San Luis Potosí
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- San Luis Potosí is the name of both a state in Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the state. For the city, see San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí.
| State of San Luis Potosí | |||
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| Country |  Mexico |
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| Capital | San Luis Potosí | ||
| Municipalities | 58 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Governor | Jesús Marcelo de los Santos Fraga (PAN) | ||
| - Federal Deputies | PAN: 7 | ||
| - Federal Senators | Alejandro Zapata Perogordo (PAN) Eugenio Govea Arcos (PAN) Carlos Jiménez Macías (PRI) |
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| Area Ranked 15th |
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| - Total | 63,068 km² (24,350.7 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2005) | |||
| - Total | 2,410,414 (Ranked 16th) | ||
| - Demonym | Potosino | ||
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) | ||
| HDI (2004) | 0.7694 - medium Ranked 19th |
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| ISO 3166-2 | MX-SLP | ||
| Postal abbr. | S.L.P. | ||
| Website: San Luis Potosí state government | |||
The Mexican state of San Luis Potosí has an area of 24,266 square miles (62,849 km²). It is in the north-central part of the Mexican republic, bordered by the states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, and Zacatecas.
At the 2005 census the population was 1,410,414. The largest University in the State is the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí (UASLP).
The native peoples of the state include the Huastecs and Pame people.
In addition to the state capital San Luis Potosí, the state's largest cities include Ciudad Valles, Matehuala, and Rioverde.
The state is at the center of an international ecological scandal, facing the illegal operation of Minera San Xavier, a subsidiary of Metallica Resources at the town of its foundation, Cerro de San Pedro, just 20 kilometers away from the capital of the state , with a known poisonous technique banned in first world countries, open pit mining leaching by cyanide.
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[edit] Geography
San Luis Potosí is bounded on the north by Coahuila, on the east by Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas and Veracruz, on the south by Hidalgo, Querétaro and Guanajuato, and on the west by Zacatecas.
The state lies mostly on the Mexican Plateau, with the exception of the southeastern corner of the state, where the tableland breaks down into the tropical valley of the Panuco River. The surface of the plateau is comparatively level, with some low mountainous wooded ridges. The Sierra Madre Oriental runs north and south through the state, and separates the Mexican Plateau from the Gulf Coastal Plain to the east. The Sierra Madre Oriental is home to the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests. The Panuco River originates on the Plateau, and flows eastward through a gap in the Sierra Madre to drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The easternmost portion of the state lies on the Gulf Coastal Plain, and covered by the Veracruz moist forests.
The Panuco and its tributaries drain the southern and southeastern portion of the state. The northern and central portion of the state, including the capital, lie on an interior drainage basin which does not drain to the sea.
The mean elevation is about 6,000 ft., ensuring a temperate climate. The state lies partly within the arid zone of the north, while the southern half receiving a more liberal rainfall through the influence of the nortes, which deliver significant amounts of rain. The rainfall, however, is uncertain at the western and northern regions, and much of the state is poorly provided with rivers. The soil is fertile and in favorable seasons large crops of wheat, maize, beans and cotton are grown on the uplands. In the low tropical valleys, sugar, coffee, tobacco, peppers and fruit are staple products. Stockraising is an important industry and hides, tallow and wool are exported. Fine cabinet and construction woods are also exported to a limited extent.
At one time San Luis Potosi ranked among the leading mining provinces of Mexico, but the revolts following independence resulted in a great decline in that industry. The area around Real de Catorce has some of the richest silver mines in the country. Other well-known silver mining districts are Peñón Blanco, Ramos and Guadalcázar. The development of Guadalcazar dates from 1620 and its ores yield gold, copper, zinc and bismuth, as well as silver. In the Ramos district, the Cocinera lode was said to have a total yield of over $60,000,000 in the first decade of the 20th Century.
[edit] Municipalities
The State of San Luis Potosí is divided into 58 municipalities (Spanish: municipios), each headed by a municipal president (mayor).
[edit] Major communities
- Ciudad Valles
- Matehuala
- Rioverde
- San Luis Potosí
- Soledad de Graciano Sánchez
- Villa de Reyes
- Escalerillas
[edit] Governors
The current governor is Marcelo de los Santos Fraga (2003-2009) of the PAN party (Partido Accion Nacional).
[edit] Industry
General Motors now has a plant under construction, San Luis Potosí Assembly, to employ up to 1800 and assembly up to 160,000 vehicles per year.[1]
[edit] Famous People
Arts and Sciences
- Jesús Silva Herzog - Economist and member of the National College of Mexico, father of Jesús Silva Herzog Flores
- Francisco González Bocanegra - Author of the Mexican National Anthem
- Manuel Jose Othón - Poet
- Edward James
- Jorge Carrillo m.d.
Journalists
- Julio Hernández López - Columnist of La Jornada
- Jesús Blancornelas - Founder of Zeta
Politics
- Ponciano Arriaga
- Miguel Barragán - President of Mexico
- Carlos Jongitud Barrios
- Gonzalo Martínez Corbala - Ambassador to Chile during the Coup
- Luis Ernesto Derbez
- Alfonso Lastras Ramirez
- Salvador Nava Martínez
- Francisco Xavier Salazar Saenz
- Antonio Rocha Cordero
- Gonzalo N. Santos
- Samuel Del Villar
Sports
- Jorge Goeters, NASCAR driver
- Nery Castillo, Professional football (soccer) player. He was born in San Luis Potosi and moved out when he was 3 months old)
- Mil Mascaras (Thousand Masks), Professional Wrestler
- San Luis has two professional football (soccer) teams: Santos and Gladiadores
Entertainment
- Ana Bárbara, famous singer in the Latin community, born and raised in San Luis Potosí
- Carlos Amador
- Lupe Vélez, Hollywood actress
- Jose Sosa, famous musician
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) San Luis Potosí state government
- Churches of San Luis Potosí
- (Spanish) Towns, cities, and postal codes in San Luis Potosí
- Tourism in San Luis Potosí
- Hotels in San Luis Potosí
[edit] References
- Ricketts, Taylor H., Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, Colby J. Loucks, et al. (1999). Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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