Guanajuato in Mexico (location map scheme)

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 ...

is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

in North Central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

that is divided into 46

municipalities 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 ...

. According to the 2020 Mexican

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, Guanajuato is the sixth most populous state with inhabitants and the 22nd largest by land area spanning . Municipalities in Guanajuato are administratively autonomous of the state according to the 115th article of the 1917

Constitution of Mexico The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

. Every three years, citizens elect a

municipal president A ''presidente municipal'' (English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines under the Spanish and American colonization; it is comparable to a mayor of the town or cit ...

(Spanish: ''presidente municipal'') by a

plurality voting Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate, or candidates, who poll more than any other counterpart (that is, receive a plurality), are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per ...

system who heads a concurrently elected municipal council (''ayuntamiento'') responsible for providing all the public services for their constituents. The municipal council consists of a variable number of trustees and councillors (''regidores y síndicos''). Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, and the maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries. They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1984, they have had the power to collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own income. The largest municipality by population in Guanajuato and third largest in Mexico is León, with 1,721,215 residents or approximately of the state population. The smallest municipality by population is

Atarjea Atarjea is a Mexican city and municipality located in the easternmost region of the state of Guanajuato, within the Sierra Gorda range. The municipality has an area of 318 square kilometres (1.04% of the surface of the state) and is bordered to the ...

with 5,296 residents. The largest municipality by land area is San Felipe which spans , and the smallest is Pueblo Nuevo which spans . The first state constitution, ''Constitución Política del Estado Libre de Guanajuato'', resulted in the formation of the first 17 municipalities in Guanajuato on . The newest municipality is

Doctor Mora Doctor Mora is a Mexican city (and municipality) located in Northeast region of the state of Guanajuato. The municipality has an area of 233.91 square kilometres (0.77% of the surface of the state) and is bordered to the north by Victoria, to the ...

, incorporated on .

Municipalities

File:Aérea de la Plaza Principal - panoramio.jpg, alt=Aerial view of downtown León, León, Guanajuato's largest municipality by population File:IrapuatoCentroHistorico.jpg, alt=Historical centre of

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city (and municipality) located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the state of Guanajuato. It lies between the Silao River and the Guanajuato River, a tributary of ...

, second largest municipality by population. File:Celaya-bola.jpg, alt=Water tower in

Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality f ...

, third largest municipality by population. File:Presidencia_Municipal,_Salamanca,_Gto.JPG, alt=Municipal building in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

, fourth largest municipality by population. File:Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol - Silao, Guanajuato, México.jpg, alt=Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol in

Silao Silao (), officially Silao de la Victoria, is a city in the west-central part of the state of Guanajuato in Mexico. It is the seat of the municipality with the same name. As of the 2005 census, the city had a population of 147,123, making it th ...

, fifth largest municipality by population. File:Vista aérea de Guanajuato.jpg, alt=Skyline of

Guanajuato City Guanajuato () is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Guanajuato in central Mexico and the capital of the state of the same name. It is part of the macroregion of the Bajío. It is in a narrow valley, which makes its streets narrow a ...

, capital city and sixth largest municipality by population. File:San Miguel de Allende sky.jpg, alt=Skyline of

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...

, seventh largest municipality by population.

Notes

References

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