Tlaxco

Not to be confused with its namesake in Tlaxcala: this Tlaxco is a town in Puebla's Sierra Norte, seat of the northwestern municipality that shares its name. Its name comes from Nahuatl tlalli, earth, ixtli, face or surface, and the locative co, and translates as "on the surface of the land". In the 2020 census it had 1,244 inhabitants, and it sits at about 870 metres roughly 15 km from Xicotepec, about 51 km from Tulancingo and some 155 km from the state capital.

All of the municipality's water flows toward the Tuxpan river basin by way of the Pantepec. INEGI lists the Acalman and the Blanco as year-round streams and El Álamo as seasonal. Rain falls all year, 2,500 to 2,600 mm, and average temperatures run from 18 to 24 °C: a humid semi-warm climate with no marked dry season. Half the land is farmed, about a third is still woodland and around 16% is grazing pasture.

The building INEGI singles out in town is the parish church of San Agustín, from the 19th century. The compendium counts few Indigenous-language speakers in the municipality, 208, of Nahuatl, Otomí, Tepehua and Totonac. Food follows the sierra pattern, with mole poblano, pipián, tamales and tlacoyos, plus chocolate and coffee to drink; the music at fiestas is huapango. La Lagunilla, in neighbouring Tlacuilotepec, lies about 4 km to the southeast.