Dolores Hidalgo

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Dolores Hidalgo (in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional) is a small city and its surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato. It is located at 21.17° N 100.93° W, at an elevation of about 1900 metres (6200 feet) above sea level. In the census of 2005 the city had a population of 54,843 people, while the municipality had 134,641 inhabitants. The city lies directly in the center of the municipality, which has an areal extent of 1,590 km² (613.9 sq mi) and includes numerous small outlying communities, the largest of which is Río Laja.

[edit] History

The city was a small town known simply as Dolores when Miguel Hidalgo uttered his famous cry for the independence of Mexico (the "Grito de Dolores") there in the early morning hours of September 16, 1810. After Mexico achieved independence, the town was renamed "Dolores Hidalgo" in his honor.

Today Dolores Hidalgo is known primarily for its ceramics industry, which provides income to well over half the town's population. The inexpensive and mass-produced output of the town is marketed throughout Latin America.

The central square of the town, in front of Father Hidalgo's historic church, is popular on weekends for the unusual flavors of locally-made ice cream, such as shrimp and tequila, sold by vendors from small barrows.^[1]

On September 28, 1810, Hidalgo's forces killed more than 500 Spaniards and Creoles; 2,000 Indigenous Mexicans died in the fighting.

[edit] References

^ Geri Anderson. DOLORES HIDALGO: MEXICO'S CRADLE OF INDEPENDENCE. finetravel.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
Guanajuato Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México