San Felipe (), known colloquially as "San Felipe Torres Mochas" (), is a Mexican city and

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' ...

located in the northwest region of the state of

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

. 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

, to the southeast by the municipality of

Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (; in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, ) is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato. It is located at , at an elevation of about a ...

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 San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

and to the west with 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 ...

. 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. The city was founded with the name of San Felipe in honor of King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

. 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.

Geography

The municipality is located in the northwest region of the state of

. It 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

, to the southeast by the municipality of

and to the east by the municipality of San Diego de la Unión. It borders to the north with the state of

and to the west with the state of

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 , with an average of 4.7 people per household.

Economy

The economy of the municipality is based mostly on the textile industry.

References

External links

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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