Jalisco

Jalisco, Xalisco, or Guadalajara, a Pacific coast state of Mexico, of very irregular shape, bounded, beginning on the N., by the territory of Tepic and the states of Durango, Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Colima. Pop. (1900), 1,153,891. Area, 31,846 sq. m. Jalisco is traversed from N.N.W. to S.S.E. by the Sierra Madre, locally known as the Sierra de Nayarit and Sierra de Jalisco, which divides the state into a low heavily forested coastal plain and a high plateau region, part of the great Anáhuac table-land, with an average elevation of about 5000 ft., broken by spurs and flanking ranges of moderate height. The sierra region is largely volcanic and earthquakes are frequent; in the S. are the active volcanoes of Colima (12,750 ft.) and the Nevado de Colima (14,363 ft.). The tierra caliente zone of the coast is tropical, humid, and unfavourable to Europeans, while the inland plateaus vary from subtropical to temperate and are generally drier and healthful. The greater part of the state is drained by the Rio Grande de Lerma (called the Santiago on its lower course) and its tributaries, chief of which is the Rio Verde. Lakes are numerous; the largest are the Chapala, about 80 m. long by 10 to 35 m. wide, which is considered one of the most beautiful inland sheets of water in Mexico, the Sayula and the Magdalena, noted for their abundance of fish. The agricultural products of Jalisco include Indian corn, wheat and beans on the uplands, and sugar-cane, cotton, rice, indigo and tobacco in the warmer districts. Rubber and palm oil are natural forest products of the coastal zone. Stock-raising is an important occupation in some of the more elevated districts. The mineral resources include silver, gold, cinnabar, copper, bismuth, and various precious stones. There are reduction works of the old-fashioned type and some manufactures, including cotton and woollen goods, pottery, refined sugar and leather. The commercial activities of the state contribute much to its prosperity. There is a large percentage of Indians and mestizos in the population. The capital is Guadalajara, and other important towns with their populations in 1900 (unless otherwise stated) are: Zapotlanejo (20,275), 21 m. E. by N. of Guadalajara; Ciudad Guzmán (17,374 in 1895), 60 m. N.E. of Colima; Lagos (14,716 in 1895), a mining town 100 m. E.N.E. of Guadalajara on the Mexican Central railway; Tamazula (8783 in 1895); Sayula (7883); Autlán (7715); Teocaltiche (8881); Ameca (7212 in 1895), in a fertile agricultural region on the western slopes of the sierras; Cocula (7090 in 1895); and Zacoalco (6516). Jalisco was first invaded by the Spaniards about 1526 and was soon afterwards conquered by Nuño de Guzman. It once formed part of the reyno of Nueva Galicia, which also included Aguas Calientes and Zacatecas. In 1889 its area was much reduced by a subdivision of its coastal zone, which was set apart as the territory of Tepic.