Guanajuato is a state in the central highlands of Mexico. It is named after its capital city, Guanajuato, which comes from the local indigenous P'urhépecha 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.

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 over 35 old churches in its capital alone.

Today, Guanajuato's mines are still among the richest-producing silver mines in the world (historically one of the largest). The state also produces tin, gold, copper, lead, mercury, and opals. Guanajuato also leads the nation in shoe production and various farm products such as lettuce and potatoes. The state's main export products are motor vehicles and autoparts, footwear, leather goods, chemicals, electric machinery and materials, fruits and vegetables.

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.

The state of Guanajuato accounts for more than its proportional share of economic migrations of workers to the United States and Canada. Among the areas favored by migrants from this part of Mexico are the U.S. cities of Chicago, Illinois; Evanston, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas; Camp Verde, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Salinas, California; and Palisade, Colorado.

Geography

The state of Guanajuato borders the states of San Luis Potosí to the north, Querétaro to the east, Michoacán to the south, and Jalisco to the west. It has an area of . In the 2005 census, the state had a population of 4,893,812 people. The literacy rate stands at about 88 percent.