Guadalajara
Guadalajara was founded on 14 February 1542 by Cristóbal de Oñate, a Basque conquistador, as the capital of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia, part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. After 1572, the Royal Audiencia of Guadalajara, previously subordinate to Mexico City, became the only authority in New Spain with autonomy over Nueva Galicia, owing to rapidly growing wealth in the kingdom following the discovery of silver. By the 18th century, Guadalajara had taken its place as Mexico's second largest city, following mass colonial migrations in the 1720s and 1760s. During the Mexican War of Independence, independence leader Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla established Mexico's first revolutionary government in Guadalajara in 1810. The city flourished during the Porfiriato, with the advent of the industrial revolution, but its growth was hampered significantly during the Mexican Revolution. In 1929, the Cristero War ended within the confines of the city, when President Plutarco Elías Calles proclaimed the Grito de Guadalajara. The city saw continuous growth throughout the rest of the 20th century, attaining a metro population of 1 million in the 1960s and surpassing 3 million in the 1990s.
Guadalajara is a gamma global city, and one of Mexico's most important cultural centers. It is home to numerous mainstays of Mexican culture, including Mariachi, Tequila, and Birria and hosts numerous notable events, including the Guadalajara International Film Festival, the most important film festival in Latin America, and the Guadalajara International Book Fair, the largest book fair in the Americas. The city was the American Capital of Culture in 2005 and has hosted numerous global events, including the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 1st Ibero-American Summit in 1991, and the 2011 Pan American Games. The city is home to numerous universities and research institutions, including the University of Guadalajara and the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, two of the highest-ranked universities in Mexico.
The conquistador Cristóbal de Oñate named the city in honor of the conqueror of western Mexico, Nuño de Guzmán, who was born in Guadalajara, Spain. The name comes from the Arabic وادي الحجارة (wādī al-ḥajārah), which means 'Valley of the Stone', or 'Fortress Valley'.
Map - Guadalajara
Map
Country - Mexico
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
MXV | Mexican Unidad de Inversion | 2 | |
MXN | Mexican peso | $ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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ES | Spanish language |