Guadalajara

/gwahd'l euh hahr"euh/; Sp. /gwah'dhah lah hah"rddah/, n.

a city in and the capital of Jalisco, in W Mexico. 2,000,000.

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City (pop., 2000: city, 1,646,183; metro. area, 3,677,531), capital of Jalisco state, west-central Mexico.

Mexico's second largest city, it lies near the Río Grande de Santiago at an elevation of about 5,100 ft (1,550 m). Founded by the Spanish in 1531, it was relocated several times under pressure from Indians. In 1810 it was occupied briefly by the independence leader Miguel Hidalgo. Since 1940 it has become a major industrial producer while retaining a rich agricultural trade. The governor's palace, begun in 1743, is a noted example of Spanish Mexican architecture. Guadalajara is the site of two universities.

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▪ Mexico

Introduction

 city, capital of Jalisco estado (state), west-central Mexico. It lies roughly in the centre of the state in the Atemajac Valley near the Grande de Santiago River, at an elevation of about 5,100 feet (1,550 metres). Its climate is dry and mild except for the rainy season, which extends from July to mid-September. Pop. (2000) city, 1,646,183; (2005 est.) urban agglom., 3,968,000.

History

      From its founding by the Spanish in 1531 until the 1540s, the city was relocated several times because of resistance from Indians, thousands of whom were captured by Guadalajara-based slave hunters during the early colonial period. The city was made the seat of a bishopric in 1549. It remained prominent throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, and in 1810 it was occupied briefly by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (Hidalgo y Costilla, Miguel), who initiated the independence movement and decreed the abolition of slavery in Mexico. Guadalajara has produced several Mexican political and cultural leaders, including the 19th-century Liberal politician Valentín Gómez Farías (Gómez Farías, Valentín); Mariano Azuela (Azuela, Mariano), a prominent novelist of the Mexican Revolution (1910–20); and the political leader and writer Agustín Yáñez (Yáñez, Agustín).

      Guadalajara experienced substantial growth after the 1930s, and by the 1970s it was Mexico's second largest city. Modern residential suburbs, linked by highways and wide boulevards, have attracted members of the upper and middle classes from the older parts of the city. Meanwhile, other neighbourhoods have persisted as impoverished suburbs or inner-city districts.

The contemporary city

      The cathedral, completed in 1618, is richly decorated. Many other churches dating from the colonial period are interspersed with modern industrial and commercial buildings. Cultural institutions of note include the Degollado Theatre, which is one of the largest and most ornate in Latin America; the State Museum of Jalisco (1918); and the Cabañas Hospice, a former 19th-century orphanage (now a museum) that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. Guadalajara was the home of the painter José Clemente Orozco (Orozco, José Clemente) (1883–1949), and various buildings around the city, including the Cabañas Hospice, house many of his finest frescoes. The governor's palace, begun in 1743, is one of the finest examples of Spanish architecture in Mexico.

      Guadalajara's economy is traditionally based on its services as a political capital and as a commercial entrepôt for the surrounding agricultural region, which is devoted primarily to corn (maize), beans, and livestock. Since 1940 the city has also been a major manufacturer of textiles, electronics, chemicals, building materials, tobacco products, soft drinks, and other products. Handicrafts are also important. The city is home to the University of Guadalajara (Guadalajara, University of) (1925), one of the largest institutions of higher education in Mexico, and the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (1935). The military schools of aviation (1915), air force specialists (1934), supply and maintenance (1942), and signals (1920) are in suburban Zapopan.

      Guadalajara is served by an international airport. It is linked by railroad and highway with several cities, including the main western routes between Mexico City to the east-southeast and the southwestern United States border (at Nogales, Arizona) to the northwest. Lake Chapala (Chapala, Lake), some 30 miles (50 km) south of the city, is Mexico's most extensive lake, but it has been shrinking as its source waters have been increasingly diverted.

▪ Spain

      city, capital of Guadalajara provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Castile–La Mancha, central Spain. It is situated on the Henares River northeast of Madrid. The city, the ancient Arriaca, is Iberian in origin and was for a time held by the Romans, but its name is derived from Arabic (Wādī al-Ḥijārah, River of Stones). Taken by Christian forces in 1085, the city from the 15th to the 17th century was the seat of the Mendoza family, duques del Infantado, who were munificent patrons of Spanish artists and writers. The facade of their palace (begun 1461; now an orphanage) is the city's chief artistic monument; the churches of Santa María de la Fuente (13th century), San Ginés (Mudéjar style; once part of a Dominican monastery), and San Nicolás (1691) are also notable.

      The city was a commercial centre (woolens) in the Middle Ages. Modern Guadalajara maintains its traditional agricultural industries, but its economy has grown with the addition of modern textile and machinery manufacturing facilities. The city has high-speed-train service to Madrid. It is the site of a military airfield. Pop. (2006 est.) 74,149.

▪ province, Spain

      provincia (province) in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Castile–La Mancha, central Spain, occupying part of the uptilted northeastern edge of the Meseta Central (plateau). In the north are highlands that reach their greatest elevations in Cerro de San Felipe (7,214 feet [2,199 metres]), and other spurs of the Sierra de Guadarrama. In the south, the land slopes into the plateau basin of the Meseta Central. In the extreme southeast, the land rises again to form the Sierra de Albarracín. Guadalajara is crossed by several tributaries of the Tagus River, including the Henares, Jarama, and Tajuña, which have been utilized for hydroelectric power and irrigation through the dams of Entrepeñas, Buendía, and Bolarque. There are nuclear power plants at Zorita and Trillo.

      The provincial capital, Guadalajara city, and the towns of Hita, Sigüenza, and Atienza were important as economic and cultural centres in medieval times, but only Guadalajara is now a major population centre with diverse industries. Molina in the northeast is considered to be Spain's coldest city. About half the province is unproductive, but sheep raising on the pastures provides a large contribution to the economy. Tourism, based on hunting and fishing, is also important. Cereals are widely grown; olives and grapevines are cultivated. The Alcarria plain in the southwest is noted for its honey. Area 4,715 square miles (12,212 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) 224,076.

Vicente Rodriguez

 

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