page_title: Guanajuato
section_title: Geography and climate
hierarchical_section_title: Guanajuato / Geography and climate
caption_attribution_description: English: Farmland in the Bajío, Celaya. Español: El Bajío, Región geográfica de Guanajuato. El Bajío mexicano en Celaya. فارسی: زمین های کشاورزی در باخیو. Português: O Bajío, região geográfica de Guanajuato. Русский: Регион Бахио.
context_page_description: Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states which make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato. The largest city in the state is León.
  Guanajuato is in central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Jalisco to the west, Zacatecas to the northwest, San Luis Potosí to the north, Querétaro to the east, and Michoacán to the south. It covers an area of 30,608 km².
  Guanajuato is between the arid north of the country and the lusher south, and it is geographically part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Mexican Plateau. It was initially settled by the Spanish in the 1520s due to mineral deposits found around the now capital city of Guanajuato, but areas such as the Bajío region also became important for agriculture and livestock. Mining and agriculture were the mainstays of the state's economy, but have since been eclipsed by the secondary sector. Guanajuato has particularly seen growth in the automotive industry.
context_section_description: Guanajuato is located in the center of Mexico, northwest of Mexico City, bordering the states of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Querétaro, and Jalisco. It covers an area of 30,589 km² and is ranked 20th out of 32 states. It has an average altitude of 2,015 meters (6,611 ft) above sea level, with its territory divided among three of Mexico's physical regions, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Mexican Plateau and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The Sierra Madre Oriental in Guanajuato consists of the Sierra Gorda and the Sierra del Azafrán in the northeast. The Mexican Plateau extends through the center of the state. Within, it subdivides into various regions parted by low-lying mountain chains such as the Sierra de la Cuatralba and the Sierra de Cubo. The Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt crosses the state in the south and includes the Bajío area, the Altos de Jalisco and the valleys area in the far south. The state is crossed by several mountain ranges which have mountains between 2,300 and 3,000 meters high. Mountain ranges average 2,305 meters and flat areas lie at around 1,725 meters above mean sea level. The other important mountain ranges include the Sierra Gorda to the north, the Sierra de Guanjuato in the southeast, the Comanja in the northwest and the Codorniz in the east.
  The state is divided into five regions, taking into consideration geography and climate. These are called Altos de Guanajuato, La Sierra Central, Bajío, La Sierra Gorda, and Los Valles del Sur. The Altos de Guanajuato, located in the north of the state, are a chain of forested mountains interspersed with pastures, small fields and areas with cacti and other desert plants. They begin near the border with San Luis Potosí, and extend south to Dolores Hidalgo and then to San Miguel de Allende, then to the Querétaro border. The altitude of this area varies from 1,800 to peaks over 2,900 meters such as the La Giganta and La Sierra del Cubo mountains. The climate is mostly semiarid with a rainy season in the summer, with average temperatures between 15 and 20 °C. However, lows in the winter frequently reach 0 °C or lower with frosts. Wildlife is found mostly in the most rugged and inaccessible areas and includes deer, coyotes, eagles and rattlesnakes.
  La Sierra Gorda is shared between Guanajuato and Querétaro and is considered to be an important biosphere. This area is the most rugged in the state where most of the natural areas and small villages remain intact due to their inaccessibility. The Sierra Gorda is part of the Sierra Madre Occidental, with extreme variations in its geography and climate. The rugged terrain means that there are a wide number and variety of micro-climates, although average temperatures vary only between 16 and 19 °C. It lowest point is a canyon called Paso de Hormigas in Xichú at 650 meters above sea level with a very warm climate suitable for tropical fruit. The highest point is Pinal de Zamorano at 3,300 meters, followed by El Picacho de Pueblo Nuevo, El Zorillo and El Cuervo all above 2,700 meters. The largest changes are seen in arid versus wetter zones, which can often be relatively nearby, with foliage changing from rainforest to pine forest to desert landscapes. In 1997, the Sierra Gorda region in Querétaro was declared a Biosphere Reserve by the federal government, with the Guanajuato portion added in 2007. On the Guanajuato side, it covers 236,882 hectares over the municipalities of Xichú, San Luis de la Paz, Atarjea, Victoria and Santa Catarina. Culturally, the Sierra Gorda region is the far western part of La Huasteca, which extends over parts of the states of Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo and Veracruz.
  The Sierra Central is a series of low, gentle mountains in the center of the state which are part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. They cover twelve municipalities: Ocampo, San Felipe, León, Silao, Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo, San Miguel de Allende, Irapuato, Salamanca, Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas, Comonfort and Apaseo el Grande. Wild vegetation runs from tropical rainforest to arid grasslands with cactus, wi
caption: Farmland in the Bajío
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