Aguascalientes (city)
- Aguascalientes is the name of both a state of Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the city. For the state, see: state of Aguascalientes.
The city of Aguascalientes is the capital of the state of Aguascalientes in western central Mexico. It stands on the banks of the Río Aguascalientes, 1888 metres above sea level, at 21°51′N 102°18′W / 21.850°N 102.300°W.
The city was founded on 22 October 1575. It became the capital of the newly formed state of the same name when its territory was split off from neighbouring Zacatecas State in 1835.
The mame Aguascalientes comes from the Spanish "Aguas Calientes" meaning "hot waters", when the city was first founded in 1575 it was given this name for its abundance of hot springs. These thermal features are still are exploited in numerous spas and even exploited for domestic use.
People from Aguascalientes (both the city and the state) are known by the whimsical Spanish demonym hidrocálidos.
Industry and economy
The largest Nissan plant outside Japan located in the city; In which, among other models of cars manufactures the worldwide production of the Sentra.
Texas Instruments has two plants in Aguascalientes which, are the only plants from this company in Mexico. One dedicated to Integrated Circuit (IC) manufacturing and the other one makes Sensors and Control Devices. Flextronics is another electronic's manufacturer that has a plant located in Aguascalientes.
There are also several companies that work on the robotics industry, being the most popular Fanuc Robotics.
Cultural life
Aguascalientes organizes the largest festival held in Mexico, the San Marcos Fair, which takes place from middle April to the beginning of May. It receives almost 7 million visitors every year.
Aguascalientes is home to several outstanding museums and one of the country's leading provincial theatres. Amongst them are the following:
- Teatro Aguascalientes – the Aguascalientes Theatre
- Museum of Contemporary Art (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo)
- Guadalupe Posada Museum (Museo Guadalupe Posada) life and work of José Guadalupe Posada
- Aguascalientes Museum (Museo Aguascalientes)
- Museo Descubre – interactive science and technology museum, aimed at providing children with a hands-on learning experience
Famous hidrocálidos
- Antonio Acevedo Escobedo, writer
- José María Bocanegra, president
- Francisco Díaz de León, artist
- Gabriel Fernández Ledesma, artist
- Manuel M. Ponce, musician
- José Guadalupe Posada, artist
- Saturnino Herrán, artist
- Ramón López Velarde, poet
- Miguel Angel Barberena Vega, politician
Sports
The city is home to the football team, Necaxa, the basketball team Panteras and the Baseball team Rieleros
External links
- http://www.muniags.gob.mx/ Municipal website
- http://www.metroaguascalientes.com/ News website including streaming media and radio news