page_title: Jalisco
section_title: Geography and environment
hierarchical_section_title: Jalisco / Geography and environment
caption_attribution_description: English: Overview of the bay Chapala, in the river from Lake same name in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Español: Panorámica de la bahía de Chapala, en la rivera del lago de mismo nombre, en el estado de Jalisco, México.
context_page_description: Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and is bordered by six states which are Nayarit, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Colima. Jalisco is divided into 125 municipalities, and its capital city is Guadalajara. Jalisco is one of the most important states in Mexico because of its natural resources as well as its history. Many of the characteristic traits of Mexican culture, particularly outside Mexico City, are originally from Jalisco, such as mariachi, ranchera music, birria, tequila, jaripeo, etc., hence the state's motto: "Jalisco es México." Economically, it is ranked third in the country, with industries centered in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, the second largest metropolitan area in Mexico.
  The state is home to two significant indigenous populations, the Huichols and the Nahuas. There is also a significant foreign population, mostly from the United States and Canada, living in the Lake Chapala and Puerto Vallarta areas.
context_section_description: With a total area of 78,599 square kilometers (30,347 sq mi), Jalisco is the seventh-largest state in Mexico, accounting for 4.1% of the country's territory. The state is in the central western coast of the country, bordering the states of Nayarit, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Colima and Michoacán with 342 kilometers (213 mi) of coastline on the Pacific Ocean to the west.
  Jalisco is made up of a diverse terrain that includes forests, beaches, plains, and lakes. Altitudes in the state vary from 0 to 4,300 meters (0 to 14,110 ft) above sea level, from the coast to the top of the Nevado de Colima. The Jalisco area contains all five of Mexico's natural ecosystems: arid and semi arid scrublands, tropical evergreen forests, tropical deciduous and thorn forests, grasslands and mesquite grasslands and temperate forests with oaks, pines and firs. Over 52% of the bird species found in Mexico live in the state, with 525, 40% of Mexico's mammals with 173 and 18% of its reptile species. There are also 7,500 species of veined plants. One reason for its biodiversity is that it lies in the transition area between the temperate north and tropical south. It also lies at the northern edge of the Sierra Madre del Sur and is on the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which provides a wide variety of ecological conditions from tropical rainforest conditions to semi arid areas to areas apt for conifer forests.
  Its five natural regions are: Northwestern Plains and Sierras, Sierra Madre Occidental, Central Plateau, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which covers most of the state, and the Sierra Madre del Sur. It has an average altitude of 1,550 meters (5,090 ft) MASL, but ranges from 0–4,300 m (0–14,110 ft). Most of the territory is semi-flat between 600–2,050 m (1,970–6,730 ft), followed by rugged terrain of between 900–4,300 m (2,950–14,110 ft) and a small percentage of flat lands between 0–1,750 m (0–5,740 ft). Principle elevations include the Nevado de Colima, the Volcan de Colima, the Sierra El Madroño, the Tequila Volcano, the Sierra Tapalpa, Sierra Los Huicholes, Sierra San Isidro, Sierra Manantlán, Cerro El Tigre, Cerro García, Sierra Lalo, Sierra Cacoma, Cerro Gordo, Sierra Verde and the Sierra Los Guajolotes.
  Jalisco's rivers and streams eventually empty into the Pacific Ocean and are divided into three groups: the Lerma/Santiago River and its tributaries, rivers that empty directly into the Pacific and rivers in the south of the state.  Jalisco has several river basins with the most notable being that of the Lerma/Santiago River, which drains the northern and northeastern parts of the state. The Lerma River enters extends from the State of Mexico and empties into Lake Chapala on the east side. On the west, water flows out in the Santiago River, which crosses the center of Jalisco on its way to the Pacific, carving deep canyons in the land. Tributaries to the Santiago River include the Zula, the Verde River, the Juchipila and the Bolaños. About three quarters of the state's population lives near this river system. In the southwest of the state, there are a number of small rivers that empty directly into the Pacific Ocean. The most important of these is the Ameca, with its one main tributary, the Mascota River. This river forms the state's border with Nayarit and empties into the Ipala Bay. The Tomatlán, San Nicolás, Purificación, Marabasco-Minatitlán, Ayuquila, Tuxcacuesco, Armería and Tuxpan rivers flow almost perpendicular to the Pacific Ocean and drain the coastal area. Another river of this group is the Cihuatlán River, which forms the boundary between Jalisco and Colima emptying into the Barra de Navidad Bay.  The southeastern corner belongs to the Balsas River basin. This includes the Ayuqila and Tuxcacuesco, which join to form the Armería and the Tuxpan.
  The other main surface water is Lake Chapala, and is the largest and most important freshwater lake in Mexico, accounting for about half of the country's lake surface. The lake acts as a regulator of the flow of both the Lerma and Santiago Rivers. There are a number of seasonal an
caption: Along the shore of Lake Chapala
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