San Felipe (), known colloquially as "San Felipe Torres Mochas" (), is a Mexican city and
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 ...
located in the northwest region of the state of
Guanajuato. The municipality has an area of 2,969.79 square kilometers (9.50% of the state's surface), making it the biggest municipality in terms of size. It is bordered to the north by the municipality of
Ocampo, to the south by the municipalities of
León and
Guanajuato, to the southeast by the municipality of
Dolores Hidalgo
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 in the north-central part of the Mexican state o ...
and to the east by the municipality of
San Diego de la Unión. It borders to the north with the state of
San Luis Potosí and to the west with the state of
Jalisco. The municipality had 106,952 inhabitants as of 2010.
History
San Felipe was founded by Francisco de Velasco on January 21, 1562, by orders of viceroy
Luís de Velasco
Luis de Velasco y Ruiz de Alarcón (1511 – July 31, 1564) was the second viceroy of New Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the mid-sixteenth century.
Biography
Velasco was born in the town of Carrión de los C ...
. The city was founded with the name of San Felipe in honor of King
Philip II of Spain. In 1889 the name of the city was changed to "Ciudad González" in honor of the then governor of Guanajuato, Manuel González. The name of the city was again changed in 1938, this time to "Ciudad Hernández Álvarez", after governor Enrique Hernández Álvarez. In 1948 the city's name was reverted to the original name of "San Felipe". Regardless of the several official names the city was given through time, it was always colloquially known as "San Felipe Torres Mochas" (lit. "San Felipe stub-towers"), a nickname that persists to this day.
Climate
Demographics
As of the census of 2010 there were 106,952 people and 22,830 households in the municipality, representing a population increase of 11,056 from the previous census in 2005. The population density was 36.01/km
2 (93.3/sq mi), with an average of 4.7 people per household.
Economy
The economy of the municipality is based mostly on the textile industry.
See also
*
María Auxiliadora, Guanajuato
References
External links
*
Municipal data from the 2010 census
{{Authority control
Populated places in Guanajuato
Municipalities of Guanajuato
Populated places established in 1562
1562 establishments in New Spain
1560s establishments in Mexico