Valle y Nevado de Toluca from Hacienda El Parian by Rurik List

Canon 5D MK II, Canon 70-200 f...

The volcano Nevado de Toluca is the 4th highest elevation in Mexico (4690m). It is located in the Valley of the City of Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico, hence its name. The Valley of Toluca includes several municipalities, including Ocoyoacac, where most of the foreground of the picture is found. The part of the valley shown in the picture used to be a huge marsh, but it has been drained over several centuries, and now there are only 3 small marshes left (the marsh of San Pedro Tultepec is shown in the picture) and are now considered a Flora and Fauna Refuge.
As the marshes dried up, the activities of the local people which included fishing, collecting of edibe aquatic plants and confection of crafts made with the reeds, changed. The people of San Pedro Tultepec learned to build wooden furniture, wich is the main actitity in the town today, and the people from other villages in he margins of the former marsh, started working in the expanding insdustrial corridor Toluca-Lerma, many of its factories can bee seen in the picture. The industry also atracted many people and the very productive lands (among the most productive in Mexico) are being urbanized.