Xitlama

Xitlama sits at about 1,850 m in the Sierra Negra, the range in south-eastern Puebla that locals call the Sierra del Axusco and that forms one mountain block with the Sierra de Zongolica. The Nahuatl name joins xihuitl, grass, and tlamac, on the sides, giving "on the grassy slopes". It is one of the four juntas auxiliares (auxiliary towns) of Zoquitlán municipality, along with Acatepec, Tepexilotla and Cacaloc, roughly 12 km from the seat, San Pablo Zoquitlán.

The 2020 census counted 2,766 residents, down from 3,198 in 2010, which still makes it the most populous settlement in a municipality where most people speak Nahuatl. Farming and livestock are the main work.

The mountains catch the moist winds off the Gulf of Mexico, so the climate is mild, averaging about 16 °C, with rain through much of the year, around 1,340 mm. Streams in the municipality run east to the Coyolapa river, which drains into the Tonto and on into the Papaloapan basin. The municipal encyclopedia lists a waterfall at Xitlama among Zoquitlán's sights, along with falls in the mountains and on the Coyolapa. Local food includes pochocuiles, grubs raised in jonote trees and fried, and people carve wooden spoons and weave reed baskets.