Titled No. 12: Guerrero, this 1922 state sheet captures a pivotal moment in Mexico’s post-revolutionary cartography, when science and nation-building converged. Issued by the Mexico Direccion de Estudios Geograficos y Climatologicos under the Secretaria de Agricultura y Fomento, it bears the intellectual imprint of Ing. Sotero Prieto and Ing. Luciano Lopez Sorcini, with consummate printing executed by zincographers including Antonio Hernandez. A full-color palette animates the terrain, while elegant decorative elements—drawing on pan-Mesoamerican, notably Mayan, motifs—frame the composition with a learned, antiquarian grace. The result is both an administrative instrument and a statement of cultural identity: a map that situates Guerrero within the modern Mexican state while celebrating the region’s deep historical strata, from coastal markets and silver towns to the formidable mountains that have shaped its history.

Guerrero’s dramatic physiography is rendered with sculptural clarity. Relief shading models the serrated spine of the Sierra Madre del Sur, casting valleys and passes into legible depth, while the broad trough of the Balsas River system threads east–west through the state’s hot lowlands. Rivers and seasonal arroyos lace toward the Pacific, feeding coastal lagoons and estuaries that the sheet traces with lyrical precision. Along the littoral, isolines and soundings articulate the bathymetry off Acapulco Bay and the headlands beyond, guiding eye and imagination offshore. Boundaries are quietly authoritative, delineating districts and municipalities without disturbing the topographic narrative. The balance of color and line gives equal voice to hydrology, elevation, and jurisdiction—a harmonized portrait that turns rugged complexity into navigable knowledge.

Infrastructure, the lifeblood of early twentieth-century modernization, receives exacting attention. Roads are ranked and coursed across the mountains in purposeful strands, illustrating how Guerrero’s interior knits to the national heartland through high passes toward Chilpancingo and Iguala. Railways, sparing but strategic, stitch mining districts and market towns into the wider network, with spurs angling toward coastal entrepôts and valleys of agricultural promise. Bridges, river crossings, and junctions are resolved with crisp symbols that reward close study. In this cartographic grammar, one can read the ambitions of the era: state-building through connectivity, resource routes lifting silver and produce toward distant depots, and coastal corridors poised to amplify trade. The map records not only what was, but what planners envisioned might soon be.

The urban and civic hierarchy unfolds across the sheet in careful gradations. Acapulco, cupping its famous bay, commands the coast as a historic entrepôt; inland, Chilpancingo stands as the administrative anchor, plotted amid the mountain ramparts that define its role and reach. Iguala, remembered for its independence-era legacy as well as its markets, occupies a pivotal node on the interior routes, while Taxco, perched amid fractured ridges, signals centuries of silver wealth and labor. Zihuatanejo, still intimate in scale, nestles along the shoreline, its anchorage and fisheries legible in the coastal detailing. Hamlets, rancherías, and haciendas feather outward in symbols that subtly differentiate size and function, turning the scatter of settlements into a visible social geography shaped by terrain, trade, and history.

Behind the elegance lies a rigorously modern program. Under Prieto’s mathematical exactitude and Lopez Sorcini’s engineering sensibility, the Direccion fashioned a state series intended to serve science as much as administration. This sheet’s full-color relief and hydrography were designed to be read in concert with synchronized geologic charts, enabling comparisons vital to mining districts like Taxco, irrigation prospects along the Balsas, and the hazard-aware planning of coastal ports. Zincographic craftsmanship—Antonio Hernandez among its exponents—delivers superfine linework, consistent hachures, and labels that hold crisp under scrutiny. Together, these choices advance a cartography that is both visionary and practical: an artifact where decorative heritage, empirical observation, and national purpose meet on equal terms, illuminating Guerrero with uncommon depth and dignity.

Cities and towns on this map

• Acapulco
• Chilpancingo
• Iguala
• Taxco
• Zihuatanejo

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Major roads and railroads connecting different areas.
• Boundaries distinguishing various regions and counties.
• Locations of major cities such as Acapulco and Chilpancingo.
• Representation of natural features including rivers and lakes.
• Shading techniques indicating topographical relief.
• Use of isolines for depicting water depths.
• Full-color visual representation for ease of understanding geographical features.
• Overlay feature of relief maps and geologic maps for detailed comparisons.

Historical and design context

• Map Name: No. 12: Guerrero.
• Creation Year: 1922.
• Publisher: Mexico Direccion de Estudios Geograficos y Climatologicos, under the Secretaria de Agricultura y Fomento.
• Mapmaker: Ing. Sotero Prieto and Ing. Luciano Lopez Sorcini, with contributions from zincographers such as Antonio Hernandez.
• Region Covered: Guerrero, a state in Mexico.
• Historical Significance: Reflects the geography of Mexico during the early 20th century and showcases the region’s cultural heritage, evident in decorative Mayan illustrations and cartographic style.

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 90in (230cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.