Cihuatlán is a coastal municipality in 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 ...

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

. Its main city is also named Cihuatlán.

Etymology

The word Cihuatlán is compounded of two words of

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 Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

origin, a language spoken in central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

since the seventh century AD and the language of the

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

: ''Zihua'', woman, and ''Tlán'' place; therefore in Cihuatlán means ''place of women''.

History

The town was founded on the Marabasco River, and at the time of the Spanish conquest its population was about 500 women and only 20 men. The first Spanish expedition to the Jalisco coastal zone was led by

Gonzalo de Sandoval Gonzalo de Sandoval (1497, Medellín, Spain – late in 1528, Palos de la Frontera, Spain) was a Spanish conquistador in New Spain (Mexico)Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, and briefly co-governor of the colo ...

. By decree of the President of the Republic of Mexico, on December 16, 1825, the harbour

Barra de Navidad Barra de Navidad is a small town located on the western coastline of the Mexican state of Jalisco. It belongs to the municipality of Cihuatlán. The town of Barra de Navidad (Christmas Sandbar) with a population of 7000+ is a small farming and fi ...

was rebuilt in order to accommodate local and foreign trade.

Coat of arms

The Cihuatlán coat of arms is in a French style with cross-sectioning. In the upper left section is the image of a pre-Hispanic woman's head. In the upper right section is a ship sailing on the sea. In the bottom left section is a religious building and in the bottom right section, a view of a fertile valley.

Most important villages

* Cihuatlán, 15,697 inhabitants (2005) * Melaque 6,379 inhabitants *

3,386 inhabitants * Jaluco 2,182 inhabitants * Emiliano Zapata 1,589 inhabitants

Notable persons born in Cihuatlán

* Nestor Enrique Valencia Guerrero, June 9, 1965, grandson to former municipal president of Cihuatlán, Ramon Valencia Torres, Mayor and Councilmember of the City of

Bell, California Bell is an incorporated city in Los Angeles County, California, near the center of the former San Antonio Township (abolished after 1960). Its population was 35,477 at the 2010 census, down from 36,664 in the 2000 census. Bell is located on the ...

, USA. First Mayor in the United States that welcomed immigrant children from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, in 2014. Also, his civic actions for the City of Bell changed government transparency laws.

Government

Municipal presidents

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cihuatlan, Jalisco Populated places in Jalisco