Chiapas

Chiapas, LAS, a state of Mexico, on the Pacific, adjoining Guatemala. Largely a part of the tableland of Central America, it enjoys a delicious climate; and where the navigable Rio Chiapas cuts through the middle of the plateau, the valleys are among the most fertile portions of the republic, although the country is still almost everywhere clothed with primeval forest. Area, 27,250 square miles; pop. 270,000, chiefly aborigines. Capital, San Cristobal. Near Palenque, one of its towns, are most extensive and magnificent ruins.