The Guadalajara metropolitan area (officially, in Spanish: Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara) is the most populous metropolitan area of the Mexican state of Jalisco and the third largest in the country after Greater Mexico City and Monterrey. It includes the core municipality of Guadalajara and the surrounding municipalities of Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, El Salto, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and Juanacatlán.
Guadalajara (/ˌɡwɑːdələˈhɑːrə/ GWAH-də-lə-HAR-ə, Spanish: [ɡwaðalaˈxaɾa] ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 8th most populous city in Mexico, while the Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of 5,268,642, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in the country and the twenty-second largest metropolitan area in the Americas. Guadalajara has the second-highest population density in Mexico with over 10,361 people per km, surpassed only by Mexico City. 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 the Guadalajara Cathedral, Degollado Theatre, the Templo Expiatorio, the UNESCO World Heritage site Hospicio Cabañas, and the San Juan de Dios Market—the largest indoor market in Latin America.
A settlement was established in the region of Guadalajara in early 1532 by Cristóbal de Oñate, a Basque conquistador in the expedition of Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán. The settlement was renamed and moved several times before assuming the name Guadalajara after the birthplace of Guzmán and ending up at its current location in the Atemajac Valley in 1542. On November 8, 1539, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had granted a coat of arms and the title of city to the new town and established it 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 (1876–1911), with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, but its growth was hampered significantly during the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920). 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.
Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by six states, Nayarit, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Colima. Jalisco is divided into 125 municipalities, and its capital and largest city is Guadalajara.
Jalisco is one of the most economically and culturally important states in Mexico, owing to its natural resources as well as its long history and culture. Many of the characteristic traits of Mexican culture are originally from Jalisco, such as mariachi, tequila, ranchera music, birria, and jaripeo, hence the state's motto: Jalisco es México ('Jalisco is Mexico'). Economically, it is ranked third in the country, with industries centered in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, the third 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.
Puerto Vallarta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpweɾto βaˈʎaɾta] or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara metropolitan area. The city of Puerto Vallarta is the government seat of the municipality of Puerto Vallarta, which comprises the city as well as population centers outside of the city, extending from Boca de Tomatlán to the Nayarit border (the Ameca River). The city is located at 20°40′N 105°16′W / 20.667°N 105.267°W. The municipality has an area of 681 square kilometres (262.9 sq mi). To the north, it borders the southwest of the state of Nayarit. To the east, it borders the municipality of Mascota and San Sebastián del Oeste, and to the south, it borders the municipalities of Talpa de Allende and Cabo Corrientes.
Puerto Vallarta is named after Ignacio Vallarta, a former governor of Jalisco. In Spanish, Puerto Vallarta is frequently shortened to "Vallarta", while English speakers call the city P.V. for short. In Internet shorthand, the city is often referred to as PV, after the International Air Transport Association airport code for its Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport.
Tlajomulco de Zúñiga is the municipal seat and third most populous city in the municipality of the same name, located in the state of Jalisco in central-western Mexico. It forms part of the Guadalajara metropolitan area, lying to the southeast of it. The municipality covers an area of 636.93 km. As of 2010 it had a population of 416,626, with a total urban population of 378,965.
Its name is interpreted from Nahuatl as "Land in the Corner."