The town was known as "San Miguel Pochuta" during the Spanish colony and was elevated to a municipality in 1921. It has an area of 170 km2 and its municipal capital sits at 916 m above sea level. The main religious annual celebrations are in September, after Michael Archangel.
Name origin
"Pochuta" comes from the nahuatlPochotl or Pochotla, which means "Place of ceibas".