Ixtapan de la Sal

Ixtapan de la Sal
Town & Municipality
Main plaza with church
Coordinates: 18°50′N 99°41′W / 18.833°N 99.683°W / 18.833; -99.683
Country	Mexico
State	State of Mexico
Municipal Status	1822
Government
• Municipal President	Edgar Misael Ocampo Ayala (2022-2024)
Elevation (of seat)	1,880 m (6,170 ft)
Population  (2010) Municipality
• Municipality	33,541
• Seat	15,383
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central (US Central))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (Central)
Postal code (of seat)	51900
Website	www.edomexico.gob.mx/ixtapandelasal (in Spanish)

Ixtapan de la Sal is a town and municipality located in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is 60 km south of Toluca, the state's capital, and 120 km south of Mexico City by the Federal Road 55. The word Ixtapan comes from Nahuatl. There are two theories as to the origin of the name. The first one states that it is composed of iztal, which means 'salt', and pan, which means 'over' or 'in'. The second one states that it comes from iztac which means 'white'; atl which means 'water'; and pan which means 'in white waters'. The phrase de la Sal is Spanish for 'of salt'.^[1]

There are two rivers in Ixtapan de la Sal. They are the Salado river from the east with a year-round current, and the Salitre river from the northwest with a seasonal current. An aqueduct also passes through the city. Most relevant to tourists is the carbonated water of La Laguna Verde, a spring which filters from the subsoil sprouting naturally in form of water eruptions.^[1]

On January 22, 1981, Ixtapan de la Sal officially became a city. In 1996, it was integrated into the 100 Colonial Cities program, a tourist program collecting the oldest and most important Mexican cities in a list.^[1]