Nayarit in the context of Islas Marías

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.

Sinaloa (Spanish pronunciation: [sinaˈloa] ), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa (English: Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 20 municipalities, and its capital and largest city is Culiacán Rosales. Other large cities include Mazatlán, Los Mochis, Guamúchil, and Guasave.

Sinaloa is located in northwest Mexico and is bordered by the states of Sonora to the northwest, Chihuahua to the north, Durango to the east, and Nayarit to the southeast. To the west, Sinaloa faces Baja California Sur, across the Gulf of California. Its natural geography is divided by the Sierra Madre Occidental, fertile river valleys, and a broad coastal plain along the Gulf of California. The state covers an area of 58,328 square kilometers (22,521 sq mi) and includes the islands of Palmito Verde, Palmito de la Virgen, Altamura, Santa María, Saliaca, Macapule, and San Ignacio.

Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas.

It is located in north-central Mexico and is bordered by the states of Durango to the northwest, Coahuila to the north, Nayarit to the west, San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León to the east, and Jalisco, Guanajuato and Aguascalientes to the south. The state is best known for its rich deposits of silver and other minerals, its colonial architecture and its importance during the Mexican Revolution. Its main economic activities are mining, agriculture and tourism.

Nuevo Reino de Galicia (New Kingdom of Galicia; Galician: Reino de Nova Galicia) or simply Nueva Galicia (New Galicia, Nova Galicia), known in Nahuatl as Chimalhuacán (‘the land of shield bearers’), was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain. Nueva Galicia's territory consisted of the present-day Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Zacatecas.

A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential streets and include various shared amenities. For smaller communities, these amenities may include only a park or other common area. For larger communities, it may be possible for residents to stay within the community for most daily activities. Gated communities are a type of common interest development, but are distinct from intentional communities.

For socio-historical reasons, in the developed world they exist primarily in the United States.

The Wixárika (Huichol pronunciation: [wiˈraɾika]) or Huichol (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈwit͡ʃo̞l]) are an Indigenous people of Mexico living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, with considerable communities in the United States, in the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. They are best known to the larger world as the Huichol, although they refer to themselves as Wixáritari ("the people") in their Huichol language. The adjectival form of Wixáritari and name for their own language is Wixárika.

The Wixárika speak a language of the Wixarikan group that is closely related to the Nahuatl group. Furthermore, they have received Mesoamerican influences, which is reflected by the fact that Wixarika has features typical of the Mesoamerican language area.

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 / 20.667; -105.267. 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.

The Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition refers to a set of interlocked cultural traits found in the western Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and, to a lesser extent, Colima to its south, roughly dating to the period between 300 BCE and 400 CE, although there is not wide agreement on this end date. Nearly all of the artifacts associated with this shaft tomb tradition have been discovered by looters and are without provenance, making dating problematic.

The first major undisturbed shaft tomb associated with the tradition was not discovered until 1993 at Huitzilapa, Jalisco.