Chapala () is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the central Mexican state of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

, located on the north shore of

Lake Chapala Lake Chapala (, ) has been Mexico's largest freshwater lake since the desiccation of Lake Texcoco in the early 17th century. It borders both the states of Jalisco and Michoacán, being located within the municipalities of Ocotlán, Jalisco, ...

, Mexico's largest freshwater lake. According to the 2015 census, its population is 50,738 for the municipality. The municipality includes about 11,000 in the town of Ajijic.

Geography

Chapala is 28 miles (45 km) south-southeast of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, on Mexican Federal Highway 44. It is located at 20°20' North, 103°10' West.

Climate

History

Although there are several theories as to the origin of the city's name, the most likely is that it comes from Chapalac, the name of the last chief of the

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

-speaking indigenous people of the region. Chapala became an official municipality on September 10, 1864, by decree of the Jalisco State Congress.

Culture

During the First World War, in 1915, Norwegian speculators intended to make Chapala a luxury resort town. A railway was to be built, with race segregated carriages. In addition to the railway, the speculators would also provide two motor vessels to navigate the lake with connections to the other small towns at the lake shore. A first class hotel was to be built, as well as an automobile club with attached casino. An extensive dam, 8 kilometers long to provide dry land with plots for luxury dwellings. What the shareholders in the company, "Compania di Fromento di Chapala" received, was only photographs of railway carriages and locomotives. See the book; Gullfeber by Kr.Fr.Brøgger, published in Oslo 1932. In the late 1940s the American writer

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

settled in Chapala for a while to work on a play called ''The Poker Night'', which later became ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. As Williams explains in his essay " The Catastrophe of Success," Chapala offered him an ideal place to work, "a remote place among strangers where there is good swimming." Since the 1960s, Chapala has been frequented by both Mexican and international tourists. Among the area's cultural attractions is

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...

music, which originated in the state of Jalisco. While many fine mariachi bands have been based in Chapala, the most famous groups are based in larger cities nearby. The most famous mariachi in Mexico is Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, founded in the late 19th century in the southern Jalisco city of Tecalitlán, but now based in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Although mariachi music is believed to have originated in the town of Cocula, the greatest concentration of mariachis can be found in the city of

, located about 30 miles north of Chapala; it is considered the city that most epitomizes the external concept of Mexico propagated by the international mass media (characterized by ''

charro ''Charro'', in Mexico, is historically the horseman from the countryside, the Ranchero, who lived and worked in the haciendas and performed all his tasks on horseback, working mainly as vaqueros and caporales, among other jobs. He was ren ...

s'',

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

sombrero In English, a , ; ) is a type of wide-brimmed Mexican men's hat used to shield the face and eyes from the sun. It usually has a high, pointed crown; an extra-wide brim (broad enough to cast a shadow over the head, neck, and shoulders of the w ...

s, and mariachis). A worldwide mariachi festival is held there each fall, mariachis from throughout the world (including Europe and Asia) regularly participate.

Tourism

Tony Burton describes early tourism in his book “Lake Chapala through the ages: an anthology of travellers' tales.” Chapala, along with its namesake lake, is well established as a weekend getaway destination primarily for inhabitants of the city of

. Most of the area's immigrant population (originating primarily from the United States and Canada) reside not in the city proper but in and around Ajijic, a village of approximately 11,000 inhabitants located approximately 5 miles west of Chapala. Many of these residents stay for a long time, and some try to make Chapala like "home."

File:The beach at Chapala Malecon.JPG, The Chapala beach viewed from the Malecon File:Chapala265.JPG, Fresh produce for sale in Chapala File:Chapala098.JPG, Harbor at the Chapala Yacht Club File:Chapala by the Malecon.JPG, Hotel by the Chapala Malecon, with St. Francis of Assisi Church in background File:Chapala060.JPG, Original Friends Dolls at the 2015 ''Feria de los Maestros del Arte'' File:Chapala211.JPG, Ceramic figures by José Juan García Aguilar at the 2015 ''Feria de los Maestros del Arte'' File:Chapala103.JPG, Participants in a fashion show at the 2015 ''Feria de los Maestros del Arte'' File:Chapala208.JPG, Woven reed merchandise by the Faustino Guzman family at the 2015 ''Feria de los Maestros del Arte''

Government

Municipal presidents

References

External links

*�
: Official Chapala (government) website
{{Jalisco American diaspora in Mexico Canadian diaspora in Mexico Municipalities of Jalisco Populated places established in 1864