guadalajara

Guadalajara (Spanish pronunciation [gwa.ð̞a.laˈ.xa.ɾa]) is the capital city of the state of Jalisco and it is also the second most populated city in Mexico. Located in the Western-Pacific region, Guadalajara is known as La Perla del Occidente (Spanish for "Pearl of the West"), la Perla Tapatía ("tapatío" is the formal adjective of origin for people and things from Guadalajara) and Ciudad de las Rosas (City of the Roses). The city is also the birthplace of mariachi music and charreadas. This attractive city is considered by some to be the "most Mexican" city, and the capital of Jalisco, the "most Mexican" state. Guadalajara is also the home to one of the most popular and beloved soccer teams in Mexico: Guadalajara.

History

During the Colonial era, Guadalajara became the capital of Nueva Galicia and after the War of Independence it became the capital of the Intendencia of Guadalajara.

Guadalajara was settled in three different locations (Nochistlán, Tonalá and Tlacotlán) before the Atemajac Valley where it now rests. Beatriz Hernández was responsible for choosing the location saying "I bet for my King and it is my belief that we shall go to Atemajac Valley, and if it's done otherwise, it will be done in God's and the King's service, anything else would be showing cowardice". Guadalajara was then established in Atemajac Valley on February 14, 1542 under the Royal order of king Charles V.

Guadalajara played an strategic role during the Independence War, the Reformation War, and the Mexican Revolution of 1910. It has provided some of the finest artists, authors and philantropists of the country and has helped to shape, as no other city has, the culture of Mexico as known homeabroad.

Population

The Municipality of Guadalajara is the most populated in Jalisco with 1,646,183 inhabitants^[1]. However, The Guadalajara Metropolitan Area also includes the municipalities of Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, Tlajomulco, Zapotlanejo and Ixtlahuacán del Río, which together totaled 4,100,000 inhabitants in 2005. Guadalajara is the second most populous metro area after Mexico City.

The city is named after the Spanish city of Guadalajara, whose name originates from the Arabic Wad-al-hidjara, meaning "River Running Between Rocks".

Economy

The city refers to itself as the Silicon Valley of Mexico. Such high-technology companies as General Electric, Intel, Hitachi, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, Flextronics and Solectron have facilities in the city or its suburbs.

Guadalajara is also a major trade, transport and communication center. It is an important touristic destination center in itself and serves as an axis of an array of nearby touristic destinations (Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan).

Guadalajara is well connected by modern highways to Mexico City, to the Northwest and to the major beach resorts of Manzanilo and Puerto Vallarta. Guadalajara's airport is the fourth more active of the country (after Mexico City, Cancun and Monterrey) with direct flights to many Mexican and American cities. It also has a lively and distinctive network of car-free streets.

The People

Most people from Guadalajara are known as tapatíos. As in the rest of the country, tapatios are mostly mestizos (blend of Spaniard and Amerindian) and Catholic.There is, however, a large population of people of German, Slavic, and French ancestry in Guadalajara as well. There is an important American community in nearby Ajijic. A relatively important national evangelical church (Iglesia de la Luz del Mundo) has its headquarters in this city.

Although Tapatios are best known as conservative, tolerance to a diversity of beliefs and preferences is increasing.

Celebrities born in Guadalajara include film star Gael García Bernal, tennis player Antonio Palafox, golf player Lorena Ochoa, footballer Oswaldo Sanchez, singer Vicente Fernández, singer Alejandro Fernández (Vicente Fernández's son), film director Guillermo del Toro, artist Pedro Fernandez, and artist Xavier Martinez.

Airport

The city is served by the Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport also known as Guadalajara International Airport.

Education

The Universidad de Guadalajara, the state's public university, has its main campuses and administrative offices here. This University is the second largest in Mexico and ranks among the then largest in the world. Guadalajara has campuses of several universities such as Universidad del Valle de Mexico (UVM), ITESO, Tec de Monterrey (ITESM), Universidad Panamericana (UP), and Universidad del Valle de Atemajac (UNIVA), as well as the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG), the first and oldest private university in Mexico.

Sports and Culture

There are three major football clubs. The most important being: Chivas and, Atlas. Also, UAG is associated with the first division football club Tecos. Atlas and Chivas share the Estadio Jalisco, while Estadio Tres de Marzo is the home of the Tecos. A new stadium for Chivas, called the Estadio Chivas is currently under construction.

On 28 October 2004 Guadalajara was declared the American Capital of Culture for 2005.

Disaster

Main article: 1992 explosion in Guadalajara

Guadalajara is also known for the great disaster of April 22, 1992, which took place in the downtown district of Analco. Numerous explosions originated in the sewer system, which was inexplicably saturated with gasoline fumes and gasoline. During a period of four hours, several explosions destroyed kilometers of streets; in particular, Gante street was the most damaged. The force of the explosions was such, that some newspaper pictures show a bus atop a two-storied building's rooftop. Officially 206 people were killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 were left homeless. The affected area can be recognized by the more modern architecture, in stark contrast with the surrounding area, which has much older buildings. To date, Pemex, the state-owned oil company, has not accepted any responsibility for the enormous amounts of gasoline found in the sewage system, although it agreed to create a fund to compensate the families affected by this catastrophe.

Guadalajara is also the site of major seismological activity with a high-scale earthquake occurring about every 80 years.

Sister Cities

• Sevilla,  Spain
• Lansing, Michigan, USA
• Portland, Oregon, USA
• Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
• Kansas City, Missouri, USA
• San Antonio, Texas, USA
• Tucson, Arizona, USA

Gallery of Guadalajara

See also

• Panteón de Belén
• Hospicio Cabañas - a World Heritage Site in Guadalajara
• Nuño Guzmán de Beltran, founder of Guadalajara
• Latin American painters, master painters of Latin America

External links

• H. Ayuntamiento de Guadalajara
• Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco
• Guadalajara Hotels Online hotel reservation, weather forecast, events information.