Home to nearly five million inhabitants, the state of
Guanajuato is located in central
México. Capital city is
Guanajuato. The north is mountainous, while the south is largely devoted to
agriculture (corn
maize,
beans,
barley, and
wheat). The first
Spanish settlement in
Guanajuato was that of
San Miguel de Allende in
1542. During
colonial times, the capital city was an important silver-mining area. In
1810 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla began the
Mexican war for
independence and took the city of
Guanajuato in the same year. The state was also home to a number of important battles during the Revolution of 1910, with
Pancho Villa losing his chance to march to the
capital at the Battle of
Silao (if I remember correctly). Other important cities are
León, Irapuato, Salamanca and Celaya. The region became a state in
1824.
The principal
industry is mining (
gold,
tin,
lead,
mercury,
copper, and opals, in addition to
silver). Other industries include flour mills, tanneries and
leather factories,
cotton and woollen mills, distilleries, heavy industrial factories (General Motors) and foundries. The state is traversed by
railroads and highways, with the four-lane
highway from
León to Irapuato considered a prime example of modernizing the Mexican transportation system.
Guanajuato citySpanish colonial city founded in 1554 which became one of the three important silver-producing centers of the Spanish Empire during the 16th century (along with
Zacatecas and
San Luis Potosí. The mine called "La Valenciana" was particularly rich and helped produce the gold-filled church of the same name. The Alhondiga (a granary turned armory) was overtaken by independence forces led by Father Miguel Hidalgo in 1810. When Miguel Hidalgo was finally captured, his head was skewered on a pole and set in front of the Alhondiga for all to see. The Museum of the Mummies is famous for displaying well-preserved corpses that were dug up during the construction of underground streets (
IIRC, I'd have to ask the relatives down south about that). The Cervantino Festival is an annual event occuring every October which celebrates the works of
Miguel Cervantes, author of
Don Quixote and many other tales. Many a party is to be found during the two weeks or so of the festival, and hotel rooms throughout the city are booked months in advance by just about every type of person imaginable. I have unfortunately not been able to experience the Cervantino, but hope to do so before I get too old.
Population: city (1990) = 73,108; (2000 estimate) = 77,000... state (1980) = 3,006,110; (1990) = 3,982,593; (2000 estimate) = 4,656,761.
Population provided by www.citypopulation.de