Guanajuato

The state of Guanajuato Mexico is located in the central highlands of Mexico. The state shares its name with its capital and main city: city Guanajuato Mexico. The meaning of Guanajuato Mexico as per the local indigenous language is “hill

Guanajuato means "hill of frogs" in the local indigenous language, because the local Tarascan Indians believed that the frog represented the god of wisdom. Guanajuato is the home state of Mexico's current president, Vicente Fox Quesada, and famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera.

After central Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico coast, Guanajuato was one of the first areas of Mexico colonized by the Spanish, in the 1520s, for its rich silver deposits. Guanajuato's colonial architecture is very well preserved along with over 35 old churches in its capital alone, and is very European in nature.

Today, Guanajuato's mines are still among the richest-producing silver mines in the world (historically one of the largest). The state also produces tin, gold, copper, lead, mercury, and opals. Guanajuato also leads the nation in shoe production and various farm products such as lettuce and potatoes. Main export products: Motor vehicles and autoparts, footwear, leather goods, chemicals, electric machinery and materials, fruits and vegetables.

In addition to the state capital city of Guanajuato, the state includes the cities of San Luis de la Paz, Acámbaro, Celaya, León, Salamanca, Irapuato, San Miguel de Allende, Salvatierra, the first city of Guanajuato, Cortazar, Tarimoro,Panales Jamaica(Cañones), and Dolores Hidalgo, the cradle of Mexican independence.

The first populist uprising in Mexican history resulted in a march from Dolores Hidalgo upon the capital of the state and the subsequent burning of the granary which held all the "gachupines" (approximately 500 men, women and children from Spain or of pure Spanish descent) by peasants of pure Amerindian or mixed (Mestizo) descent who had been put to work in very harsh conditions.

Guanajuato, GuanajuatoAccording to some historians, this incident (seen as a horrifying caste revolt) provided the incentive for the ruling class of New Spain to declare its independence from Spain in order to keep the caste system intact, thereby rejecting moderate concessions to the lower classes that had been a part of the original upper class platform for revolting. Subsequently, it would take another 100 years (1910) until the next populist revolution would occur and actually take hold creating the first socialist country in the world pre-dating the Bolsheviks by seven years. Some historians do not, however, relate the two uprisings or agree that the granary's burning had a significant effect on Mexican independence from Spain.