Tlajomulco de Zúñiga is the municipal seat and third most populous city in the

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' ...

of the same name, located in the 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 ...

in central-western

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It forms part of the

Guadalajara metropolitan area The Guadalajara metropolitan area (officially, in ) is the most populous metropolitan area of the Mexican state of Jalisco and the third largest in the country after Greater Mexico City Greater Mexico City is the conurbation around Mexico City, ...

, lying to the southeast of it. The municipality covers an area of 636.93 km². it had a population of 416,626, with a total urban population of 378,965. Its name is interpreted from

náhuatl 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 pop ...

as "Land in the Corner." As it is part of the Guadalajara metropolitan area, it has an industrial base and is a large commercial area.

Guadalajara International Airport Guadalajara International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla'' (Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport) , is the main international airport serving Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It is Mexico’s ...

is located in the municipality.

Towns and villages

The municipality has the distinction of being the only one in Mexico with seven cities (localities) of over 25,000 inhabitants. It is also the only one with 20 localities of over 10,000 inhabitants. ( Tijuana Municipality, Baja California and Chalco Municipality, State of Mexico both have nine.) The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:

Toponymy

The name Tlajomulco comes from 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 ...

(land), (corner) and (place), which is interpreted as: "Land in the corner".

History

The area was conquered in 1530 by

Nuño de Guzmán Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (1558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was the governor of the province of Pánuco (province), Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the ...

at the same time that the Indians of Tonalá were conquered. During the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

it was divided into the district of

Nueva Galicia Nuevo Reino de Galicia (New Kingdom of Galicia; ) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia''), known in Nahuatl as Chimalhuacán (‘the land of shield bearers’), was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It w ...

and was composed almost completely of the indigenous people who in turn were peasants. During the following century it changed administrative functions and not until the 27 July 1939 did it get the name Tlajomulco de Zúñiga in honor of General Eugenio Zúñiga (native of Tlajomulco), and was converted into a leading municipality. Its historical background dates back to the time when the Nahua people were here. The region of Tlajomulco belonged to the lordship of ''Tonallan'' and the inhabitants were called Tlajomulcas. In 1266, during the time of the King ''Tlajomulpilli'', the town became powerful, dominating what today is known as Tala, Acatlán and other nearby towns. Tlajomulco was founded with the authority of Lord De Tonalá, in appreciation to Pitláloc, Copaya, Pilili and Totoch, for resisting the invasion of the

Purépecha The Purépecha ( ) are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the derogatory term " Tarascan", an exonym, app ...

. In the first half of the 16th century, Coyotl being a tyrant, suppressed the people of Cuyutlán, Cuescomatitlán, Cajititlán, Atlixtac (Santa Anita) and Xuchitlán, with fees until in 1530 it was conquered by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán, who upon arriving in Tlajomulco was well received by the tyrant Coyotl, who he helped in the conquest of Tonalá. The tyrant was baptized this same year and supported Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán and was called Pedro de Guzmán. Seventeen plastic bags with human remains were found in colonia Chulavista in January 2021.

Government

Municipal presidents

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tlajomulco de Zuniga Municipalities of Jalisco Guadalajara metropolitan area