Querétaro

State of central Mexico; area 11,769 sq km/4,544 sq mi; population (2000 est) 1,402,000. Its capital is Querétaro. The state lies mainly in the Central Plateau. The main occupations are mining and farming. The mountainous north has mineral deposits that include largely unworked gold, copper, lead, and tin as well as mercury and opals, which are mined. The lower more fertile south produces crops of cereals, fruit and sweet potatoes. The state capital, Querétaro, is linked by rail and road to Ciudad Juárez and Mexico City.

Querétaro

Town in and administrative capital of the state of Querétaro in Mexico, situated 200 km/124 mi northeast of Mexico City in the southwest of the state; population (2005) 918,100. Standing at an altitude of 1,865 m/6,119 ft, it has a temperate dry climate. It is important as an agricultural centre and as a centre of communications. Its main industries are cotton textile manufacturing and pottery production, and there is opal and mercury mining in the area. It is significant historically, not only as the site of a pre-Aztec settlement but because in 1810 the movement for Mexican independence was planned in the town by Miguel Hidalgo.

Querétaro was founded in 1531 and has a cathedral, fine churches, notably that of Santa Clara, and old palaces. The Emperor Maximilian was executed on the Cerro de las Campanas, just outside the town, in 1867. There is an annual agricultural fair in December with a special market and bullfights.