Nice small map titled Orizaba, from wood engraving with fine  detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring. Overall size approx. 19.5 x 16.5 cm, image size approx. 12 x 11 cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, 19 vol. (1875-94), great work of Elisee Reclus. Cartographer is Charles Perron.

Orizaba

city, west-central Veracruz estado (state), east-central Mexico. It lies in a  fertile, well-drained, and temperate valley of the Sierra Madre Oriental, over  which towers Citlaltépetl (also called Pico de Orizaba), a snowcapped volcano.  The town was founded by Spaniards in the 16th century on the former site of an  Aztec garrison called Ahuaializapan (“Pleasant Waters”) to guard strategic  routes linking the port of Veracruz and Mexico City. Chartered as a city in  1774, Orizaba was licensed under crown monopoly to produce tobacco and was one  of the first Mexican textile centres. Its public buildings reflect its long  colonial past. It is an agricultural centre (producing tobacco, corn [maize],  sugarcane, and cereals), an industrial centre, and a tourist resort. It is  accessible by highway and railroad. In August 1973 a severe earthquake, centred  near the city, caused many deaths and widespread destruction. Pop. (2000)  118,552; metro. area, 367,021; (2010) 120,844; metro. area, 410,508.