Jalisco

Jalisco (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈlisko]) officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco (English: Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco) is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.

Many of the characteristic traits of Mexican culture, particularly outside Mexico, are originally from Jalisco, such as mariachi, ranchera music, tequila, jaripeo, etc.

Jalisco is located in Western Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Nayarit to the northwest, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and San Luis Potosí to the north, Guanajuato to the east and Colima and Michoacán to the south. To the west, Jalisco has a significant share of coastline on the Pacific Ocean.

Jalisco is the fourth most populous federal entity in Mexico. It is also one of the most developed in terms of cultural, trade and economic levels in the country. Some municipalities in the state have a standard of living comparable to that found in countries like Spain and Italy, but, like in the rest of Mexico, these living standards are not representative of all of the state's municipalities because of the widespread economic inequalities found in the state. The capital of Jalisco is the city of Guadalajara, whose metropolitan area includes the municipalities of Guadalajara, Juanacatlán, El Salto, Tlaquepaque, Tonala, Tlajomulco de Zuñiga, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and Zapopan, forming the second largest metropolitan area in Mexico after Mexico City.