Chilpancingo

Chilpancingo

Chilpancingo de los Bravo (commonly shortened to Chilpancingo; .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish pronunciation: [tʃilpanˈsiŋɡo] ⓘ; Nahuatl: Chilpantzinco (pronounced [t͡ʃiɬpanˈt͡siŋko])) is the capital and second-largest city of the Mexican state of Guerrero. In 2010 it had a population of 187,251 people. The municipality has an area of 2,338.4 km2 (902.9 sq mi) in the south-central part of the state, situated in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains, on the bank of the Huacapa River.[1] The city is on Federal Highway 95, which connects Acapulco to Mexico City. It is served by Chilpancingo National Airport, which is one of the five airports in the state. In pre-Columbian times, the area was occupied by the Olmecs, who built an extensive tunnel network through the mountains, and left the cave paintings in the caverns of Juxtlahuaca.[1] The city of Chilpancingo was founded on 1 November 1591 by the Spanish conquistadores, its name meaning "Place of Wasps" in Nahuatl.[1] During the War of Independence, Chilpancingo was crucial to the insurgent cause as its population participated actively and decisively in their favor, and it became a strategic point for military action in the south. Chilpancingo was very important to Mexican history because it was here where the National Congress met under José María Morelos y Pavón in 1813 during the War of Independence.[2] General Nicolás Catalán, husband of the independence war heroine Antonia Nava de Catalán, was made commander of the state of Guerrero on 24 January 1828. The family settled in Chilpancingo, where both Nicolás and Antonia later died.[3] In 1853, Chilpancingo was declared the provisional capital of the state, due to an epidemic that struck the then capital of Tixtla, and regional ecclesiastical organizational changes were made at the same time.[4] In 1870 it was again declared capital by Governor Francisco O. Arce, due to the opposition led by General Jiménez, who was in possession of the official seat of government at Tixtla. It was not until 1871, when the state legislature agreed to a change of venue, that the capital was moved again from Chilpancingo.[5]