Dolores Hidalgo (; in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, en, Dolores Hidalgo Birthplace of exicanNational Independence) is the name of a city and the surrounding

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

in the north-central part of the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

. It is located at , at an elevation of about 1,980 meters (6,480 feet) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. In the census of 2005 the city had a population of 54,843 people, while the municipality had 134,641 inhabitants. The city lies directly in the center of the municipality, which is 1,590 km² (613.9 sq mi) in area and includes numerous small outlying communities, the largest of which is Río Laja. Dolores Hidalgo was named a ''

Pueblo Mágico In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

'' (Magic Town) in 2002

History

The city was a small town known simply as Dolores when Father

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Don (honorific), Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader ...

uttered his famous cry for the independence of Mexico (the ''

Grito de Dolores A ''grito'' or ''grito mexicano'' (, Spanish for "shout") is a common Mexican interjection, used as an expression. Characteristics This interjection is similar to the ''yahoo'' or '' yeehaw'' of the American cowboy during a hoedown, with added ...

'') there in the early hours of September 16, 1810, in front of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores parish church. After Mexico achieved independence, the town was renamed ''Dolores Hidalgo'' in his honor. Today Dolores Hidalgo is known primarily for its

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

s industry, started by Father Hidalgo, which provides income to well over half the city's population. The inexpensive and mass-produced output of the town is marketed throughout Latin America and the United States. The central square of the town, in front of Fr Hidalgo's historic church, is a popular tourist spot. A place of pilgrimage in Dolores Hidalgo for many fans of

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk music ...

and popular music is the tomb of

José Alfredo Jiménez José Alfredo Jiménez Sandoval (; 19 January 1926 – 23 November 1973) was a Mexican singer-songwriter of rancheras, whose songs are considered the basis of modern Mexican music. Biography Jiménez was born in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, M ...

, one of the country's most beloved singers and songwriters, as well as one of the most prolific popular songwriters in the history of western music. He is buried in the town cemetery. Footballer Adolfo "El Bofo" Bautista and USA Olympian

Leonel Manzano Leonel "Leo" Manzano (born September 12, 1984) is a retired Mexican-American middle-distance track and field athlete specializing in the 1500 m and mile. He was a silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Manzano is known for finishing ...

were born here.

Notable people

* Adolfo "El Bofo" Bautista, footballer *

, Mexican singer *

, USA Olympian

References

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
Guanajuato
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

*�
Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional
— ''Official website''.
San Luis De La Paz, Guanajuato
Nearby colonial town.
Bibliography and Hemerography: Miguel Hidalgo and Costilla.Miguel Hidalgo and Costilla - Documents of 1810 and 1811.Chronology of Miguel Hidalgo and Costilla.Points of interest on the map for Dolores Hidalgo
{{Authority control Populated places in Guanajuato Municipalities of Guanajuato Pueblos Mágicos