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The Isthmus of Tehuantepec ((:tewanteˈpek)) is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Prior to the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route. The name is taken from the town of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca; this was derived from the Nahuatl term ''tecuani-tepec'' ("jaguar hill"). == Geography == The isthmus includes the part of Mexico lying between the 94th and 96th meridians west longitude, or the southeastern parts of Veracruz and Oaxaca, including small areas of Chiapas and Tabasco. The states of Tabasco and Chiapas are east of the isthmus, with Veracruz and Oaxaca on the west. At its narrowest point, the isthmus is across from gulf to gulf, or to the head of Laguna Superior on the Pacific coast. The Sierra Madre breaks down at this point into a broad, plateau-like ridge, whose elevation, at the highest point reached by the Ferrocarril Transistmico railway at Chivela Pass, is 224 m (735 ft). The northern side of the isthmus is swampy and densely covered with jungle, which has been a greater obstacle to railway construction than the grades in crossing the sierra. The Selva Zoque in the eastern-central region of the isthmus is an area of great ecological importance, the largest remaining area of tropical rainforest in Mexico and holding the majority of the terrestrial biodiversity in Mexico. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Spanish Istmo de Tehuantepec, is an isthmus in southern Mexico, between the Gulf of Campeche on the Gulf of Mexico to the north, and the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific Ocean to the south. From gulf to gulf the isthmus is 137 miles (220 km) wide at its narrowest part; and it is 120 miles (193 km) from the Gulf of Campeche to the head of Superior Lagoon, an inlet on the Gulf of Tehuantepec. The isthmus is a broad, plateaulike ridge. Its climate is hot, but Pacific winds often bring relief. The northern side is swampy and densely covered with tropical forest; the Pacific slopes on the south are drier. 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Selva Zoque )〕 The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca mountains flatten to form Chivela Pass before the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountains resume to the south, so geographically the isthmus divides North America from Central America. The southern edge of the North American tectonic plate lies across the Motagua Fault in Guatemala, so geologically, the division between North America and Central America (on the Caribbean Plate) is much farther south than the isthmus of Tehuantepec. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Isthmus of Tehuantepec」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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