Zacatecas

¡VISIT ZACATECAS!
Zacatecas is one of the 31 states with the Federal District make up the 32 states of Mexico.

Borderer of the north by Coahuila, Durango to the northwest, west to Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, northeast, east to San Luis Potosi and southern Jalisco and Aguascalientes. The capital is the city of Zacatecas. It has 58 municipalities and its main economic activities are mining, agriculture and tourism.

Geography

Zacatecas has a land area of 75 040 km ², this represents 3.83% of the country.
The state is in the Central Plateau Mexico, between the Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental. This favors agriculture because water flows from both mountains. The Sierra Madre Occidental is the main mountain range that crosses the state.
The rivers of the state are divided into two basins: the Pacific and the Interior.

Weather

73% of the entity presents semidry climate, 17%, introduced temperate humid and is located west of the state, 6% is very dry occurs toward the north and northeast, the remaining 4% present climate is warm and humid south and southwest of the entity. The average annual temperature is 17 ° C, the average maximum temperature is around 30 ° C and occurs in the month of May, the average minimum temperature is 3 ° C and occurs in the month of January. The statewide average rainfall is 510 mm annual rainfall occurs in the summer from June to September. The semidry climate of the entity is a limiting factor for agriculture, it is seasonal and irrigation practices, the main crops: corn, oats, wheat, beans, peppers, sorghum, prickly pear and peach.

Cities

The largest city in terms of population in the state of Zacatecas is Fresnillo, with a population of 183,236 (2005). It is followed by the state capital of Zacatecas with a population of 118,562 (2005). Next is Sombrerete with 61,652.

Economy

Tourism

The state of Zacatecas has internationally recognized colonial communities as Zacatecas, the state capital, Guadalupe, Fresnillo, Cap and Jerez de García Salinas. The most visited sites are:
• Zacatecas: Capital of the state, rich in history and tradition.
All year Zacatecas performed with various cultural events, and has a large infrastructure of hotels, one of the best options for national and international tourism.
• Fresnillo: This is the second most important after the state capital. The city is the center of a mining area known for its silver production. The mine is one of the most productive in the world of silver.
• Silversmiths Sanctuary: It houses the Santo Nino de Atocha, the third most visited religious center in the country. • Cap: colonial town with temples, monasteries and colonial buildings, centuries old quarry.
• Nochistlán: colonial town, with a wealth of architectural gems
• Guadalupe neighboring colony, is rich in colonial art gallery, It has hot spring resorts, and several springs.

Mining and Industry Zacatecas

The main industry is mining, extracting mainly silver, gold, mercury, iron, zinc, lead, bismuth, antimony, salt, copper, quartz, kaolin, onyx, limestone, cadmium and wallastonita. The state's mineral wealth was discovered soon after the conquest, and some of the mines (and the most famous in Mexico) dating from 1546. The most productive silver mines Alvarado. Only in this mine were extracted more than $ 800 million during 1548 and 1867, according to records that have been preserved. Today, Mexico is the largest producer of silver in the world.

Agriculture and Livestock

Agricultural products harvested cereals (production of which depends on the intensity of rainfall), and maguey, which depends on irrigation from the lower valleys, and unfolds easily in dry climates. Crops are planted more cyclical include beans, corn, forage oats, chili and barley. Also planted oats, sorghum, onion, garlic, peaches, prickly pear, alfalfa and guava. In total, 1,303,564 hectares are used for agriculture. It breeds cattle, pigs and sheep.

Ecology

In the sierras there are many wild boar, white-tailed deer and hares; in the valleys and plains it is common to find coyote, badgers, ducks and quails.

There are forest of pines and evergreens in the sierras; in the valleys and plains there is a great abundance of mesquite, maguey, cactus, agave, pastures, huisache, and many other semi-desertic plants. An interesting tree that occurs in Zacatecas is the Elephant tree, Bursera microphylla.

History: Historical monuments and museums

Historical monuments

In this entity there is a large number of monuments, recognized internationally for its Baroque, Gothic, and Colonial churrigueresque. Cathedral, Government Palace, Mercado Gonzalez Ortega, High Court of Justice, Teatro Calderón, Portal de Rosales, former Temple of San Agustin, former San Francisco Temple, Temple of Santo Domingo, Source of lanterns, Mauricio Library Magdalena Temple of Fatima, Aqueduct, Obelisk 450, Zacatecas Institute of Culture.

Museums

The following are the main museums and art institution they represent. Pedro Coronel (Arte Universal) Rafael Coronel (Mexican Masks), Manuel Felguerez (Abstract Art), Zacatecas (Arte Huichol), Francisco Goitia (Contemporary Art), Gallery Episcopal (religious art), Toma de Zacatecas (Mexican Revolution), University Science (Physics and Botany), Regional Museum of History and Convent of Guadalupe, the latter located in the municipality of Guadalupe.

Parties, dances and traditions

Festivals: The main festivities are profane religious Zacatecas held in each of the

municipalities in honor of the patron of the place.

Dances: There are well-known and remembered dances from Zacatecas population as is the dance of Mexicapan lived representing a purpose and reflects the character of Zacatecas: Fierce, gallant and boastful.

Traditions: In the last week of August to celebrate the Moors Bracho, representation of the war between Muslims and Christians in parliaments, dialogues, original costumes and weapons also are preserved on all religious traditions in the municipalities to participate in events Holy Week and the Day 1 and 2 November.

Music

The Mexican Revolution nearly wiped every symbol in custom music and dance performances barely surviving in some parts of the state as: Monte Escobedo, Valparaíso, Morelos, and some places where the gang continues. And since then due to the vigorous of PTO Zacatecanos very definitely a musical trend in which using martial-type musical instruments establihing the Tamborazo, increase your overall sound with the use of the saxophone, but using as basic instruments the drummer Tamborazo (now replaced by a snare) clarinet, trumpet and drum.

Crafts

In Zacatecas develop several branches of popular crafts, blending

Indian traditions with the Spanish capital, the main activities include yarn and woven fabrics of Villa Garcia in Jerez make beautiful saddles and their various accessories, work precious and semiprecious stones, carved in pink stone, pyrography on leather, furniture, handmade wood, leather work, stuffed, wooden, miniature furniture, macramé work, plaster, in beadwork, metalwork, artistic, pottery, balconies and screen printing.

Gastronomy


The typical food consumed in the State include: there is a wide variety of gorditas and biscuits that play an important role in popular food, are made of corn or wheat, sweet or savoury, comal or oven and request be stuffed with ground with wide chili beans.

Also used the panochas and the Semites are made with wheat flour, milk, cinnamon and sugar, and decorated with coconut or nut, pasitas, condoches that are tender corn cooked on leaves of corn gorditas. The curds, gorditas as a sample, by other representative livestock regions cuisine also consumed.

An ancient zacatecana custom of Spanish origin, is the dish of meat and vegetables soup or stew, prepared with three types of meat: beef, mutton, and chicken, beans, chickpeas, calabacitas, corn, rice, garlic and onion and saffron. Rivers of the region Gets the catfish, which prepare pies, or cooked in red chile sauce, garlic, and egg. It is usually as food markets the rabbit and Hare, is prepared in pulque, could be also boiled or fried. The field rat is recommended for those who suffer from lung infections, but there are also those who like that meat regularly as food, we must mention the chickpea meatballs, eaten often chilies stuffed with cheese, tuna vegetables or beans.

The prickly are a food that cannot be left aside because zacatecas is consumed throughout the year. Wedding roast is a food that is customary in some popular festival which is made with pork, chile black or red, white and abundant bread butter.

In drinks included pulque and Mead, along with the cane brandy and the colonche the regional excellence, obtained from the fermentation of the tuna cardona juice drink.

As typical sweets and desserts we have the before, jellies, jam quince, Apple, perón, pear, Plum, capulín and garambullo, snow and "raspas", cheese tuna, trompadas, greñudas, wafers, custard, coconut alfajor and milk sweets. Lent time consuming capirotada as main dessert.