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:'''Zacatecas' is the name of both a state of Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the state. For the city, see Zacatecas, Zacatecas.''
'Zacatecas' is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. It is located in the north-central region and it is bounded to the northwest by Durango, to the north by Coahuila and Nuevo León, to the east by San Luis Potosí, to the south by Aguascalientes and Guanajuato and to the southwest by Jalisco and Nayarit. The state is best known for its rich deposits of silver, its colonial architecture and its importance during the revolution. The state is also known as one of the safest states in the country. Zacatecas has 58 municipalities and the main economic activities are mining, agriculture and tourism. The state shares its name with its capital and chief center of population, the city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas.

Contents

Pre-Columbian

Foundation

Geography

Flora

Fauna

Economy

Demographics

Cities

Touristic cities

Government

Administrative Divisions

Major communities

Famous People from the State of Zacatecas

External links

Pre-Columbian

At first contact, the Spanish reported that the Zacateco, Caxcan, Guachichil, and Tepehuan were the four primary tribes that inhabited the area of present-day Zacatecas. All region known as La Gran Chichimeca, which was never conquered by the Mexica (Aztecs).

Foundation

On September 8, 1546, with the discovery of its mines, the present city of Zacatecas was founded. It was originally baptized "Minas de los Zacatecas" or "Mines of the Zacatecas". Its rich mineral wealth gave the Spanish Crown a great amount of income (the silver mines in Zacatecas and Potosi, Bolivia, were the Spanish crown's largest sources of income during colonialism), which gave the city of Zacatecas the title of "Ciudad de Nuestra Señora de los Zacatecas". Zacatecas was the name given to the local natives around the city. It basically translates to "inhabitants of the land where the grass (zacate) is abundant" in the Nahuatl language

Geography

Zacatecas is located in the great central plateau of Mexico, with an average elevation of about . The state is somewhat mountainous, being traversed in the west by lateral ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and by numerous isolated ranges in other parts – Mazapil, Norillos, Guadalupe and others. There are no large rivers, only the small head-streams of the Aguanaval in the north, and of the Guazamota, Bolanos and Juchipila in the west, the last three being tributaries of the Rio Grande de Santiago.

Flora

There are forest of pines and evergreens in the sierras; in the valleys and plains there is a great abundance of mesquite, maguey, cactus, agave, pastures, huisache, and many other semi-desertic plants.

Fauna

In the sierras there are many wild boar, white-tailed deer and hares; in the valleys and plains it is common to find coyote, badgers, quails and ducks.

Economy

The agricultural products are cereals, sugar and maguey, the first being dependent on the rainfall, often failing altogether, the second on irrigation in the lower valleys, and the latter doing best in a dry climate on a calcareous soil with water not far beneath the surface. There is also a considerable production of peaches, apricots and grapes, the last being made into wine. A few cattle are raised, and considerable attention is given to the rearing of sheep, goats and swine. A natural product is guayule, a shrub from which rubber is extracted.
The chief industry of Zacatecas, however, is mining for silver, gold, mercury, copper, iron, zinc, lead, bismuth, antimony and salt. Its mineral wealth was discovered soon after the conquest, and some of its mines are among the most famous of Mexico, dating from 1546. One of the most productive of its silver mines, the Alvarado, has records which show a production of nearly $800,000,000 in silver between 1548 and 1867. Thanks to Zacatecas and its mines, Mexico has been the largest producer of silver in the world.
The state is traversed by the Mexican Central and the Mexican National railways. Its manufactures are limited chiefly to the reduction of mineral ores, the extraction of rubber from ''guayule'', the making of sugar, rum, mezcal, pulque, woollen and cotton fabrics, and some minor industries of the capital.

Demographics

The state of Zacatecas has a population of 1,441,734 inhabitants. It has more than tripled in a century, in 1900 its population was 462,190. About 75% of the population is mestizo and 25% is white. In the year 2000, Zacatecas had the smallest indigenous population percentage-wise in Mexico: 0.3%. Only the state of Aguascalientes has a smaller number of indigenous people, numbering 3,472; Zacatecas has 4,039 indigenous people.
[1]
In the last ten years, Zacatecas' population has grown a mere 6%, well below the country's average growth of 20%. [2]. It is estimated that half of the people from Zacatecas do not reside in the state. The biggest concentration of Zacatecanos outside Mexico is in the United States, with a population of approximately 800,000-1,000,000, almost as many people as in the state itself. Most are concentrated in cities such as, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Phoenix. It fact, there are more ''Zacatecanos'' living in the Los Angeles area than in the city of Zacatecas itself.

Cities

The largest city in terms of population in the state of Zacatecas is fresnillo, with a population of 183,236 (2005). It is followed by the state capital of Zacatecas with a population of 118,562 (2005). Next is Sombrerete with 61,652.

Touristic cities

The state had touristic cities like: Zacatecas, Sombrerete, and Jerez, and places like Sierra de Organos, Sierra de Cardos, Altavista. Arriba fresnillo.

★ Zacatecas: The colonial center of this city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and features elaborately decorated buildings, cobblestoned streets, and wrought-iron lanterns.

★ Sombrerete: Colonial city established in 1555 as a village, actually is a small city, is the fifth most important in the state, and consider the second most beautiful city in the state. The city features old and beautiful churches built in the New Spain Era, decorated and old buildings. The municipality had touristic forests, and Sierra de Organos, famous place in the world for filmed western movies.

★ Jerez de Garcia Salinas: City near of Zacatecas City, had colonial buildings and the Parroquial Church, known internacionally by Lopez Velarde a writer born in that city.

Government

The current governor of Zacatecas is Amalia García Medina (PRD) who will end her 6 year term in 2010 after winning the election of 2004. She became the first female governor on September 12, 2004. The state is represented by three representatives in the Mexican senate: Mejía Haro Antonio (PRD), Tomás Torres Mercado (PRD) and José Isabel Trejo Reyes (PAN). Zacatecas also has 9 representatives in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies: 9 of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, 3 of the National Action Party and 1 of the Ecologist Green Party.

Administrative Divisions

''See: municipalities of Zacatecas.''
Zacatecas is subdivided into 58 municipalities ''(municipios)''. Mazapil by far is the largest municipality in the state, occupying about 16% of the area of the state. The Municipality of Momax is the smallest one in area with only 164.538 km².

Major communities

★ Fresnillo

★ Guadalupe

★ Jerez de García Salinas

★ Loreto

★ Ojocaliente

★ Río Grande

★ Sombrerete

★ Victor Rosales

★ Zacatecas

★ Valparaiso

★ El Tejujan

Famous People from the State of Zacatecas

★ Antonio Aguilar, singer, actor

★ Cynthia Klitbo, actor

★ Pepe Aguilar, singer

★ Rebecca de Alba, model

★ Susana González, actor

★ Don Juan de Oñate, Mexican-born conquistador of Spanish parents

★ Manuel María Ponce, composer

★ Los Acuario de México, music group

★ Los Temerarios, music group

★ Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet of the 19th Century, poet of "La Suave Patria"

★ Florinda Meza, actres

External links

★ Music and Dance of the State of Zacatecas

★ Zacatecas state government

★ Zacatecas Web Portal

★ Towns, cities, and postal codes in Zacatecas