Jilachi Desert

Jilachi Desert
Sand dunes in the Jilachi Desert near Aztlán.
Extension of the Jilachi Desert in Gran Rugido
Ecology
Realm	Neotropical
Biome	Deserts and xeric shrublands
Borders	Valle de Laura, Valle de la Calma, Estepas del Sur.
Geography
Area	355,600 km2 (137,300 sq mi)
Country	Gran Rugido
State	Xayacatlán, Senora, and Córdoba.
Rivers	Xocoyotzin, Apan, Utapau.
Conservation
Conservation status	Relatively Stable/Intact
Protected	51%

The Jilachi Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Jilachi) is a South Olivacian desert and ecoregion that covers large parts of the center portions of Gran Rugido and the states of Senora, Xayacatlán as well as Córdoba. Covering an estiamte 355,600 square kilometers (137,300 sq mi), the Jilachi Desert is one of the hottest deserts in the region of South Olivacia. The Jilachi Desert in phytogeography, is within the Senoran Floristic province of the Calm Region of eastern South Olivacia, part of the Neotropical realm of the southern Eastern Hemisphere. The desert contains a variety of unique endemic plants and animals, notably, the saguaro and organ pipe cactus. Historically, the Jilachi region provides subtropical warmth in winter and two seasons of rainfall creating an extreme contrast between aridity and moisture. However, since the industrailization and issues with global warming, historical areas of the desert have come to create dry summers and cold winters as a result of the greenhouse effect. Certain areas however, are still proeminent to this contrast between aridity and moisture.

As of 2021, important cities located within the immediate desert include the capital of San Jorge Xayacatlán, the ever-growing Aztlán, Izalco and Izamal.

Etymology

The earliest names for the Jilachi Desert according to the Pre-Canterian civilizations that inhabited Gran Rugido were:Chalko (Sapinish: Place of Sand). Xalyukatlan (Sapinish: Sand desert) and Xalatlajko (Sapinish: Place in the middle of the sands). The Tarascanian people oftern called this region the bilim and both the Tarascans and the Sapinish cultures acknowledged the hostility and near-impossible survivavility of the desert so it became a place were disgraced warriors were exiled without any basic supplies. The issue even continued after human sacrifice often took care of disgraced warrios, criminals or offenders to the polytheist religions of the Tarascans and the Sapinish.

The namesake Jilachi comes from the Alejandro Jilachi de Grijalva, one of the very first Canterians to explore the entirety of the desert. Until the XIX Century, the desert was still refered as Xayacatlán o Xalco. Investigator and descendant of Jilachi de Grijalva, Bruno Grijalva suggested the name Desierto de Jilachi to president Ángel Lenoci as a homage to the Canterian explorer.

Climate

The Jilachi desert has an arid climate. In the lower-elevation portions of the desert, temperatures are warm year-round, and rainfall is infrequent and irregular, often less than 90 mm annually, while the higher-elevation points often recive more even minimal rainfall. During relief efforts of the 2021 Rugidoense drought, concerns between scientists and researchers arose when the first use of cloud seeding was authorized in the area. The main concern was whether this strategy could alter precipitation rates on the area on undesired levels, even capable of destroying flora or fauna around the area.

Flora & Fauna

Further information: Flora of the Jilachi Desert

Many plants not only survive, but thrive in the harsh conditions of the Jilachi Desert. Many have evolved to have specialized adaptations to the desert climate. The Jilachi Desert's bi-seasonal rainfall pattern results in more plant species than regular deserts in Anteria. Over 500 species have been gathered within the border of this desert. These species are characterized by their extraordinary ability to adapt to this extreme environment. The Jilachi is the only place in the world where the famous saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) grows in the wild. Cactus provides food and homes to many desert mammals and birds, with showy flowers in reds, pinks, yellows, and whites, blooming most commonly from late March through June, depending on the species and seasonal temperatures.

The Jilachi Desert flowering (Spanish: desierto florido) can be seen from September to November in years with sufficient precipitation, as happened in 2021.

The climate of the Jilachi Desert limits the number of animals living permanently in this extreme ecosystem. Some parts of the desert are so arid, no plant or animal life can survive. Outside of these extreme areas, sand-colored grasshoppers blend with pebbles on the desert floor, and beetles and their larvae provide a valuable food source in the lomas (hills). Desert wasps and butterflies can be found during the warm and humid season, especially on the lomas. Red scorpions also live in the desert. Birds are one of the most diverse animal groups in the Jilachi with circa three hundred and fifty species making the place their home. Because of the desert's extreme aridity, only a few specially adapted mammal species live in the Jilachi.

Human population

The Jilachi area is home to 4 contemporary Native Rugidoense tribes, with settlements at the Indigenous reservations in Senora and Xayacatlán. The largest city in the Jilachi Desert is the nation's capital San Jorge Xayacatlán, with a 2017 metropolitan population of about 5.3 million. Located in the Sunadic coastline of the desert, it is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country. In 2007 alone, the desert was losing ground to urban sprawl at a rate of approximately 4,000 square meters (1 acre) per hour. The next largest cities are Azltán, in northeast Senora, with a metro area population of just over 2 million, and Izamal, with a similarly sized metropolitan population of around 1,500,000.

Overview of the city Bernardo Castillejos, Xayacatlán

Sapin and Canterian Empires

Rather than populating the site, the Sapin Empire used the Xalco as a method of exile or death punishment called roughly, el Viaje, in which the prisioner or undesirable was deposed from any basic supplies and sent to wander in the barren land until death. Other than that, the presence of the Sapins is found from today's town of Xali. Presence of fresh water in the arid region on the coast facilitated human settlement in these areas. The oasis settlement of Acolman has Pre-Canterian origins and served as an important stopover for transit between the coast and the Paso region during the time of the Sapin Empire.

The coastal cities originated in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries during the time of the Canterian Empire, when they emerged as shipping ports for silver produced in Zaragoza and other mining centers.

Contemporary Times

The very first railway line of Gran Rugido opened in 1899, passed through several sections of the desert as part of the transcontinental San Jorge-Santa Elisa line. Follow up lines would continue to pass through the desert, albeit with less frequency. As of 2021, the population of the desert is stagnant following several droughts and other major events to the desert.

The desert has rich deposits of mineral resources such as copper, gold, silver and iron, as well as nonmetallic minerals including important deposits of boron, lithium, sodium nitrate, and potassium salts. The Salar de Jilachi is where bischofite is extracted. These resources are exploited by various mining companies such as Conamina.

El Cementerio

Main article: Battle of the Jilachi Desert

A VSZ-47 Furore salvaged from the region in the early 1970s

El Cementerio (English: The Graveyard) is the name given to a area 136 miles (220 km) west of the city of Aztlán in which the Battle of the Jilachi Desert took place on May 28, 1969. On the same battle, around 120 - 140 aircraft were shot down in the nearby area, with many of the wrecks deemned unrecoverable by external force or by the remoteness of the site.

After the civil war ended, a few wrecks were recovered from the area at the petition of beloved ones of Loyal or ex-Proceso pilots. Many however, are still unrecoverable and were left in the area. In addition to the protected sites of La Venta and Ensenada, El Cementerio was classified as a protected area due to: its unique image and a reminder of the devastation that we provoked oursevles. In 2011, a memorial was made in the nearest town to the area, Los Torrijos using the wreck of a VSZ-47 Furore. Every Day of the Dead, the memorial is decorated with cempasuchil flowers and candles to conmemorate those whose are still in the area to this day.

Urban myths surrounding the are include apparitions of pilots and a ghost known as La Piloto, knowing for apparently luring both men and women to a certain death in one of the many wrecks.