

The big fiesta is San Sebastián, 18 to 20 January, with fireworks bulls, a fair, dances and horse races; San Antonio de Padua is celebrated on 13 June. At Christmas the Danza de las Pastoras is danced to violin and jarana.