Guanajuato Mexico

:Guanajuato is the name of a state in Mexico and that states capital city, as well as a river in the area. This article is about the state. For the city, see Guanajuato, Guanajuato; for the river, see Guanajuato River

Guanajuato is a state in the central highlands of Mexico. It is named after its capital city, Guanajuato, which comes from the local indigenous language, meaning ?Hill of Frogs.? Las Ranas'' (?the frogs?) is a nickname for people from this state as frogs are their state animal. Guanajuato is the home state of former president Vicente Fox, muralist Diego Rivera and singer-songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez, along with Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Guanajuato is home to perhaps the most famous singer of all times, Rogelio Garcia "el gallo del bajio".

After central Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico coast, Guanajuato was one of the first areas of Mexico colonized by the Spanish, in the 1520s, for its rich silver deposits. Guanajuato's colonial architecture is very well preserved along with more than 35 old churches in its capital alone.

In addition to the state capital city of Guanajuato, the state includes the cities of San Luis de la Paz, Acámbaro, Celaya, León, Yuriria, Salamanca, Irapuato, San Miguel de Allende, Salvatierra—the first city of Guanajuato, Cortazar, Cueramaro,Tarimoro, and Dolores Hidalgo, the cradle of Mexican independence.

The first battle in Mexico's war for independence resulted in a march from Dolores Hidalgo upon the capital of the state and the subsequent burning of the granary which held all the Iberian-born Spaniards (approximately 500 men, women and children), by peasants of pure Amerindian or mixed (Mestizo) descent who had been put to work in very harsh conditions.

Category: Image - :Guanajuato30 guanajuato.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Guanajuato, Guanajuato