Description : 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, while the Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of 5,268,642, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. Guadalajara has the second highest population density in Mexico, with over 10,361 people per square kilometre. Guadalajara is an international center of business, finance, arts, and culture, as well as the economic center of the Bajío region, one of the most productive and developed regions in Latin America. 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 1 million metro population in the 1960s and passing 3 million in the 1990s. Guadalajara was originally founded at three other sites before moving to its current location. The first settlement in 1532 was in Mesa del Cerro, now known as Nochistlán, Zacatecas. This site was settled 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 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. During the Mixtón War, settlers were attacked by the Caxcan, Portecuex, and Zacateco peoples under the command of Tenamaxtli. The war was initiated in response to the cruel 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 Indian slaves 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. 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 settlement was named for Nuño de Guzmán's Spanish hometown. 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. 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.
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