Silao (), officially Silao de la Victoria, is a city in the west-central part 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 ...

in Mexico. It is the seat of 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' ...

with the same name. As of the 2005 census, the city had a population of 66,485, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. Silao is a center of agricultural and industrial activity.

Airport

This city is served by the

Del Bajío International Airport Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes th ...

. It functions as the central airport for the cities of Irapuato, Guanajuato, León, Salamanca and San Miguel de Allende.

Toponymy

In its original

Otomi language Otomi ( ; ) is an Oto-Pamean languages, Oto-Pamean language spoken by approximately 240,000 indigenous Otomi people in the Mexican Plateau, central ''altiplano'' region of Mexico. Otomi consists of several closely related languages, many of whi ...

, the area was called ''Tsinäkua'' by both the

Otomi The Otomi (; ) are an Indigenous people of Mexico inhabiting the central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano) region. The Otomi are an Indigenous people of the Americas who inhabit a discontinuous territory in central Mexico. They are linguistically rel ...

and

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 ...

natives. In the

its name ''Tsinäkua'' means 'place of dense fog,' as a result of the columns of water vapor rising from thermal springs in the area of Comanjilla. The name evolved to 'Sinaua', 'Silagua' and finally 'Silao' after the Spanish conquest of the region.

History

In the place where Silao now sits, there was an Otomí settlement that was conquered by the Purépecha empire. The name of the area remained Tsinäkua under Purepecha rule. The name evolved to 'Sinaua', 'Silagua' and finally 'Silao' after the region was later conquered by Spain.

Geography

Silao is located in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. It is situated 100° 25´ 59´´ longitude west of the Greenwich meridian and 20° 56' 24'' latitude north. Its altitude is 1,780 meters above sea level. The municipality of Silao has an area of 538.5 km², equivalent to 1.76% of the total state area. The city of

lies to the east and north of Silao; to the south lies

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

; to the west is Romita; to the northwest is León.

Geology

The territory of Silao is almost planar formed in by the

Bajío The Bajío (the ''lowland'') is a cultural and geographical region within the Mexican Plateau, central Mexican plateau which roughly spans from northwest of Greater Mexico City, Mexico City to the main silver mines in the northern-central part ...

, between its few important elevations, one can find the 'Cerro del Cubilete' whose altitude is 2,570 meters above sea level and is considered the geographic center of the country.

Hydrography

The Silao River, crosses the major part of the municipal territory. It is fed by the Magueyes, Pascuales, Hondo, and Tigre streams, as well as the Gigante River, which is its major tributary. Within the municipality are some streams of importance, like those of the Agua Zarca, San Francisco, El Paraíso, Pabileros, and Aguas Buenas.

Climate

The climate of the city is semi-arid in the majority of the territory, with rains in the summer and an average annual temperature of 28 °C. Temperatures can rise as high as 34 °C in the month of June, and a minimum of 0 °C has been reached in the months of December and January. However, in the northeastern zone the climate varies to semi-dry with a temperature predominantly in excess of 28 °C. Precipitation varies between 600 and 800 millimeters per year.

Economy

Silao is a center of agricultural and industrial activity in the area, with a wide variety of farm crops, produce and dairy packing plants. A

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

truck and SUV assembly plant which as of 2016 makes one third of Chevrolet and GMC Full-size Pickups.

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

has an engine plant, and Pirelli makes tires.

Population

According to the results presented by the second 'Conteo de Población y Vivienda' (census) of 2005, the municipality counts a total of 147,123 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The indigenous population of Silao is limited to 203 inhabitants that represent 0.15% of the total municipal population. The principal native languages are

Mazahua Mazahua may refer to: * Mazahua people, an Indigenous people of Mexico * Mazahua language, the Oto-Pamean language spoken by the Mazahua people {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

and

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 ...

. According to the second 'Conteo de Población y Vivienda' (Census) of 2005, there are a total of 187 persons who speak some indigenous language. The municipality has a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 250 persons per square kilometer and an average population increase of 1.6%.

Religion

95.8% of the population of Silao (as of 2000) are Roman Catholic. Approximately 1.8% are Protestants and

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

, and 1.4% are other religions. The last 1% either stated they don't have a religion or it wasn't specified.

Historic Monuments

* Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol, construction was started in the end of the 17th century and ended in the year 1728. Its style is neo-classical. * Templo del Santuario, constructed at the end of the 17th century. * Templo de la Casa de Ejercicios, built in 1834. * Palacio Municipal, formerly functioned as city jail and headquarters. * Mercado González Ortega, main market in Silao. * Monument to Cristo Rey (Christ the King), started construction on December 10, 1945, and completed on August 17, 1949. The monument itself stands 20 meters from foot to head and is in the 'cerro del Cubilete', which is considered the geographic center of the country of Mexico. * Casa de Mauricio Ruiz, historic house, home of the Mexican artist Mauricio Ruiz Chávez

Tourist attractions

Some of the attractions in Silao are: * Here one can find the Cerro del Cubilete, considered by some to be the geographic center of the country. In the highest part of the mountain (at 2,500 meters) stands a monument to ''Cristo Rey'' or ''Christ the King''. It represents the unity of the people of

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 ...

in the Catholic faith. The Bajio region was the center of the Catholic insurgency in the

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

, whose battle cry was "¡Viva Cristo el Rey!". Construction started on December 10, 1945, and was completed on August 17, 1949. The monument itself measures 20 meters from its feet to its head. Its location dominates the scenery of the 'Bajío' region surrounding Silao. * Museum of the Chávez Morado Brothers (muralists and sculptors). * Silao has 27 parochial churches and innumerable buildings rich in architecture and history. * Building of the 'Casa de la Cultura' (House of Culture), previously the military quarters of Silao. Silao is also central to other cities and towns of interest to tourists. The cities of

and Romita are approximately 25 minutes by highway. León and

are about 35 minutes by highway.

Business district

This District is located at Guanajuato Puerto Interior The business district is development at this time. This District is designed to lodge: hotels, financial and commercial buildings

References

External links

*
Official website of the commerce of Silao, Guanajuato

Guanajuato
Encyclopedia of the Municipalities of Mexico
Official website of the municipality of Silao, Guanajuato

Periodico de Sociales Gente&Stilo de Silao, Guanajuato

Órgano Colegiado de Educación Media Superior & Superior de Silao, Guanajuato

{{Authority control Populated places in Guanajuato Populated places established in 1833 1833 establishments in Mexico