Popocatépetl

Popocatépetl (pōpəkăt'əpĕtəl, pōpō'kätā'pətəl) [Aztec,=smoking mountain], volcano, 17,887 ft (5,452 m) high, in the Cordillera de Anáhuac, central Mexico, on the Puebla-Mexico state border; the second highest peak in Mexico. The perpetually snowcapped cone is symmetrical, and the large crater has practically pure sulfur deposits only partially exploited. The ascent, which is fairly easy, was probably first made by Europeans in 1519 by one of Cortés's men. Active during the first two centuries of Spanish colonial times, the volcano's last major eruption was in 1702; however, it was active in the 1920s and began erupting again in 1994.