The territory of Tepic was detached.from the State of Jalisco in 1889 on account of the belligerent attitude of its population, chiefly composed of Indians.
Near the 10th parallel the great chain again divides, the eastern part crossing the southern end of the plateau, and the western, or Sierra Madre del Sur, following the shore line closely to Tehuantepec. The Sierra Madre Occidental has but few noteworthy elevations, its culminating points being the Nevado de Colima (14,363 ft.) and Volcan de Colima (12,750 ft.) in the state of Jalisco.
In eastern Coahuila, near Monclova, are the Agua Verde and Santa Maria lakes, and in eastern Chihuahua there is a similar group. The largest and most attractive of the plateau lakes is Chapala, in the state of Jalisco, about 80 m.
The tierra templada, or sub-tropical zone, rises to an elevation of 5577 ft., and comprises " the greater portions of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, nearly half of Tamaulipas, a small part of Vera Cruz, nearly the whole of Chiapas, nearly all of Oaxaca, a large portion of Guerrero, Jalisco, Sinaloa and Sonora," together with small parts of the inland states of Puebla, Mexico, Morelos and Michoacan.
Explorations by botanists of the United States Department of Agriculture have been made in many localities, in Jalisco, Zacatecas, Michoacan and Tamaulipas, but many years must elapse before the whole ground can be covered.