Toluca

Toluca, or ToLOCCAN, a city of Mexico and capital of the state of Mexico, on the S.W. border of the Anahuac plateau, at the foot of the Cerro San Miguel de Tutucuitlalpillo, about 8650 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1900), 25,940. Toluca is on the Mexican National railway, 36 m. W.S.W. of the national capital. Its situation near the high cordillera gives it a cold, changeable climate. The government has a meteorological station here and a national college. Industries include the manufacture of cotton fabric, flour and wax candles. Swine-breeding is a profitable occupation in the vicinity. The Nevado de Toluca, an extinct volcano, rises to a height of 14,950 ft. on the south-west side of the town. Its summit is frequently draped with snow, and its broken-down crater contains a lake. Traditionally Toluca was one of the earliest Toltec settlements on the Anahuac tableland, but no remains of this occupation have been preserved.