Place:Morelos, Mexico

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

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Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca.

Morelos is a landlocked state located in South Central Mexico. It is bordered by Mexico City to the north, and by the states of México to the northeast and northwest, Puebla to the east and Guerrero to the southwest.

Morelos is the second-smallest state in the nation, just after Tlaxcala. It was part of a very large province, the State of Mexico, until 1869 when Benito Juárez decreed that its territory would be separated and named in honor of José María Morelos y Pavón, who defended the city of Cuautla from royalist forces during the Mexican War of Independence. Most of the state enjoys a warm climate year-round, which is good for the raising of sugar cane and other crops. Morelos has attracted visitors from the Valley of Mexico since Aztec times.

The state is also known for the Chinelos, a type of costumed dancer that appears at festivals, especially Carnival, which is celebrated in a number of communities in the state. It is also home to the Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl, a designated World Heritage Site.

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