State of Jalisco
Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco
Coat of arms of State of Jalisco
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Jalisco es México
Location within Mexico
Location within Mexico
Coordinates: 20°34′00″N 103°40′35″W / 20.566667, -103.67639
Country  Mexico
Capital Guadalajara
Municipalities 126
Largest City Guadalajara
Government
 - Governor Emilio González Márquez (PAN)
 - Federal Deputies PAN: 18
PRI: 1
 - Federal Senators Eva Contreras (PAN)
Héctor Pérez (PAN)
Ramiro Hernández (PRI)
Area Ranked 6th
 - Total 79,085 km2 (30,534.9 sq mi)
Population (2005)
 - Total 6,752,113 (Ranked 4th)
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
HDI (2004) 0.8007 - high
Ranked 13th
ISO 3166-2 MX-JAL
Postal abbr. Jal.
- State flag adopted in 2007[1]
Website: www.jalisco.gob.mx

Jalisco is a state in Mexico. The capital of Jalisco is the city of Guadalajara. In the 2005 census, Jalisco had a population of 6,752,113 people. Jalisco is known for being the birthplace of mariachi music.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The state's name, meaning "sandy plain," derives from the Nahuatl words xalli (meaning "sand" or "gravel") and ixtli (meaning "face," or, by extension, "plain").

[edit] Geography

The state of Jalisco borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the states of Nayarit to the northwest, Zacatecas, and Aguascalientes to the north, Guanajuato to the east, and Colima and Michoacán to the south. It has an area of 79,085 km2 (30,535 sq mi).

Mexico's largest freshwater lake, Lake Chapala, lies within the boundaries of Jalisco.

[edit] Government and politics

The Constitution of the State of Jalisco provides that the government of Jalisco, like the government of every other state in Mexico, formally consists of three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

Executive power rests with the Governor of Jalisco, who is directly elected through secret ballot to a 6-year term, with no possibility of reelection. Legislative power rests with the Congress of Jalisco which is a unicameral legislature composed of 40 deputies. Judicial power is invested in the Superior Court of Justice of Jalisco.

[edit] Municipalities and regions

Main article: Municipalities of Jalisco

Like the rest of Mexico, the state of Jalisco is divided into municipalities (communes), most of which are named after the town that serves as the municipal seat. Unlike English-language municipalities, Mexican municipalities include both a central city or town and surrounding villages, towns and rural land. Each municipio has a municipal president. The largest municipio in Jalisco is Mezquitic.

The municipalities are grouped into the following regions (regiones):[2]

  • Altos Norte
  • Altos Sur
  • Centro
  • Ciénega
  • Costa Norte
  • Costa Sur
  • Norte
  • Sierra de Amula
  • Sierra Occidental
  • Sur
  • Sureste
  • Valles

[edit] Demography

The population of Jalisco is around 6,753,114 inhabitants according to the 2005 INEGI census. The 2000 INEGI census indicates that there are about 4,000,000 people in the greater Guadalajara metropolitan area. The overall population growth rate for Jalisco in the 2000-2005 period was 1.8%, and it is estimated that the economically active population is 1,756,501 [3]

[edit] Tequila

Jalisco is the center of the Mexican tequila industry, and the town of Tequila, Jalisco, which gave its name to the famous liquor, is located there. The volcanic soil covering much of the state of Jalisco is particularly well suited for the cultivation of the blue agave plant, which is used as the base for tequila.

[edit] Mariachi

There are many hypotheses about where this lively music originated from, but most people agree that Cocula, Jalisco was its birth place.

Today, Mariachis are seen as a symbol of the Mexican Revolution and as the Mexican pride. Mariachi groups are usually hired for festive occasions, such as birthday parties, quinceñera (traditional parties for women who are turning 15 years of age), and weddings.

[edit] Huichols

The indigeneous people Huichols (wirrarita or wixarita in the huichol language), live in the north of Jalisco. It is hard to get to the towns of Huichols, as they are somewhat isolated because of the mountains. They call themselves wixarica, "The People," in their own language. The name Huichol comes from their name in the Nahuatl language.

Their language belongs to the linguistic division of Cora-chol, from the Uto-Aztec family. This language is related to the Nahuatl language.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Ley sobre el Escudo, Bandera e Himno del Estado de Jalisco" (Word Document) (in Spanish) Page 2. Congreso del Estado de Jalisco (2007-02-22). Retrieved on 2008-12-08.
  2. ^ Municipios de Jalisco
  3. ^ Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

[edit] External links

Exhibition of artisan from Tonala, Jalisco in New York

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jalisco


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Political divisions of Mexico