Jalisco

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Jalisco

Location

Statistics
Capital	Guadalajara
Area	79,085 km² Ranked 6th
Population (2005 census)	6,752,113 Ranked 4th
HDI (2004)	0.8007 - high Ranked 13th
Governor	Emilio González Márquez (PAN)
Federal Deputies	PAN: 18 PRI: 1
Federal Senators	Eva Contreras (PAN) Héctor Pérez (PAN) Ramiro Hernández (PRI)
ISO 3166-2 Postal abbr.	MX-JAL Jal.

Jalisco is one of the states of the United Mexican States (Mexico). The capital of Jalisco is the city of Guadalajara. In the 2005 census, Jalisco had a population of 6,752,113 people. Jalisco is known for being the birthplace of Mariachi music and Tequila.

1 Geography
2 Government and politics
- 2.1 Municipalities
3 Major communities
- 3.1 Beach resorts
4 Demographics
- 4.1 Famous people from Jalisco
5 External link

[edit] Geography

The state of Jalisco borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the states of Nayarit to the north west, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí to the north, Guanajuato to the east, and Colima and Michoacán to the south. It has an area of about 79,085 km² or 30,535 square miles (some municipalities are currently being disputed with neighboring states).^{[citation needed]}

Mexico's largest freshwater lake, Lake Chapala, lies within the boundaries of Jalisco.

[edit] Government and politics

The Constitution of the State of Jalisco provides that the government of Jalisco, like the government of every other state in Mexico, consists of three powers: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

Executive power rests in the Governor of Jalisco, who is directly elected by the citizens, using a secret ballot, to a 6-year term with no possibility of reelection. Legislative power rests in the Congress of Jalisco which is a unicameral legislature composed of 40 deputies. Judicial power is invested in the Superior Court of Justice of Jalisco.

[edit] Municipalities

See main article: Municipalities of Jalisco.

The State of Jalisco is divided into 126 municipalities, each headed by a municipal president (mayor). Most municipalities are named after the city that serves as municipal seat; e.g. the municipal seat of the Municipality of Guadalajara is the City of Guadalajara.

[edit] Major communities

[edit] Beach resorts

Along with the well-know resort of Puerto Vallarta, the Pacific coast of Jalisco has numerous smaller beach resorts such as Cuastecomates, La Manzanilla, Tenacatita, Boca de Iguanas, Playa Tecuán, and Barra de Navidad.

Aerial view of Puerto Vallarta coast

[edit] Demographics

Jalisco's population is mainly Mestizo. It also has one of the largest communities of Europeans/ Whites in Mexico, many of them are French, Italian, Germans. There are also large communities of Slavic peoples and Eastern Europeans, mainly in Guadalajara.^{[citation needed]} The state has a small indigenous population comprised of mostly Huichol (Wixárika) who inhabit its northern region. According the Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México Jalisco the indigenous populations was 0.4% in 1995.