El Oro, Mexico State

The name El Oro, is not from Nahuatl, like most other municipality names in the state, but from Spanish, and simply means “the gold.” It has subsequently been given an alternative Nahuatl name of “Teocuitlapilli,” meaning “what comes out of the gods” or “sacred excrement,” referring to gold. It seal, in the form of an Aztec glyph, contains elements referring to gold and to caves, of which there are many in the municipality. The municipality is located in the northwest of the State of Mexico, 96 km from the state capital of Toluca, and is bounded by the municipalities Temascalcingo, Jocotitlan and San Felipe del Progreso and to the west by the state of Michoacán. As of 2005, the municipal seat with the formal name of El Oro de Hidalgo...