Jalapa (or Xalapa)

City in Mexico and administrative capital of the state of Veracruz; population (2005) 545,600. Situated in the mountains in the west of the state at an altitude of 1,400 m/4,593 ft, the city lies 130 km/81 mi from the port of Veracruz on the Interoceanico railway to Mexico City. Coffee is grown here as well as a variety of other crops. Jalapa Enríquez is an agricultural, commercial, and industrial centre.

Features The climate is temperate with rainfall spread over most of the year. The University of Veracruz is located here, and the city has an anthropological museum largely devoted to the ancient Totonac, Almec, and Huastec cultures of Mexico. Jalapa Enríquez is sometimes known as the ‘City of Flowers’. Exogonium purga, a plant whose dried roots are used to make the medical purgative known as jalap, grows here.