Керетаро: История, экономика и культурное наследие Мексики

City and municipality in Querétaro, Mexico

Santiago de Querétaro (sanˈtjaɣo ðe keˈɾetaɾo; Otomi: Dähnini Maxei), most commonly known as Querétaro, is the capital and largest city of the state of Querétaro, located in central Mexico. It is part of the macroregion of Bajío. It is northwest of Mexico City, southeast of San Miguel de Allende and south of San Luis Potosí. It is also the seat of the municipality of Querétaro, divided into seven boroughs. In 1996, the historic center of Querétaro was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The city is a strong business and economic center and a vigorous service center that is experiencing an ongoing social and economic revitalization. All this has resulted in high levels of migration from other parts of Mexico. Querétaro has seen outstanding industrial and economic development since the mid 1990s. The Querétaro metropolitan area has the second highest per capita GDP among Mexico's metropolitan areas with US$20,000 after Monterrey. The city is the fastest growing in the country, basing its economy on IT and data centers, logistics services, aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, call centers, the automotive and machinery industries, and the production of chemicals and food products. The region of Querétaro has a rapidly growing vineyards agriculture and hosts the famous wine producer from Spain Freixenet. Wine production in the state of Querétaro is now the second largest in Mexico after that of the Baja California region. Major international corporations in the aerospace, electronics, automotive, chemical, food, and financial areas have their national headquarters in Querétaro.

In the Otomi language, it is referred to as "Maxei" or "Ndamaxei", which means ball game and the grand ball game respectively. In the Mendocino Codex the town is called Tlaschco or Tlaxco, from the Nahuatl word for ball game. However, Querétaro most likely comes from k'eri ireta rho, meaning place of the great people, especially since during Aztec times about 15,000 people lived here. Querétaro has an Aztec glyph to represent it as it was a tributary province. In 1655, it received a coat of arms from the Spanish Crown. In Pre Columbian terminology, Querétaro literally means "the island of the blue salamanders." Nevertheless, other scholars suggest that it can mean "place of the reptiles" or "place of the giant rocks."

The area was settled around AD 200 by Mesoamerican groups moving north, and archeological sites here show Teotihuacan influences. From the Classic Period, there were two population centers in this area called Toluquilla and Las Ranas. The mountain now known as El Cerrito was a ceremonial center, but was later abandoned for unknown reasons. A stone cross imitating the one the Spanish supposedly saw was erected on the hill, which later was accompanied by a church and monastery. However, the initial attempts to establish the city of Querétaro were repelled by the locals, forcing Bocanegra south and establishing the cities of Huimilpan and Acámbaro. Bocanegra continued negotiating with the lord of Xilotepeque, Conín. The lord's cooperation was gained, for which he was eventually credited for bringing an end to the Spanish Chichime/Otomi conflict and was made the Spanish governor of the area. However, most of Querétaro's early colonial history was marked by skirmishes between the remaining Chichimeca insurgency and the Spanish authorities, with one of the first being over the establishment of encomiendas. Literary circles called tertulias were a popular pastime for the upper Creole classes, as they also served as a relatively safe place to discuss politics. One such occurred regularly at the house of José María Sánchez, with the name of the Asociación de Apatistas, which became a group dedicated to independence and winning supporters to the cause. Members included licenciados Lorenzo de la Parra, Juan Nepomuceno Mier y Altamirano, Manuel Ramírez de Arellano y Mario Lazo de la Vega José María Sánchez, Fray José Lozano, Antonio Tellez, don Emeterio y Epigmenio González, José Ignacio de Villaseñor Cervantes y Aldama, Dr. Manuel Marciano Iturriaga, Pedro Antonio de Septién Montero y Austri, Luis Mendoza, Juan José García Rebollo, Francisco Lojero, Ignacio Gutiérrez, Mariano Hidalgo, Mariano Lozada, José María Buenrostro, Manuel Delgado, Francisco Araujo, Felipe Coria, Francisco Lanzagorta, Ignacio Villaseñor and José María Sotelo. The group was visited on occasion by Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Miguel Domínguez and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. This associación was important for the early organisation of those seeking independence for Mexico. This constitution still remains the law of the land.

In most areas, various species of cacti can be seen such as the organ pipe and nopals, as well as the yucca. Trees adapted to dry climates include mesquite, willows and cypress, near streams and rivers. Animal life mostly consists of small mammals, deer, predatory birds and reptiles. In some areas, monarch butterflies can be seen as well. Nature reserves in the municipality include the Peña Colorado, Tángano, Parque Ecologicao Joya La Barreta and the El Cimatario National Park.

Economic growth has been outstanding during the last decade. Today, Querétaro is a middle class city in terms of PPP GDP, with $20,000, The municipality of Querétaro was ranked 23rd in Mexico on the United Nations Index of Human Development. Querétaro debuted in 13th place in the 2006 rankings of the "Best Cities to do Business in Latin America" in América Economía, a leading economic magazine. In the 2007 rankings, it is considered the second best place in Mexico to do business, In its 2007 survey entitled "Cities of the Future", FDI magazine ranked Querétaro as having the third highest cost effectiveness of all North American cities between 500,000 and two million people. In the overall classification of large cities, Querétaro was ranked sixth. Especially changes like the deconcentration of the economic activities (industry and service) and the emergence of a housing market lead to significant growth in cities like Querétaro. Major corporations headquartered in Querétaro include Bombardier Aerospace (an airplane manufacturing facility in Mexico), Kellogg's, Samsung Electronics, Daewoo, and Colgate Palmolive. Harman International Industries, General Electric, Michelin, Tetra Pak, Siemens Mexico, New Holland, Faurecia, ABC Group, Autoliv, TRW Automotive, Tremec, Valeo, Funai, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Pilgrim's Pride, Santander Bank's call center for Latin America, Mabe Mexico, Irizar, Scania, Hitachi, Kostal, Aernnova, Dana, Dow Chemical, Bose, Alpha Hilex, Saint Gobain, Flex N Gate, ThyssenKrupp, and TCS.

The Festival of Santiago de Querétaro is an annual arts and cultural event that takes place in the city for eight days during Holy Week. It is sponsored by the city of Querétaro along with CONACULTA and the Secretary of Tourism for the state of Querétaro. Each year the event has a theme, which was being "Arte in Todos los Sentidos" (Art in All Senses) in 2009. The events are held in various locations, such as the City Museum, the Guerrero Garden, the Zenea Garden and the Rosalio Solano Theatre as well as the various plazas around the city center. The festival is held during Holy Week holiday to attract Mexican and international visitors to the city. The event starts with an inaugural parade through the streets of the historic center, starting from Corregidora Street to Constituyentes, Angela Peralta, Juárez, Madera, and Guerrero streets. The parade ends at the site where public officials open the event. With a total population of 1,594,212 in 2020, it is the 8th largest metro area in Mexico, as well as the 128th largest in the largest metropolitan areas in the Americas. The metropolitan area of Querétaro has seen a high population growth since the second half of the 1990s, making it the second fastest growing in the country, just behind Cancún. Querétaro is among the top five most competitive metropolitan areas in Mexico. In January 2008, the government of the border municipality of Apaseo el Alto in the state of Guanajuato announced the construction of an urbanization for 120,000 inhabitants, which will be part of the metropolitan area of Santiago de Querétaro. Municipality State Type Area (km2) 2020 census 2010 census ChangeQuerétaroQuerétaroCore682.7 CorregidoraQuerétaroCore234.9 El MarquésQuerétaroCore747.6 HuimilpanQuerétaroPeripheral388.1 Apaseo el AltoGuanajuatoPeripheral373.9 Total2,427.3

Querétaro is the crossroads of Mexico. Federal Highway 57, which runs from Mexico City to Piedras Negras, Coahuila, crosses Querétaro. Federal Highway 45 leaves Querétaro westbound, towards Guanajuato. The part of Federal Highway 57 that crosses the city is called Blvd. Bernardo Quintana, and this is the main road of the city, stretching from its southernmost part near City Hall, to the new industrial areas northwest of downtown. Federal Highway 45 crosses the city, south of downtown. Cinco de Febrero Ave joins them in a north–south route. The three of them form a sort of ring road around downtown. The railway line that connects Mexico City with western Mexico bisects the city. The Libramiento Sur Poniente is a new ring road under construction, though parts of it already exist. When completed, it will join Bernardo Quintana on its southeastern part, go around the city in its southwestern and western parts, and reach the northern suburb of Santa Rosa Jauregui. Currently, there is work in progress that aims to extend Bernardo Quintana on its northwestern end to this ring road. Another freeway, named after missionary Junípero Serra who founded the Missions of the Sierra Gorda, creates another ring road. It goes from northeast Querétaro around the old airport, reaches the northern suburb of Juriquilla and goes southwards down to the Libramiento Sur Poniente.

Querétaro's public transportation consists of private owned bus companies that pick up and drop off over a specific route. These cover 123 authorized routes all neighborhoods of the city. There are also conventional taxis. The city also has a large inter city bus terminal.

Querétaro International Airport began operations in 2004, replacing the old Ing. Fernando Espinoza Gutiérrez International Airport in the city. The airport handles passengers and freight of both transport and private airplanes, and in recent years became of the fastest growing airports in Mexico in terms of passengers. Plans to convert the old airport into an international one began in 1999, after studies indicated the need for such. Construction of infrastructure began in 2002.

As municipal seat, the city of Querétaro is the governing authority for 132 communities in the municipality, divided into seven delegations. In 2008, National Geographic Traveler listed Querétaro as one of the top 15 historic destinations of the world.