title: Demographics of Germany

text: In 2019 there were also a growing number of at least 529,000 black Afro-Germans defined as people with an African migrant background. Out of them more than 400 thousand have a citizenship of a Subsahara-African country, with others being German citizens. Most of them live in Berlin and Hamburg. Numerous persons from northern African Tunisia and Morocco live in Germany. While they are considered members of a minority group, for the most part, they do not considers themselves "Afro-Germans," nor are most of them perceived as such by the German people. However, Germany does not keep any statistics regarding ethnicity or race. Hence, the exact number of Germans of African descent is unknown.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: and Vietnamese people in Germany, numbering 188,000,many of whom living in Berlin and eastern Germany.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Also there are about 35,000 Japanese citizens residing in Germany. There are also groups of South Asian and Southeast Asian immigrants. Around 163,000 Indians and 124,000 Pakistanis live in Germany. Additionally some 30,000 Filipino citizens and more than 20,000 Indonesian citizens reside in Germany.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Numerous descendants of the so-called "Gastarbeiter" live in Germany. The "Gastarbeiter" mostly came from Turkey, Italy, Greece, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, the former Yugoslavia, Tunisia and Chile.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Also included were Vietnam, Mongolia, North Korea, Angola, Mozambique and Cuba when the former East Germany existed until reunification in 1990. The (socialist) German Democratic Republic (East Germany) however had their guest-workers stay in single-sex dormitories. Female guest workers had to sign contracts saying that they were not allowed to fall pregnant during their stay. If they fell pregnant nevertheless they faced forced abortion or deportation. This is one of the reasons why the vast majority of ethnic minorities today lives in western Germany and also one of the reasons why minorities such as the Vietnamese have the most unusual population pyramid, with nearly all second-generation Vietnamese Germans born after 1989.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: This list does not include non-ethnic Germans with German nationality and foreign nationals without resident status.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: With an estimated 83.2 million inhabitants in December 2020,Germany is the second-most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ranks as the 19th largest country in the world in terms of population. Its population density stands at 233 inhabitants per square kilometer.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Germany comprises sixteen states that are collectively referred to as "Länder". Due to differences in size and population the subdivision of these states varies, especially between city-states ("Stadtstaaten") and states with larger territories ("Flächenländer"). For regional administrative purposes four states, namely Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, consist of a total of 19 Government Districts ("Regierungsbezirke"). As of 2019 Germany is divided into 400 districts ("Kreise") on municipal level, these consist of 294 rural districts and 106 urban districts.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Germany officially has eleven metropolitan regions. In 2005, Germany had 82 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The United Nations Population Fund lists Germany as host to the third-highest number of international migrants worldwide, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia. The largest ethnic group of non-German origin are the Turkish. Since the 1960s, West and later reunified Germany has attracted immigrants primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Turkey, many of whom (or their children) have acquired German citizenship over time. While most of these immigrants initially arrived as guest workers, changes to guest worker legislation allowed many to stay and to build lives in Germany.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Germany had signed special visa agreements with several countries in times of severe labour shortages or when particular skills were deficient within the country. During the 1960s and 1970s, agreements were signed with the governments of Turkey, Yugoslavia, Italy and Spain to help Germany overcome its severe labour shortage.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: As of 2012, after Germany fully legalized visa-free immigrants from the eastern states of the EU, the largest sources of net immigration to Germany were other European countries, most importantly Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Greece; notably, in the case of Turkey, German Turks moving to Turkey slightly outnumbered new immigrants in 2012, however, in recent years there are more Turkish immigrants in Germany than emigrants again, including illegal Turkish migrants.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: In 2015, there was a large increase in asylum applications, mainly due to the violent conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: 476,649 asylum applications were counted that year..This number went up to even 745,545 in 2016 and began to decline after it.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Responsibility for educational oversight in Germany lies primarily with the individual federated states. Since the 1960s, a reform movement has attempted to unify secondary education into a "Gesamtschule" (comprehensive school); several West German states later simplified their school systems to two or three tiers. A system of apprenticeship called "Duale Ausbildung" ("dual education") allows pupils in vocational training to learn in a company as well as in a state-run vocational school.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory for at least nine years, depending on the state. Primary education usually lasts for four years and public schools are not stratified at this stage. In contrast, secondary education includes three traditional types of schools focused on different levels of academic ability: the "Gymnasium" enrols the most academically promising children and prepares students for university studies; the "Realschule" for intermediate students lasts six years; the "Hauptschule" prepares pupils for vocational education.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: In addition Germany has a comprehensive school known as the "Gesamtschule". While some German schools such as the Gymnasium and the Realschule have rather strict entrance requirements, the Gesamtschule does not have such requirements. They offer college preparatory classes for the students who are doing well, general education classes for average students, and remedial courses for those who aren't doing that well. In most cases students attending a Gesamtschule may graduate with the Hauptschulabschluss, the Realschulabschluss or the Abitur depending on how well they did in school.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The percentage of students attending a Gesamtschule varies by Bundesland. In 2007 the State of Brandenburg more than 50% of all students attended a Gesamtschule, while in the State of Bavaria less than 1% did.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The general entrance requirement for university is Abitur, a qualification normally based on continuous assessment during the last few years at school and final examinations; however there are a number of exceptions, and precise requirements vary, depending on the state, the university and the subject. Germany's universities are recognised internationally; in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) for 2008, six of the top 100 universities in the world are in Germany, and 18 of the top 200. Nearly all German universities are public institutions, tuition fees in the range of €500 were introduced in some states after 2006, but quickly abolished again until 2014.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Over 99% of those of age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write. However, a growing number of inhabitants are functionally illiterate. The young are much more likely to be functionally illiterate than the old. According to a study done by the University of Bremen in cooperation with the "Bundesverband Alphabetisierung e.V.", 10% of youngsters living in Germany are functionally illiterate and one quarter are able to understand only basic level texts. Illiteracy rates of youngsters vary by ethnic group and parents' socioeconomic class.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: , the principal cause of death was cardiovascular disease, at 42%, followed by malignant tumours, at 25%.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: , about 82,000 Germans had been infected with HIV/AIDS and 26,000 had died from the disease (cumulatively, since 1982).


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The national constitutions of 1919 and 1949 guarantee freedom of faith and religion; earlier, these freedoms were mentioned only in state constitutions. The modern constitution of 1949 also states that no one may be discriminated against due to their faith or religious opinions. A state church does not exist in Germany (see Freedom of religion in Germany).


title: Demographics of Germany

text: According to a 1990s poll by "Der Spiegel", 45% of Germans believe in God, and a quarter in Jesus Christ. According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2010, 44% of German citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", 25% responded that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 27% responded that "they don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". 4% gave no response.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Christianity is the largest religion in Germany, comprising an estimated 53.9% of the country's population.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The two largest churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), have lost significant number of adherents. In 2020 the Catholic Church accounted for 26.7% and the Evangelical Church for 24.3% of the population. Orthodox Church has 1.9% and other Christian churches and groups summed up to 1.1% of the population. Since the reunification of Germany, the number of non-religious people has grown and an estimated 40.7% of the country's population are not affiliated with any church or religion.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The other religions make up to less than 1% of the population. Buddhism has around 200,000 adherents (0.2%), Judaism has around 200,000 adherents (0.2%), Hinduism 90,000 (0.1%), Sikhism 75,000 (0.1%) and Yazidis religion (45,000–60,000). All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 (<0.1%) adherents.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Protestantism is concentrated in the north and east and Roman Catholicism is concentrated in the south and west. According to the last nationwide census, Protestantism is more widespread among the population with German citizenship; there are slightly more Catholics total because of the Catholic immigrant population (including such groups as Poles and Italians). The former Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in Bavaria. Non-religious people, including atheists and agnostics, might make up as many as 55% of the total population, and are especially numerous in the former East Germany and major metropolitan areas.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Of the roughly 4 million Muslims, most are Sunnis and Alevites from Turkey, but there are a small number of Shi'ites and other denominations. 1.9% of the country's overall population declare themselves Orthodox Christians, with Serbs, Greeks, Romanians, Ukrainians and Russians being the most numerous. Germany has Europe's third-largest Jewish population (after France and the United Kingdom). In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total Jewish population to more than 200,000, compared to 30,000 prior to German reunification. Large cities with significant Jewish populations include Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. Around 250,000 active Buddhists live in Germany; 50% of them are Asian immigrants.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: German is the only official and most widely spoken language. Standard German is understood throughout the country.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: In 2021, the Federal Statistical Office of Germany included a new question regarding the language spoken at home in the micro-census, a large sample survey that yearly covers approximately 1% of the German population living in private households, and the results were as follows:


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Danish, Low German, Low Rhenish, the Sorbian languages (Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian), and the two Frisian languages, Saterfrisian and North Frisian, are officially recognized and protected as minority languages by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in their respective regions. With speakers of Romany living in all parts of Germany, the federal government has promised to take action to protect the language. Until now, only Hesse has followed Berlin's announcement, and agreed on implementing concrete measures to support Romany speakers.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Implementation of the Charter is poor. The monitoring reports on charter implementation in Germany show many provisions unfulfilled.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: German dialects – some quite distinct from the standard language – are used in everyday speech, especially in rural regions. Many dialects, for example the Upper German varieties, are to some degree cultivated as symbols of regional identity and have their own literature, theaters and some TV programming. While speaking a dialect outside its native region might be frowned upon, in their native regions some dialects can be spoken by all social classes. . Nevertheless, partly due to the prevalence of Standard German in media, the use of dialects has declined over the past century, especially in the younger population.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The social status of different German dialects can vary greatly. The Alemannic and Bavarian dialects of the south are positively valued by their speakers and can be used in almost all social circumstances. The Saxonian and Thuringian dialects have less prestige and are subject to derision. While Bavarian and Alemannic have kept much of their distinctiveness, the Middle German dialects, which are closer to Standard German, have lost some of their distinctive lexical and grammatical features and tend to be only pronunciation variants of Standard German.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Low Saxon is officially recognized as a language on its own, but despite this fact, there's little official action taken on fostering the language. Historically one third of Germany's territory and population was Low Saxon speaking. No data was ever collected on the actual number of speakers, but today the number of speakers ranges around 5 million persons. Despite this relatively high number of speakers there is very little coverage in the media (mostly on NDR TV, no regular programming) and very little education in or on the language. The language is not fixed as part of the school curriculum and Low Saxon is used as a medium of instruction in one school only in the whole Germany (as a "model project" in primary school sided by education in Standard German). As a consequence the younger generation refused to adopt the native language of their parents. Language prevalence dropped from more than 90% (depending on the exact region) in the 1930s to less than 5% today. This accounts for a massive intergenerational gap in language use. Older people regularly use the language and take private initiative to maintain the language, but the lack of innovative potential of the younger generation hinders language maintenance. The language too has an own literature (around 150 published books every year) and there are many theatres (mostly lay stages, but some professional ones, like for example Ohnsorg-Theater).


title: Demographics of Germany

text: Use of Low Saxon is mainly restricted to use among acquaintances, like family members, neighbours and friends. A meeting of a village council can be held almost completely in Low Saxon if all participants know each other (as long as written protocols are written in Standard German), but a single foreigner can make the whole switching to Standard German.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: The Low Saxon dialects are different in their status too. There's a north–south gradient in language maintenance. The Southern dialects of Westfalian, Eastfalian and Brandenburgish have had much stronger speaker losses, than the northern coastal dialects of Northern Low Saxon. While Eastfalian has lost speakers to Standard German, Westfalian has lost speakers to Standard German and Standard German based regiolect of the Rhine-Ruhr area. Brandenburgish speakers mostly switched to the Standard German-based regiolect of Berlin. Brandenburgish is almost completely replaced by the Berlin regiolect. Northern Low Saxon speakers switched mostly to pure Standard German.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: English is the most common foreign language and almost universally taught by the secondary level; it is also taught at elementary level in some states. Other commonly-taught languages are French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. Dutch is taught in states bordering the Netherlands, and Polish in the eastern states bordering Poland. Latin and Ancient Greek are part of the classical education syllabus offered in many secondary schools.


title: Demographics of Germany

text: According to a 2004 survey, two-thirds of Germany's citizens have at least basic knowledge of English. About 20% consider themselves to be competent speakers of French, followed by speakers of Russian (7%), Italian (6.1%), and Spanish (5.6%). The relatively high number of Russian speakers is a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union to Germany for almost 10 consecutive years, plus its having been learned in school by many older former East Germans as compulsory first foreign language.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: Robert Stanley Dyrdek (born June 28, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, actor, producer, reality TV personality, and former professional skateboarder. He is best known for his roles in the MTV reality and variety shows "Rob & Big", "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory", and "Ridiculousness". In addition to his television ventures, Dyrdek is a serial entrepreneur, founding several businesses through his venture studio, Dyrdek Machine, including Street League Skateboarding and Superjacket Productions (now Thrill One Media).


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: Dyrdek was born on June 28, 1974, in Kettering, Ohio, to Gene and Patty Dyrdek. He was involved in sports as a child and began skateboarding at the age of 11. Of his early interest in the sport, Dyrdek has stated, "I was so focused on becoming a pro skateboarder. I would sit in school and think about all the tricks I was going to do, then I'd get out of school and skate until they made me come inside." Dyrdek attended Fairmont High School in Kettering.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: At the age of 11, Dyrdek earned a sponsorship to represent Surf Ohio, a local skate shop in Dayton, Ohio. He began competing at age 12. Gordon and Smith Skateboard Company (G&S), a national brand, began sponsoring him around that time. In July 1989 at age 15, Dyrdek placed first at a National Skateboard Association North Central District competition. At the age of 16, he decided to forgo his senior year of high school and instead moved to Southern California to continue his professional skate career. He officially turned pro in 1991, competing at the Skateboard World Cup in Germany and placing fifth. He also appeared in the Alien Workshop skate video, "Memory Screen", that year. Alien Workshop, a Dayton, Ohio-based skateboarding company, began sponsoring Dyrdek at that time. The company began producing signature Dyrdek skateboards soon after the endorsement. Dyrdek also founded his own skateboard accessory company, Orion Trucks, at age 17.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: By 1995, Dyrdek was competing at events and performing at exhibitions throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Around that time, Droors Clothing, which later became known as DC Shoes, began sponsoring Dyrdek. During 1995, he launched his first signature shoe (the RD 1) with DC, beginning a 20-year partnership that included 29 signature shoes. In 1999, Dyrdek expanded into the business world by founding Dyrdek Enterprises.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: In 2000, Dyrdek placed sixth in park skating at that year's X Games in San Francisco. In 2003, he founded Silver Trucks, a skateboarding accessories company. In 2005, he drafted, designed, developed, and raised funding for the world's first skate plaza, the Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza, in his hometown of Kettering. The park emphasized elements of street skateboarding, incorporating urban artifacts like stairs, ledges, planters, and railings. It was the first project funded by the Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza Foundation.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: In November 2006, the MTV reality series "Rob & Big" premiered, which starred Dyrdek and his best friend and bodyguard, Christopher "Big Black" Boykin, as well as his cousin, Chris "Drama" Pfaff, and friend, Rashawn "Bam Bam" Davis. It was born from a skit Dyrdek wrote for a 2003 DC Shoes video, "The DC Video". In the skit, he hired Boykin as a bodyguard for protection from security guards while filming street skating videos. The show featured instances of these interactions along with other facets of Dyrdek's daily life. As part of "Rob & Big" in 2007, Dyrdek set 21 skating world records in one day, according to the "Guinness Book of World Records". Some of these included the longest board slide——, the highest skateboard ramp jump into water——, and the most nollie kickflips in one minute (22). The series ended its run in April 2008 after three seasons.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: In February 2009, "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory", featuring Dyrdek, Pfaff, and his Dyrdek Enterprise staff, was first broadcast. It covered Dyrdek's "Fantasy Factory", a converted warehouse where Dyrdek runs his businesses. He also built a recording studio for Pfaff inside the factory. During the course of the first season, he opened his first SafeSpot SkateSpot. At the grand-opening, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rode with Dyrdek on the world's largest skateboard. Fantasy Factory aired a total of seven seasons, with the season finale airing on March 13, 2014. On that final episode, Dyrdek set the Guinness World Record for the longest reverse ramp jump by a car at 89 feet, 3.25 inches. The show mainly featured a cast of Dyrdek, Chris Pfaff, Boykin, Scott Pfaff, Chanel West Coast, and Sterling "Steelo" Brim. Episodes featured Dyrdek being bitten by a shark and attacked by a trained tiger. Other stunts included the first kickflip with a Chevrolet Sonic, filmed as a part of a television advertisement for Chevrolet. He co-invented the first "skateboard car," a customized Ford Mustang which appeared on the show.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: In a 2009 episode of "Fantasy Factory", Dyrdek purchased a racehorse with Joe Ciagla, Jr. and jockeyed it in its first race. The horse, named Mega Heat, won the race with Dyrdek as the jockey. He would go on to own as many as 13 horses at one time, some of which raced in Breeders' Cup events.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: In 2010, Dyrdek launched Street League Skateboarding (SLS), a professional skateboarding competition series. The league offered the highest overall purse in the history of the sport ($1.6 million) for its championship event in 2012, which was broadcast on ESPN in 198 countries. The league also partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to develop new skate parks in California. The organization was the focus of Dyrdek's 2013 documentary film "The Motivation", which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. SLS has expanded into a global series with events throughout the world.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: On August 29, 2011, Dyrdek's third MTV series, "Ridiculousness", premiered. The show, which is filmed in front of a studio audience, is hosted by Dyrdek alongside friends Chanel West Coast and Steelo Brim. In addition to occasional guests, the three primarily comment on popular internet videos that are often mishaps. By 2020, MTV had devoted most of its programming schedule to "Ridiculousness". In April 2012, Dyrdek's "Wild Grinders" animated television series premiered on Nicktoons. Dyrdek created and produced the show and also provided the voice of Lil' Rob. The characters are based on a line of toys designed by Dyrdek.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: Also in 2012, Dyrdek Enterprises acquired DNA Distribution, the holding company for his original skateboarding sponsor brand, Alien Workshop, and other brands including Habitat and Reflex. DNA Distribution was later acquired by Pacific Vector Holdings in October 2013. In 2014, Dyrdek and his production company Superjacket Productions agreed to a multi-year deal with MTV to continue producing "Ridiculousness" and a final season of "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory". That year, the Dyrdek-produced cooking competition series, "Snack-Off", also premiered on MTV.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: As part of Superjacket Productions, Dyrdek would go on to create and produce a number of new series. In 2016, two Dyrdek-produced shows, "Jagger Eaton's Mega Life" and "Crashletes", premiered on Nickelodeon. He also produced "The Dude Perfect Show", which premiered on CMT in 2016 and was moved to Nickelodeon for its second season in 2017.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: In 2016, he founded the Dyrdek Machine, a business investment firm and incubator (described by Dyrdek as a "venture studio") that targets startups. He had previously operated as a serial entrepreneur while also investing independently in various companies, including UFC and the clothing brand, Stance. Under Dyrdek Machine, he has co-founded, funded, and developed Lusso Cloud, Mindright (with Travis Barker and Joe Jonas), Outstanding Foods, Leisuretown (with Diplo), Momentous, Deon Libra, Jolie, and Black Feather Whiskey (with Travis Pastrana). By 2022, he had co-founded or partnered with a total of 18 brands through the Dyrdek Machine, five of which had been acquired by outside investors.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: Dyrdek also continued creating television series through Superjacket Productions. In 2017, he produced a "Ridiculousness" spin-off for MTV, entitled "Amazingness". The show was a variety talent competition hosted by Dyrdek. In 2020, the Raine Group and Causeway Media Partners provided the venture capital backing to form Thrill One Sports & Entertainment after a merger of Nitro Circus and two Dyrdek-created entities: Street League Skateboarding and Superjacket Productions. All three companies became subsidiaries of Thrill One at that time. Later that year, Dyrdek and Superjacket produced another "Ridiculousness" spin-off for MTV called "Deliciousness", a food-based clip show hosted by Tiffani Thiessen. Superjacket Productions became known as Thrill One Media in 2021. Two more "Ridiculousness" spin-offs premiered that year in "Messyness" and "Adorableness" with Dyrdek as executive producer.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: In 2021, Dyrdek started the business-focused podcast, "Build with Rob". That year, he also founded the Do-Or-Dier Visionary Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at providing entrepreneurship opportunities to underrepresented youth. In July 2022, Fiume Capital and Juggernaut Capital Partners acquired Thrill One Sports & Entertainment for $300 million. Through the Dyrdek Machine, Dyrdek provided additional investment capital in Thrill One at the time.


title: Rob Dyrdek

text: Dyrdek has one sister. Dyrdek became an ordained minister through the Universal Life Church in order to perform his sister's wedding in December 2011. The ceremony, which was featured in an episode of "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory", took place at the Fantasy Factory in Los Angeles. He became engaged to his girlfriend, Filipino–American model Bryiana Noelle Flores, after proposing to her at Disneyland. They married and have two children.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of 5,268,642 people, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in the country and the twentieth largest metropolitan area in the Americas Guadalajara has the second-highest population density in Mexico, with over 10,361 people per square kilometer. Within Mexico, Guadalajara is a center of business, arts and culture, technology and tourism; as well as the economic center of the Bajío region. It usually ranks among the 100 most productive and globally competitive cities in the world. It is home to numerous landmarks, including Guadalajara Cathedral, the Teatro Degollado, the Templo Expiatorio, the UNESCO World Heritage site Hospicio Cabañas, and the San Juan de Dios Market—the largest indoor market in Latin America.


title: Guadalajara

text: 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.


title: Guadalajara

text: 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.


title: Guadalajara

text: The conquistador named the city in honor of the conqueror of western Mexico, , who was born in , Spain. The name comes from the Arabic (), which means 'Valley of the Stone', or 'Fortress Valley'.


title: Guadalajara

text: Unlike the surrounding areas, the central Atemajac Valley, where Guadalajara is located, contained no human settlements. To the east of the Atemajac Valley were the Tonallan and Tetlán peoples. At the extremes were the Zapopan, Atemajac, Zoquipan, Tesistan, Coyula, and Huentitán.


title: Guadalajara

text: The historic city center encompasses what was once four population centers, as the villages of the Mezquitán, Analco, and Mexicaltzingo were annexed to the Atemajac site in 1669.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara was originally founded at three other sites before moving to its current location. The first colonial settlement in 1532 was in Mesa del Cerro, now known as Nochistlán, Zacatecas. This site was colonized by Cristóbal de Oñate as commissioned by Nuño de Guzmán, with the purpose of securing recent conquests and "defending" them from the "still-hostile natives". This colonized settlement did not last long due to its lack of usable water sources. In 1533 it was moved to a site near Tonalá. Four years later, Guzmán ordered that the village be moved to Tlacotán. During this time, the Spanish king Charles I granted the city the coat of arms which it retains to this day.


title: Guadalajara

text: During the Mixtón War, the Caxcan, Portecuex, and Zacateco peoples, fought back against colonizers under the command of Tenamaxtli. The war was initiated in response to the heinous treatment of indigenous peoples by Nuño de Guzmán, in particular the enslavement of captured natives. After multiple defeats, Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza took control of the Spanish campaign to suppress the revolt. The conflict ended after Mendoza made concessions such as freeing enslaved indigenous peoples and granting amnesty. The village of Guadalajara barely survived the war, and the villagers attributed their survival to the Archangel Michael, who remains the patron of the city to this day.


title: Guadalajara

text: After the war, the city was moved once again—this time to a more defensible location. This final relocation would prove permanent. In 1542, records indicate that 126 people were living in Guadalajara. That same year, it was granted cityhood by the king of Spain. Guadalajara was officially founded on February 14, 1542, in the Atemajac Valley. The colonized settlement was named for Nuño de Guzmán's Spanish hometown.


title: Guadalajara

text: In 1559, royal and bishopric offices for the province of Nueva Galicia were moved from Compostela to Guadalajara and, in 1560, Guadalajara became the province's new capital. Construction of the cathedral began in 1563. In 1575, religious orders such as the Augustinians and Dominicans arrived, eventually making the city a center for evangelization efforts.


title: Guadalajara

text: While capital of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia, the city's inhabitants achieved a high standard of living, due to flourishing industry, agriculture, commerce, mining, and trade. The Guadalajara of the sixteenth century was a rather small and often overlooked community. It was mainly frequented by traveling merchants. Several epidemics drastically reduced the city's indigenous population, leading to the construction of its first hospital in 1557.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara's economy during the 18th century was based on agriculture and the production of non-durable goods such as textiles, shoes and food products.


title: Guadalajara

text: Despite epidemics, plagues, and earthquakes, Guadalajara would become one of the most important population centers in New Spain.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city's heyday attracted numerous architects, philosophers, lawyers, scientists, poets, writers, and speakers; Francisco Xavier Clavijero and Matías de la Mota Padilla were among the most prominent. In 1771, Bishop Fray Antonio Alcalde arrived in the city and founded the Civil Hospital and the University of Guadalajara. In 1791, the University of Guadalajara was established. The dedication was held in 1792 at the site of the old Santo Tomas College. While the institution was founded during the 18th century, it would not be fully developed until the 20th century, starting in 1925. In 1794, the Hospital Real de San Miguel de Belén, or simply the Hospital de Belén, was opened.


title: Guadalajara

text: In 1793, Mariano Valdés Téllez ran the city's first printing press, whose first publication was a funeral eulogy for Fray Antonio Alcalde.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara remained the capital of Nueva Galicia with some modifications until the Mexican War of Independence. Miguel Hidalgo entered San Pedro (now Tlaquepaque) on November 25, 1810, and the next day he was greeted effusively in Guadalajara. The city's workers had experienced poor living conditions and were swayed by promises of lower taxes and the abolition of slavery. Despite a soured welcome, due to the rebel army's violence toward city residents, especially royalists, Hidalgo kept his promise and, on December 6, 1810, slavery was abolished in Guadalajara, a proclamation which has been honored since the end of the war. During this time, he founded the newspaper "El Despertador Americano", dedicated to the insurgent cause.


title: Guadalajara

text: Royalist forces marched to Guadalajara, arriving in January 1811 with nearly 6,000 men. Insurgents Ignacio Allende and Mariano Abasolo wanted to concentrate their forces in the city and plan an escape route should they be defeated, but Hidalgo rejected this idea. Their second choice was to make a stand at the Puente de Calderon just outside the city. Hidalgo had between 80,000 and 100,000 men and 95 cannons, but the better-trained royalists won, decimating the insurgent army and forcing Hidalgo to flee toward Aguascalientes. Guadalajara remained in royalist hands until near the end of the war.'


title: Guadalajara

text: On January 17, 1817, the insurgent army was again defeated on the outskirts of Guadalajara in the Battle of Calderón Bridge.


title: Guadalajara

text: In 1823, Guadalajara became the capital of the newly founded state of Jalisco. In 1844, General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga initiated a revolt against the government of President Antonio López de Santa Anna. Santa Anna personally ensured that the revolt was quelled. However, while Santa Anna was in Guadalajara, a revolt called the Three Hour Revolution brought José Joaquín Herrera to the presidency and put Santa Anna into exile.


title: Guadalajara

text: President Benito Juárez made Guadalajara the seat of his government in 1856, during the Reform War. French troops entered the city during the French Intervention in 1864, and it was retaken by Mexican troops in 1866.


title: Guadalajara

text: Despite the violence, the 19th century was a period of economic, technological and social growth for the city. After Independence, small-scale industries developed, many of which were owned by European immigrants. Rail lines connecting the city to the Pacific coast and north to the United States intensified trade and allowed the shipment of products from rural areas of Jalisco. Ranch Culture became a very important aspect of Jalisco and Guadalajara's identities during this time. From 1884 to 1890, electrical and railroad services, as well as the Guadalajara Observatory were established.


title: Guadalajara

text: Throughout the twentieth century, seeing growth in its industrial, tourist, and service industries, Guadalajara began a period of rapid transformation into the metropolis it is today. The city would gain the second largest economy in Mexico, following only by Mexico City. After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Guadalajara became the second most populous city in the country. However, the decades that followed brought a number of regional wars in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guanajuato. The aftermath of the Great Depression took a further toll on the city. Fortunately, by the 1940s the city would experience industrial, demographic, and trade growth.


title: Guadalajara

text: In 1910, the Mexican Revolution began, bringing an end to the Porfiriato. With conflict concentrated in the capital, Guadalajara experienced relative calm. After the Cristero Conflict, peace returned to Guadalajara and the city flourished, outgrowing its colonial roots. This period saw the birth of new schools of architecture that would decorate the city from the 1920s to the 1980s.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara again experienced substantial growth after the 1930s, and the first industrial park was established in 1947. Its population surpassed one million in 1964, and by the 1970s it was Mexico's second-largest city and the largest in western Mexico. Most of the modern city's urbanization took place between the 1940s and the 1980s, with the population doubling every ten years until it stood at 2.5 million in 1980. The population of the municipality has stagnated, and even declined, slowly but steadily, since the early 1990s.


title: Guadalajara

text: The increase in population brought with it an increase in the size of what is now called Greater Guadalajara, rather than an increase in the population density of the city. Migrants coming into Guadalajara from the 1940s to the 1980s were mostly from rural areas and lived in the city center until they had enough money to buy property. This property was generally bought in the edges of the city, which were urbanizing into "fraccionamientos", or residential areas. In the 1980s, it was described as a "divided city" east to west based on socioeconomic class. Since then, the city has evolved into four sectors, which are still more or less class-centered. The upper classes tend to live in Hidalgo and Juárez in the northwest and southwest, while the lower classes tend to live in the city center, Libertad in the northeast, and southeast in Reforma. However, lower class development has expanded on the city's periphery and upper and middle classes are migrating toward Zapopan, making the situation less neatly divided.


title: Guadalajara

text: Since 1996, the activity of multinational corporations has had a significant effect on the economic and social development of the city. The presence of companies such as Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and IBM has been based on production facilities built outside the city proper, bringing in foreign labor and capital. This was made possible in the 1980s by surplus labor, infrastructure improvements, and government incentives. These companies focus on electrical and electronic items, which is now one of Guadalajara's two main products (the other being beer). This has internationalized the economy, steering it away from manufacturing and toward services, dependent on technology and foreign investment. This has not been favorable for the unskilled working class and traditional labor sectors.


title: Guadalajara

text: The 1992 Guadalajara explosions occurred on April 22, 1992, when gasoline explosions in the sewer system over four hours destroyed of streets in the downtown district of Analco. Gante Street was the most damaged. Officially, 206 people were killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 were left homeless. The estimated monetary damage ranges between $300 million and $1 billion. The affected areas can be recognized by their more modern architecture.


title: Guadalajara

text: Three days before the explosion, residents started complaining of a strong gasoline-like smell coming from the sewers. City workers were dispatched to check the sewers and found dangerously high levels of gasoline fumes. However, no evacuations were ordered. An investigation into the disaster found that there were two precipitating causes. The first was new water pipes that were built too close to an existing gasoline pipeline. Chemical reactions between the pipes caused erosion. The second was a flaw in the sewer design that did not allow accumulated gases to escape.


title: Guadalajara

text: Arrests were made to indict those responsible for the blasts. Four officials of Pemex (the state oil company) were indicted and charged on the basis of negligence. Ultimately, however, these people were cleared of all charges. Calls for the restructuring of PEMEX were made but they were successfully resisted.


title: Guadalajara

text: The 1990s were marked by events such as the explosions of April 22, 1992, the Mexican peso crisis of 1994, and the murder of the Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo in 1993. The 1992 explosions caused massive infrastructure damage to hundreds of houses, avenues, streets, and businesses in the Analco colony, "without a clear delineator of information and responsibilities to date," in one of the most tragic events in the history of Guadalajara. The investigation of the facts lasted more than 11 years in which insufficient evidence was found to appoint a manager, investigations are now closed attributing the events to an accident. This event, in addition to Mexico's 1994 economic crisis, resulted in the loss of Guadalajara's industrial power.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city has hosted numerous important international events, such as the first Cumbre Iberoamericana in 1991; the Third Summit of Heads of State and Governments of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the European Union in 2004; the Encuentro Internacional de Promotores y Gestores Culturales in 2005; and the 2011 Pan American Games. It was named the American Capital of Culture in 2005 and the Ciudad Educadora (Educator City). in 2006. It was recognized as Mexico's first Smart City due to its use of developing technology.


title: Guadalajara

text: During each government period, the city went through structural plans with which new areas and commercial hubs were born and with which transnational corporations and international industries arrived in the city. The city housed the first shopping malls in Mexico.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city expanded rapidly before merging with the Zapopan municipality. Among the developments created during this period were the Guadalajara Expo, the light rail, shopping centers, the expansion of streets and avenues, and the birth and development of road infrastructure, services, tourism, industrial, etc. The first shopping center in Latin America emerged in the city, the first urban electric-train system in Latin America, and the first private university in Mexico.


title: Guadalajara

text: A 2007 survey entitled "Cities of the Future," "FDi magazine" ranked Guadalajara first among major Mexican cities and second among major North American cities in terms of economic potential, behind Chicago. The magazine also rated it as the most business-friendly Latin American city in 2007.


title: Guadalajara

text: Under the Köppen climate classification, Guadalajara has a humid subtropical climate ("Cwa") that is quite close to a tropical climate, featuring dry, warm winters and hot, wet summers. Guadalajara's climate is influenced by its high altitude and the general seasonality of precipitation patterns in western North America.


title: Guadalajara

text: Although the temperature is warm year-round, Guadalajara has strong seasonal variation in precipitation. The northward movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone brings a great deal of rain in the summer months, whereas, for the rest of the year, the climate is rather dry. The extra moisture during the wet months moderates the temperatures, resulting in cooler days and nights during this period. The highest temperatures are usually reached in May averaging , but can reach up to just before the onset of monsoon season. March tends to be the driest month and July the wettest, with an average of of rain, over a quarter of the annual average of about .


title: Guadalajara

text: During the summer, afternoon storms are very common and can sometimes bring hail flurries to the city, especially toward late August or September. Winters are relatively warm despite the city's altitude, with January daytime temperatures reaching about and nighttime temperatures about . However, the outskirts of the city (generally those close to the Primavera Forest) experience on average cooler temperatures than the city itself. There, temperatures around can be recorded during the coldest nights. Frost may also occur during the coldest nights, but temperatures rarely fall below in the city, making it an uncommon phenomenon. Cold fronts in winter can sometimes bring light rain to the city for several days in a row. Snowfall is extraordinarily rare, with the last recorded one occurring in December 1997, which was the first time in 116 years, as it had previously last fallen in 1881.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara's natural wealth is represented by the La Primavera Forest, Los Colomos, and the Barranca de Huentitán. The flora in these areas includes michoacan pines, several species of oak, sweetgum, ash, willow, and introduced trees such as poincianas, jacarandas, and ficus. It also includes orchids, roses, and various species of fungi. The fauna includes typical urban fauna in addition to 106 species of mammals, 19 species of reptiles, and six species of fish.


title: Guadalajara

text: La Barranca de Huentitán (the Huentitán Forest) (also known as Barranca de Oblatos and Barranca de Oblatos-Huentitán) is a National Park located just north of the municipality of Guadalajara. The barranca (canyon) borders two colonias (neighborhoods) of the city, Oblatos and Huentitan.


title: Guadalajara

text: It covers approximately , and varies in altitude. The funicular railway in the park starts at above sea level and rises to above sea level. In the 16th century, during the Spanish Conquest, the Huentitán area including the canyon was the site of battles between local Indian populations and the Spanish. Later, it was the site of battles between different factions during the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero Rebellion.


title: Guadalajara

text: The canyon is a biogeographic corridor that is home to four types of vegetation: deciduous tropical forest, gallery forest, heath vegetation, and secondary vegetation. In addition to introduced species, there are many native species of flora and fauna. The canyon is studied by national and international researchers as it contains great biological diversity due to its geographical location.


title: Guadalajara

text: On June 5, 1997, it was declared a Protected Natural Area, as an Area Subject to Ecological Conservation (Zona Sujeta a Conservación Ecológica).


title: Guadalajara

text: La Cascada Cola de Caballo (The Horse Tail Waterfall) is located on the Guadalajara to Zacatecas road (Highway 54, km 15) a few kilometers from the Northern Peripheral, just after passing the village of San Esteban. The waterfall is fed by a stream from the Atemajac Valley. It is close to Guadalajara and a town with very little development, and as a result of poor ecological practices, it is very polluted.


title: Guadalajara

text: El Bosque los Colomos, the Colomos Forest, is located in the northwestern part of Guadalajara along the Rio Atemajac. It is in a wealthy part of the metropolitan area, and has been developed for recreation rather than being preserved in its wild state. The river was once one of the main sources of water supply to the city, and today continues to provide water to some surrounding colonias (neighborhoods). Currently, this forest covers an area of in which pine trees, eucalyptus trees, and cedars predominate. The park has jogging tracks, gardens (including a Japanese garden), ponds, a bird lake, instructional areas for school field days, playgrounds, camping areas, and horses to ride.


title: Guadalajara

text: Other places of interest around Guadalajara include Camachos Aquatic Natural Park, a commercial water park, and Barranca Colimilla, a beautiful canyon with hiking trails near Tonala, east of Guadalajara.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara's street plan has evolved over time into a radial urban plan, with five major routes into and out of the city. It is surrounded by ring roads.


title: Guadalajara

text: The original city of Guadalajara was planned on a grid, with north–south and east–west intersecting streets.


title: Guadalajara

text: Over time, villages surrounding Guadalajara were incorporated into the city - first Analco to the southeast, then Mexicaltzingo to the south, Mezquitan to the north, and San Juan de Dios to the east, all of which introduced more variety to the plan. As it grew towards the west, it kept the original north–south orientation. As it grew towards the east, this grid was tilted towards the south-east to match up with the grids of the former towns Analco and San Juan de Dios, across the river from central Guadalajara on the eastern side of Rio San Juan de Dios (Rio San Juan de Dios is now underground; it runs beneath Calzada Independencia).


title: Guadalajara

text: When the railway was introduced to Guadalajara in 1888, the southern part of the city began development, and its streets aligned with the grid to the east of the old Rio San Juan de Dios. Additional 20th-century expansion of the city introduced even more variety, as developers introduced different kinds of non-grid street plans in new areas. During the government of José de Jesús González Gallo, between 1947 and 1953, major public works changed the urban landscape of the historic center of the city.


title: Guadalajara

text: Major controversial projects included the widening of Avenida 16 de Septiembre and Avenida Juárez, which were no longer adequate to handle car traffic in the center of the city. In the process, many buildings of architectural and historical value were demolished. Historical buildings around Guadalajara Cathedral were also demolished to leave large open spaces on the four sides of the Cathedral in the form of a large Latin cross, in which the cathedral is now centered. There were other, somewhat less controversial, projects to improve the flow of traffic and increase commerce in other parts of the city.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara is made up of more than 2,300 colonias (neighborhoods) in the Metropolitan Area. The oldest parts of the city include Centro (the oldest in the city), Santuario, Mexicaltzingo, Mezquitan, Analco, and San Juan de Dios. Private houses in the oldest sector of the city are mostly made up of one- and two-level houses, with architectural styles ranging from simple colonial architecture to the Churrigueresco, Baroque, and early nineteenth century European styles.


title: Guadalajara

text: Just west of the oldest part of the city are upper-class colonias built in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, containing the neoclassical structures and houses of the Porfiriato. In the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s well-to-do Tapatios expanded into colonias Lafayette, Americana, Moderna, and Arcos Vallarta. New architectural trends of the 1960s and 1970s also left their mark in colonias such as Colonia Americana, Vallarta Poniente, Moderna, Providencia, Vallarta San Jorge, Forest Gardens, and Chapalita.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Metropolitan Area has more wealthy neighborhoods than any other part of western Mexico. These colonias are located both inside and outside the municipality of Guadalajara, including some in its neighboring municipalities of Zapopan and Tlajomulco, in the west and south. Some of these colonias are: Colinas de San Javier, Puerta de Hierro, Providencia, Chapalita, Jardines de San Ignacio, Ciudad del Sol, Valle Real, Lomas del Valle, Santa Rita, Monraz, Santa Anita Golf Club, El Cielo, Santa Isabel, Virreyes, Ciudad Bugambilias, Las Cañadas, and The Stay.


title: Guadalajara

text: In general, residents in the west of the city are the wealthiest, while residents in the east are the poorest.


title: Guadalajara

text: New development to accommodate the growing population is made up of a mix of middle-class colonias and housing complexes developed as part of government plans, and colonias developed less formally for working-class people. The Metropolitan Area extends to the west in colonias such as Pinar de la Calma, Las Fuentes, Paseos del Sol, El Colli Urbano, and La Estancia and extends to the east in colonias such as St. John Bosco, St. Andrew, Oblates, St. Onofre, Insurgents, Gardens of Peace, and Garden of Poets.


title: Guadalajara

text: The expansion of the population creates a constant demand for more colonias and more government infrastructure services.


title: Guadalajara

text: Parks and forests are important in Guadalajara; while many of the oldest neighborhoods of the municipality of Guadalajara do not have sufficient green spaces, of the three most important metropolitan areas in Mexico, the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (ZMG) has the greenest areas and plants.


title: Guadalajara

text: The most current figures by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), confirmed in 2010, the municipality of Guadalajara has a population of approximately 1,495,189, with a population in the metropolitan area of 4,334,878, the most populous city in the state of Jalisco, the most conurbation-highest-population within the province of Jalisco of the Guadalajara metropolitan area, and the second-most populous city in Mexico; the first being Mexico City.


title: Guadalajara

text: In 2007, the United Nations listed the world's 100 most populous urban agglomerations. Mexico excelled with three cities on the list: Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. Guadalajara ranked 66th in these cities, followed by Sydney and Washington, D.C. On the Latin American list, Guadalajara ranked 10th.


title: Guadalajara

text: The municipality of Guadalajara is located in the center of the State, a little to the east, at coordinates 20-&36' 40" to 20- 45' 00" north latitude and 103- 16' 00" to 103- 24' 00" west-latitude and 103-&16' 00" to 103- 24' 00" west-west longitude, at a height of 1700 meters above sea level.


title: Guadalajara

text: The municipality of Guadalajara is bounded to the north by Zapopan and Ixtlahuacán del Río, to the east by Tonalá and Zapotlanejo, to the south with Tlaquepaque and to the west with Zapopan.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Guadalajara metropolitan area is the second most populous metropolitan area in the country and has six central and three exterior municipalities. The central municipalities are Guadalajara, Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, and El Salto, Jalisco. The exterior municipalities are Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, Juanacatlán, and Zapotlanejo.


title: Guadalajara

text: The growth of the city is due to Guadalajara absorbing the closest communities. This was the case with the former communities Atemajac, Huentitán, Tetlán, Analco, Mexicaltzingo, Mezquitan, and San Andrés, among others.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara has the third-largest economy and industrial infrastructure in Mexico and contributes 37% of the state of Jalisco's total gross production. Its economic base is strong and well-diversified, mainly based on commerce and services, although the manufacturing sector plays a defining role. It is ranked in the top ten in Latin America in gross domestic product and the third-highest ranking in Mexico.


title: Guadalajara

text: In its 2007 survey entitled "Cities of the Future," "FDi magazine" ranked Guadalajara highest among major Mexican cities and designated Guadalajara as having the second strongest economic potential of any major North American city behind Chicago. "FDI" ranked it as the most business-friendly Latin American city in 2007. The same research noted Guadalajara as a "city of the future" due to its youthful population, low unemployment and large number of recent foreign investment deals; it was found to be the third most business-friendly city in North America.


title: Guadalajara

text: In 2009 Moody's Investors Service assigned ratings of Ba1 (Global Scale, local currency) and A1.mx (Mexican national scale). During the prior five years, the municipality's financial performance had been mixed but had begun to stabilize in the latter two years. Guadalajara manages one of the largest budgets among Mexican municipalities and its revenue per capita indicator (Ps. $2,265) places it above the average for Moody's-rated municipalities in Mexico.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city's economy has two main sectors. Commerce and tourism employ most: about 60% of the population. The other is industry, which has been the engine of economic growth and the basis of Guadalajara's economic importance nationally even though it employs only about a third of the population. Industries here produce products such as food and beverages, toys, textiles, auto parts, electronic equipment, pharmaceuticals, footwear, furniture and steel products.


title: Guadalajara

text: Two of the major industries have been textiles and shoes, which are still dynamic and growing. Sixty percent of manufactured products are sold domestically, while forty percent are exported, mostly to the United States. This makes Guadalajara's economic fortunes dependent on those of the U.S., both as a source of investment and as a market for its goods.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city has to compete with China, especially for electronics industries which rely on high volume and low wages. This has caused it to move toward high-mix, mid-volume, and value-added services, such as automotive. However, its traditional advantage of proximity to the U.S. market is one reason Guadalajara stays competitive. Mexico ranked third in 2009 in Latin America for the export of information technology services, behind Brazil and Argentina. This kind of service is mostly related to online and telephone technical support. The major challenge this sector has is the lack of university graduates who speak English.


title: Guadalajara

text: The electronics and information technology sectors that have nicknamed the city the "Silicon Valley of Mexico." Guadalajara is the main producer of software, electronic and digital components in Mexico. Telecom and computer equipment from Guadalajara accounts for about a quarter of Mexico's electronics exports. Companies such as General Electric, IBM, SANMINA, Intel Corporation, HCL Technologies, Hitachi Ltd., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc, Siemens, Flextronics, Oracle, Wipro, TCS, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Jabil Circuit have facilities in the city or its suburbs. This phenomenon began after the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). International firms started building facilities in Mexico, especially Guadalajara, displacing Mexican firms, especially in information technology. One of the problems this has created is that when there are economic downturns, these international firms scale back.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara was selected as "Smart City" in 2013 by IEEE, the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology.


title: Guadalajara

text: Several cities invest in the areas of research to design pilot projects and as an example, in early March in 2013 was the first "Cluster Smart Cities" in the world, composed of Dublin, Ireland; San Jose, California; Cardiff, Wales, and Guadalajara, Jalisco, whose objective is the exchange of information and experiences that can be applied in principle to issues of agribusiness and health sciences.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation also reported that Guadalajara, Jalisco was chosen as the official venue for the first "Digital Creative City of Mexico and Latin America," which will be the spearhead for Mexico to consolidate the potential in this area.


title: Guadalajara

text: The "Cluster Smart Cities" unprecedented in the world, will focus on what each of these cities is making in innovation and the creation of an alliance to attract technology. The Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology (SICyT ) of Jalisco, said the combination of talent development investments allows Jalisco to enter the "knowledge economy."


title: Guadalajara

text: From 25 to 28 October 2015, the city was the venue for the first conference of the Smart Cities Initiative.


title: Guadalajara

text: Most of the economy revolves around commerce, employing 60% of the population. This activity has mainly focused on the purchase and sale of the following products: food and beverages, textiles, electronic appliances, tobacco, cosmetics, sports articles, construction materials, and others. Guadalajara's commercial activity is second only to Mexico City.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city is the national leader in the development and investment of shopping malls. Many shopping centers have been built, such as Plaza Galerias, one of the largest shopping centers in Latin America, and Andares. Galerías Guadalajara covers and has 220 stores. It contains the two largest movie theaters in Latin America, both with IMAX screens. It hosts art exhibits and fashion shows and has an area for cultural workshops. Anchor stores includes Liverpool and Sears and specialty stores such as Hugo Boss, Max Mara, Lacoste, Tesla Motors, Costco. Best Buy opened its first Guadalajara store here. It has an additional private entrance on the top floor of the adjacent parking lot. Another Best Buy store was inaugurated in Ciudadela Lifestyle Center mall, which was the chain's third-largest in the world, according to the company.


title: Guadalajara

text: Andares is another important commercial center in Zapopan. This $530 million mixed-use complex opened in 2008, designed by renowned Mexican Sordo Madaleno architecture firm features luxury residences and a high-level mall anchored by two large department stores, Liverpool and El Palacio de Hierro. The 133,000 m (1,400,000+ sq ft) mall offers hundreds of stores, a big food court located on the second floor, and several restaurants at the Paseo Andares.


title: Guadalajara

text: A large segment of the commercial sector caters to tourists and other visitors. Recreational tourism is mainly concentrated in the historic downtown. In addition to being a cultural and recreational attraction and thanks to its privileged geographical location, the city serves as an axis to nearby popular beach destinations such as Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo and Mazatlán. Other types of visitors include those who travel to attend seminars, conventions and other events in fields such as academic, entertainment, sports, and business. The best-known venue for this purpose is the Expo Guadalajara, a large convention center surrounded by several hotels. It was built in 1987, and it is considered the most important convention center in Mexico.


title: Guadalajara

text: Most of Guadalajara's economic growth since 1990 has been tied with foreign investment. International firms have invested here to take advantage of the relatively cheap but educated and highly productive labor, establishing manufacturing plants that re-export their products to the United States, as well as provide goods for the domestic Mexican market.


title: Guadalajara

text: A media report in early October 2013 stated that five major Indian IT (information technology) companies have established offices in Guadalajara, while several other Indian IT companies continue to explore the option of expanding to Mexico. Due to the competitiveness in the Indian IT sector, companies are expanding internationally and Mexico offers an affordable opportunity for Indian companies to better position themselves to enter the United States market. The trend emerged after 2006 and the Mexican government offers incentives to foreign companies.


title: Guadalajara

text: Exports from the city went from US$3.92 billion in 1995 to 14.3 billion in 2003. From 1990 to 2000, socio-economic indicators show that quality of life improved overall; however, there is still a large gap between the rich and the poor, and the rich have benefited from the globalization and privatization of the economy more than the poor.


title: Guadalajara

text: International investment has affected the labor market in the metro area and that of the rural towns and villages that surround it. Guadalajara is the distribution center for the region and its demands have led to a shifting of employment, from traditional agriculture and crafts to manufacturing and commerce in urban centers. This has led to mass migration from the rural areas to the metropolitan area.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara has a lively cultural life. The city exhibits works by international artists and is a must-see for international cultural events whose radius of influence reaches most of the countries of Latin America, including the southwestern United States.


title: Guadalajara

text: Its historic center houses colonial buildings of a religious and civil character, which stand out for their architectural and historical significance, and constitute a rich mixture of styles whose root is found in indigenous cultural contributions (mainly of incorporated into the Mozarabic and the castilian), and later in modern European influences (mainly French and Italian). The historic center also has museums, theaters, galleries, libraries, auditoriums, and concert halls. Some of these buildings date from the sixteenth and seventeenth century, such as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, among others.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city has several radio stations focused on culture, one of them being Red Radio University of Guadalajara (XHUG-F), which is transmitted to the rest of the state and neighboring states and internationally through the Internet; it is also the first broadcaster via podcast in the country. The city produces a fully cultural television channel, XHGJG-TV; Guadalajara is the only city to produce a cultural cutting channel in the country in addition to the Mexico, D.F.A. in Mexico City.


title: Guadalajara

text: This city has been the cradle and dwelling of distinguished poets, writers, painters, actors, film directors and representatives of the arts, etc., such as José Clemente Orozco, Dr. Atl, Roberto Montenegro, Alejandro Zohn, Luis Barragán, Carlos Orozco Romero, Federico Fabregat, Raul Anguiano, Juan Soriano, Javier Campos Cabello, Martha Pacheco, Alejandro Colunga, José Fors, Juan Kraeppellin, Davis Birks, Carlos Vargas Pons, Jis, Trino, Erandini, Enrique Oroz, Rubén Méndez, Mauricio Toussaint, Scott Neri, Paula Santiago, Edgar Cobian, L. Felipe Manzano, and (the artist formerly known as Mevna); the freeplay guitarist and music composer for the movies "El Mariachi" and "The Legend of Zorro", Paco Rentería; important exponents of literature such as Juan Rulfo, Francisco Rojas, Agustín Yáñez, Elías Nandino, Idella Purnell, Jorge Souza, among others; classic repertoire composers such as Gonzalo Curiel, José Pablo Moncayo, Antonio Navarro, Ricardo Zohn, Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez and Gabriel Pareyon; film directors such as Felipe Cazals, Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, Erik Stahl, Guillermo del Toro; and actors such as Katy Jurado, Enrique Alvarez Felix, and Gael García Bernal.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara was the first Mexican city to be accepted as a member of the International Association of Educational Cities due to its strong character and identity, potential for economic development through culture.


title: Guadalajara

text: Despite the Guadalajara area historically being an ethnically Caxcan region, the Nahua peoples form the majority of Guadalajara's indigenous population. There are several thousand indigenous language speakers in Guadalajara although the majority of the indigenous population is integrated within the general population and can speak Spanish.


title: Guadalajara

text: The museums in Guadalajara are an extension of the cultural infrastructure of this city. Many of them stand out for their architectural and historical significance. There are more than 189 forums of art exhibition among cultural centers, museums, private galleries, and cultural spaces of the town hall, several of them with centuries of existence and some others in the process of being built. The museums in Guadalajara belong to the cultural framework of the city, among which are in all its genres exhibiting history, paleontology, archeology, ethnography, paintings, crafts, plastic, photography, sculpture, works of circuits international art, etc.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara has twenty two museums, which include the Regional Museum of Jalisco, the Wax Museum, the Trompo Mágico children's museum and the Museum of Anthropology. The Hospicio Cabañas in the historic center is a World Heritage Site. For these attributes and others, the city was named an American Capital of Culture in 2005.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara and the surrounding metropolitan area have numerous public, private, and digital libraries for the search and consultation of information. The promotion of culture and the enrichment of reading have made it easier for the citizen to require several facilities in the city. Some of the libraries also have a physical enclosure—among them the historic Octavio Paz Ibero-American Library of the University of Guadalajara and the Public Library of the State of Jalisco located in the adjoining city of Zapopan—with options for querying digital information over the Internet.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Jalisco Regional Museum (formerly the seminary of San José) was built at the beginning of the 18th century to be the Seminario Conciliar de San José. From 1861 to 1914, it housed a school called Liceo de Varones. In 1918, it became the Museum of Fine Arts. In 1976, it was completely remodeled for its present use. The museum displays its permanent collection in 16 halls, 15 of which are dedicated to Paleontology, Pre-History, and Archeology. One of the prized exhibits is a complete mammoth skeleton. The other two halls are dedicated to painting and history. The painting collection includes works by Juan Correa, Cristóbal de Villalpando and José de Ibarra.


title: Guadalajara

text: The style of architecture prevalent in Europe during the founding of Guadalajara is paralleled in the city's colonial buildings. The Metropolitan Cathedral and Teatro Degollado are the purest examples of neoclassical architecture. The historical center hosts religious and civil colonial buildings, which are noted for their architectural and historical significance and are a rich mix of styles that are rooted in indigenous cultural contributions (mainly from Ute origin), incorporated in the Mozarabic and castizo, and later in modern European influences (mainly French and Italian) and American (specifically, from the United States).


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara's historical center has an assortment of museums, theaters, galleries, libraries, auditoriums and concert halls, particular mention may be made to Hospicio Cabañas (which dates from the 18th century), the Teatro Degollado (considered the oldest opera house in Mexico), the Teatro Galerías and the Teatro Diana. The Hospicio Cabañas, which is home to some of the paintings (murals and easel) by José Clemente Orozco, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Among the many structures of beauty is the International Headquarters Temple of La Luz del Mundo in Colonia Hermosa Provincia, which is the largest in Latin America.


title: Guadalajara

text: During the Porfiriato the French style invaded the city because of the passion of former president Porfirio Díaz in the trends of French style, also Italian architects were responsible for shaping the Gothic structures that were built in the city. The passage of time reflected different trends from the baroque to churrigueresque, Gothic and neoclassical pure.


title: Guadalajara

text: The French-inspired "Lafayette" neighborhood has many fine examples of early 20th-century residences that were later converted into boutiques and restaurants.


title: Guadalajara

text: Even the architectural lines typical of the decades of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s the Art Deco and bold lines of postmodern architects of the time. Architectural styles found in the city include Baroque, Viceregal, Neoclassical, Modern, Eclectic, Art Deco and Neo-Gothic.


title: Guadalajara

text: The modern architecture of Guadalajara has numerous figures of different architectural production from the neo-regionalism to the primitiveness of the 1960s. Some of these architects are: Rafael Urzua, Luis Barragán, Ignacio Díaz Morales, Pedro Castellanos, Eric Coufal, Julio de la Peña, Eduardo Ibáñez Valencia, Félix Aceves Ortega


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara's modern architecture has figures of diverse architectural output from neo-regionalism to the brutalism of the 1970s. One of these architects are: Rafael Urzua, Luis Barragán, Ignacio Díaz Morales, Pedro Castellano, Eric Coufal, July de la Peña, Eduardo Ibáñez Valencia


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara is also known for several large cultural festivals. The International Film Festival of Guadalajara is a yearly event which happens in March. It mostly focuses on Mexican and Latin American films; however, films from all over the world are shown. The event is sponsored by the Universidad de Guadalajara, CONACULTA, the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematographía as well as the governments of the cities of Guadalajara and Zapopan. The 2009 festival had over 200 films shown in more than 16 theaters and open-air forums, such as the inflatable screens set up in places such as Chapultepec, La Rambla Cataluña, and La Minerva. In that year, the event gave out awards totaling US$500,000. The event attracts names such as Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, Greek director Constantin Costa-Gavras, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas and U.S. actor Edward James Olmos.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Guadalajara International Book Fair is the largest Spanish-language book fair in the world, held each year over nine days at the Expo Guadalajara. Over 300 publishing firms from 35 countries regularly attend, demonstrating the most recent productions in books, videos and new communications technologies. The event awards prizes such as the Premio FIL for literature, the Premio de Literatura Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, also for literature, and the Reconocimento al Mérito Editorial for publishing houses. There is an extensive exposition of books and other materials in Spanish, Portuguese and English, covering academia, culture, the arts and more for sale. More than 350,000 people attend from Mexico and abroad. In 2009, Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk, German children's author Cornelia Funke and Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa participated with about 500 other authors present. Activities include book presentations, academic talks, forums, and events for children.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Danza de los Tastoanes is an event hosted annually on July 25 at the Municipal President's building, where the folklore dancers perform one of the oldest traditional dances and combat battle performance to honor the combats against the Spanish.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Festival Cultural de Mayo (May Cultural Festival) began in 1988. In 2009, the event celebrated the 400th anniversary of relations between Mexico and Japan, with many performances and exhibitions relation to Japanese culture. The 2009 festival featured 358 artists in 118 activities. Each year a different country is "invited." Past guests have been Germany (2008), Mexico (2007), Spain (2006) and Austria (2005). France is the 2013 guest.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Expo Ganadera is an event hosted annually in the month of October where people from all over the country attend to display the best examples of the breed and their quality that is produced in Jalisco. The event also works to promote technological advances in agriculture. The event also has separate sections for the authentic Mexican cuisine, exhibitions of livestock, charreria, and other competitions that display the Jalisco traditions.


title: Guadalajara

text: The historic downtown of Guadalajara is the oldest section of the city, where it was founded and where the oldest buildings are. It centers on Paseo Morelos/Paseo Hospicio from the Plaza de Armas, where the seats of ecclesiastical and secular power are, east toward the Plaza de los Mariachis and the Hospicio Cabañas. The Plaza de Armas is a rectangular plaza with gardens, ironwork benches and an ironwork kiosk which was made in Paris in the 19th century.


title: Guadalajara

text: Within Guadalajara's historic downtown, there are many squares and public parks: Parque Morelos, Plaza de los Mariachis, Plaza Fundadores, Plaza Tapatia, Plaza del Agave, Parque Revolucion, Jardin del Santuario, Plaza de Armas, Plaza de la Liberacion, Plaza Guadalajara and the Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres, the last four of which surround the cathedral to form a Latin Cross.


title: Guadalajara

text: Construction began on the Metropolitan Cathedral in 1558 and the church was consecrated in 1616. Its two towers were built in the 19th century after an earthquake destroyed the originals. They are considered one of the city's symbols. The architecture is a mix of Gothic, Baroque, Moorish and Neoclassical. The interior has three naves and eleven side altars, covered by a roof supported by 30 Doric columns.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres (Rotunda of Illustrious Men) is a monument made of quarried stone, built in 1952 to honor the memory of distinguished people from Jalisco. A circular structure of 17 columns surrounds 98 urns containing the remains of those honored. Across the street is the municipal palace which was built in 1952. It has four façades of quarried stone. It is mostly of Neoclassical design with elements such as courtyards, entrances and columns that imitate the older structures of the city.


title: Guadalajara

text: The Palace of the State Government is in Churrigueresque and Neoclassical styles and was begun in the 17th century and finished in 1774. The interior was completely remodeled after an explosion in 1859. This building contains murals by José Clemente Orozco, a native of Jalisco, including "Lucha Social," "Circo Político," "Las Fuerzas Ocultas," and "Hidalgo," which depicts Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla with his arm raised above his head in anger at the government and the church.


title: Guadalajara

text: The cathedral is bordered to the east by the Plaza de la Liberación, nicknamed the Plaza de las Dos Copas, referring to the two fountains on the east and west sides. Facing this plaza is the Teatro Degollado (Degollado Theater). It was built in the mid-nineteenth century in Neoclassical design. The main portal has a pediment with a scene in relief called "Apollo and the Muses" sculpted in marble by Benito Castañeda. The interior vaulted ceiling is painted with a fresco by Jacobo Gálvez and Gerardo Suárez which depicts a scene from the "Divine Comedy". Behind the theater is another plaza with a fountain called the Fuente de los Fundadores (Fountain of the Founders). The plaza is in the exact spot where the city was founded and contains a sculpture depicting Cristobal de Oñate at the event (finsemana).


title: Guadalajara

text: Between the Cathedral and the Hospicio is the large Plaza Tapatía, which covers . Its centerpiece is "Inmolación de Quetzalcóatl". Southeast of this plaza is the Mercado Libertad, also called the Mercado de San Juan de Dios, one of the largest traditional markets in Mexico. The Temple of San Juan de Dios, a Baroque church built in the 17th century, is next to the market.


title: Guadalajara

text: At the far east end is the Plaza de los Mariachis and the Ex-Hospicio Cabañas. The Plaza de los Mariachis is faced by restaurants where one can hear live mariachis play, especially at night. The Ex-Hospicio Cabañas extends along the entire east side of the Plaza. This building was constructed by Manuel Tolsá beginning in 1805 under orders of Carlos III. It was inaugurated and began its function as an orphanage in 1810, in spite of the fact that it would not be finished until 1845. It was named after Bishop Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo. The façade is Neoclassical and its main entrance is topped by a triangular pediment. Today, it is the home of the Instituto Cultural Cabañas (Cabañas Cultural Institute) and its main attraction is the murals by José Clemente Orozco, which cover the main entrance hall. Among these murals is "Hombre del Fuego" (Man of Fire), considered to be one of Orozco's finest works.


title: Guadalajara

text: Off this east–west axis are other significant constructions. The Legislative Place is Neoclassical and was originally built in the 18th century. It was reconstructed in 1982. The Palace of Justice was finished in 1897. The Old University Building was a Jesuit college named Santo Tomás de Aquino. It was founded in 1591. It became the second Mexican University in 1792. Its main portal is of yellow stone. The Casa de los Perros (House of the Dogs) was constructed in 1896 in Neoclassical design. On Avenida Juarez is the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora del Carmen which was founded between 1687 and 1690 and remodeled completely in 1830. It retains its original coat of arms of the Carmelite Order as well as sculptures of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Adjoining it is what is left of the Carmelite monastery, which was one of the richest in New Spain.


title: Guadalajara

text: Mariachi music is strongly associated with Guadalajara both in Mexico and abroad even though the musical style originated in the nearby town of Cocula, Jalisco. The connection between the city and mariachi began in 1907 when an eight-piece mariachi band and four dancers from the city performed on stage at the president's residence for both Porfirio Díaz and the Secretary of State of the United States. This made the music a symbol of west Mexico, and after the migration of many people from the Guadalajara area to Mexico City (mostly settling near Plaza Garibaldi), it then became a symbol of Mexican identity as well.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara hosts the Festival of Mariachi and Charreria, which began in 1994. It attracts people in the fields of art, culture and politics from Mexico and abroad. Regularly the best mariachis in Mexico participate, such as Mariachi Vargas, Mariachi de América and Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano. Mariachi bands from all over the world participate, coming from countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Belgium, Chile, France, Australia, Slovak Republic, Canada and the United States.


title: Guadalajara

text: The events of this festival take place in venues all over the metropolitan area, and include a parade with floats. In August 2009, 542 mariachi musicians played together for a little over ten minutes to break the world record for largest mariachi group. The musicians played various songs ending with two classic Mexican songs "Cielito Lindo" and "Guadalajara." The feat was performed during the XVI Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi y la Charreria. The prior record was 520 musicians in 2007 in San Antonio, Texas.


title: Guadalajara

text: In the historic center of the city is the Plaza de los Mariachis, named such as many groups play here. The plaza was renovated for the 2011 Pan American Games in anticipation of the crowds visiting. Over 750 mariachi musicians play traditional melodies on the plaza, and along with the restaurants and other businesses, the plaza supports more than 830 families.


title: Guadalajara

text: A recent innovation has been the fusion of mariachi melodies and instruments with rock and roll performed by rock musicians in the Guadalajara area. An album collecting a number of these melodies was produced called "Mariachi Rock-O." There are plans to take these bands on tour in Mexico, the United States and Europe.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city is also host to several dance and ballet companies such as the Chamber Ballet of Jalisco, the Folkloric Ballet of the University of Guadalajara, and the University of Guadalajara Contemporary Ballet.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city is home to a renowned symphony orchestra. The Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco (Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra) was founded by José Rolón in 1915. It held concerts from that time until 1924, when state funding was lost. However, the musicians kept playing to keep the orchestra alive. This eventually caught the attention of authorities and funding was restated in 1939. Private funding started in the 1940s and in 1950, an organization called Conciertos Guadalajara A. C. was formed to continue fundraising for the orchestra. In 1971, the orchestra became affiliated with the Department of Fine Arts of the State of Jalisco. The current name was adopted in 1988/ International soloists such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Claudio Arrau, Jörg Demus, Henryck Szeryng, Nicanor Zabaleta, Plácido Domingo, Kurt Rydl and Alfred Brendel have performed with the organization. Today the orchestra is under the direction of Marco Parisotto.


title: Guadalajara

text: As in the rest of Mexico, food in Guadalajara is a mix of pre-Hispanic and Spanish influences. Typical Mexican dishes, such as pozole, tamales, sopes, enchiladas, tacos, menudo (soup), carne en su jugo and frijoles charros are popular.


title: Guadalajara

text: One dish specific to Guadalajara is the "torta ahogada." It consists of a salted bun or roll (typically tapatío) smeared with refried beans, with fried pork cut into pieces — also known as "carnitas" — all in tomato sauce seasoned with spices. It is eaten with onions reduced in lemon and hot sauce. Accompanying drinks can include tejuino, which is made with a base of sourdough corn accompanied by lemon ice cream, or tepache, which is made from the bark of fermented pineapple.


title: Guadalajara

text: Another typical meal of Guadalajara and the entire state of Jalisco is the "birria," which is usually made with either pork, beef, or goat. Handcrafted birria is made in a special oven, which can be underground and covered with maguey leaves; the meat can be mixed with a tomato broth and spices, or consumed separately. The traditional way of preparing birria is to pit roast the meat and spices wrapped in maguey leaves. It is served in bowls with minced onion, limes and tortillas.


title: Guadalajara

text: Another typical dish of the tapatía kitchen is the "" This dish consists of a beef broth with beans from the pot and is accompanied by bacon, coriander, onion, and radish (sliced or whole). The dessert that is considered as a typical tapatío is the jericalla.


title: Guadalajara

text: When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Aztec empire, a few religious ceremonies included eating pozole made with hominy and human flesh. This was the first type of pozole mentioned in Spanish writing, as a ritual dish eaten only by select priests and noblemen. The meat from the thighs of slain enemy warriors was used. The Franciscan missionaries ended this custom when they banned Aztec religious ceremonies. The pozole in the local common cuisine was related to the ritual dish, but prepared with turkey meat, and later pork, not with human flesh.


title: Guadalajara

text: Other dishes that are popular here include pozole, a soup prepared with hominy, pork or chicken, topped with cabbage, radishes, minced onions, and other condiments; pipián, which is a sauce prepared with peanuts, squash and sesame seed, and biónico, a popular local dessert.


title: Guadalajara

text: Jericallas are a typical Guadalajara dessert that is similar to flan, that was created to give children proper nutrients while being delicious. It is made with eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, and baked in the oven where it is broiled to the point that a burnt layer is produced. The burnt layer at the surface is what makes this dessert special and delicious.


title: Guadalajara

text: One of the drinks that is popular in Guadalajara is Tejuino, a refreshing drink that contains a corn fermented base with sugarcane, lime, salt and chili powder.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city hosts the Feria Internacional Gastronomía (International Gastronomy Fair) each year in September showcasing Mexican and international cuisines. Many restaurants, bars, bakeries and cafés participate as well as producers of beer, wine and tequila.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara is home to four professional football teams; Guadalajara, also known as "Chivas", Atlas, C.D. Oro and Universidad de Guadalajara. Guadalajara is the most successful and the most followed club in the country, They have won the Mexican Primera División a total of 12 times, and have won the Copa MX four times. In 2017 Chivas became the first team in Mexican football history to win a Double (a league and cup title) in a single season on two different occasions and their first since the 1969–70 season. Chivas went on to win the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League final against Major League Soccer side Toronto FC, the second time they have won the tournament. Chivas won the first ever CONCACAF Champions League and are the only Guadalajara-based football team to win the tournament. Atlas also plays in the Mexican Primera División. They are known in the country as 'The academy', hence they have provided Mexico's finest football players, among them: Rafael Márquez, Oswaldo Sánchez, Pável Pardo, Andrés Guardado, and the Mexican national team's former top scorer Jared Borgetti. Atlas also won several championships in amateur tournaments, and the first championship for a Guadalajaran team in 1951. They won the first division championship again in 2021. Estudiantes was associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara A.C. It played in the Primera División, with home games in the "Estadio 3 de Marzo" (March 3 Stadium, for the university's 1935 date of founding). They've won also a single Championship back in 1994 as they defeated Santos. The team moved to Zacatecas and became the Mineros de Zacatecas in May 2014.


title: Guadalajara

text: Starting in October 2014, Guadalajara rejoined the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico baseball tournament with the Charros de Jalisco franchise in play at the Athletic Stadium. Charreada, the Mexican form of rodeo and closely tied to mariachi music, is popular here. The biggest place for Charreada competitions, the VFG Arena, is located near the Guadalajara Airport founded by singer Vicente Fernández. Every September 15, charros make a parade in the downtown streets to celebrate the Charro and Mariachi Day.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara hosted the 2011 Pan American Games. Since winning the bid to host the Games, the city had been undergoing extensive renovations. The games brought in more than 5,000 athletes from approximately 42 countries from the Americas and the Caribbean. Sports included aquatics, football, racquetball, and 27 more, with six others being considered. COPAG (the Organizing Committee for the Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011) had a total budget of US$250 million with the aim of updating the city's sports and general infrastructure. The center of the city was repaved and new hotels were constructed for the approximately 22,000 rooms that were needed in 2011. The new bus rapid transit (BRT) system, Macrobús, was launched in March and runs along Avenida Independencia. The Pan-American village was built around the Bajio Zone. After the Games, the buildings will be used for housing. There are already 13 existing venues in Guadalajara that the games will use, including the Jalisco Stadium, UAG 3 de Marzo Stadium, and the UAG Gymnasium. Eleven new sporting facilities were created for the event. Other works included a second terminal in the airport, a highway to Puerto Vallarta and a bypass for the southern part of the city.


title: Guadalajara

text: Lorena Ochoa, a now-retired former #1 female golfer, Sergio Pérez who drives for Red Bull Racing F1 Team in Formula One, and Javier "Chicharito" Hernández, a forward who currently plays for LA Galaxy and the Mexico national team were also born in the city.


title: Guadalajara

text: As the capital of the state, the city is the seat of the state's government. As a result, state politics have a heavy influence on local decision-making and vice versa. Historically, the mayorship of the city has been a common leaping platform for the state governorship. Additionally, because of the sheer size of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area vis-à-vis the rest of the state, the city's urban agglomeration—largely dominated and coordinated by the Guadalajara city council—captures 12 of the 20 seats in the state legislature allocated by the district.


title: Guadalajara

text: All three branches of the state government are concentrated around the historic city center, with the Palace of Government, the seat of the state executive, immediately southeast of the cathedral. North, across the Plaza de la Liberación, is the State Legislature Building, and immediately east of the latter is the Supreme Tribunal of State Justice.


title: Guadalajara

text: Like other municipalities in Mexico, Guadalajara is governed by a municipal president, who exercises executive power for three consecutive years. This office is currently occupied by Enrique Alfaro (Movimiento Ciudadano).


title: Guadalajara

text: The legislature has the cabildo, formed by the form chosen by the candidate for mayor, made up of aldermen, who are not elected by the people by direct or indirect voting, but the return happens automatically if the mayor wins.


title: Guadalajara

text: The municipality is divided into five electoral districts for the purpose of election of representatives of the city in the federal legislature. These districts are the VIII, IX, XI, XIII, and XIV of the state of Jalisco.


title: Guadalajara

text: The city and the municipality of Guadalajara are essentially co extensive with over 99% of the municipality living within the city limits and nearly all of the municipality urbanized. Urbanization centered on the city spreads out over seven other municipalities; of Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, Tlajomulco de Zuñiga, El Salto, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, and Juanacatlán.


title: Guadalajara

text: These areas form the "Guadalajara Metropolitan Area" (Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara in Spanish), which is the most populous in the state of Jalisco and the second most populous in the country after the Mexico City Metropolitan area. This metropolitan area had a population of 4,298,715 in 2008.


title: Guadalajara

text: Guadalajara is an important hub for higher education in both Mexico and Latin America, as the home to numerous nationally and internationally ranked universities and research centers.


title: Guadalajara

text: The most important is the University of Guadalajara, which was established on October 12, 1791, by royal decree. The entity underwent a number of reorganizations since then, but the modern university as it exists today was established in 1925, when the governor of Jalisco convened professors, students and others to re-establish the university. These precepts were organized into a law called the "Ley Organica." It was ranked fifth among the best Mexican universities in 2012.