Jalisco map

Geography

Jalisco spans 78,588 km² from the Pacific to the central plateau, seventh among the states by area and fourth by population with 8,348,151 residents in 125 municipalities. Four landscapes divide it: the Guadalajara metropolitan valley at about 1,550 m in the centre, holding more than half the state's people; Los Altos de Jalisco, a dry volcanic tableland at 1,800–2,200 m north-east of it; the sierra west and south, where the Sierra Madre Occidental breaks into the ranges around Mascota, Tapalpa and Mazamitla; and the Costalegre, 200 km of coast down to the Colima line.

Guadalajara stands in the Valle de Atemajac, its northern edge stopping at the Barranca de Huentitán, or Barranca de Oblatos, a gorge about 600 m deep cut by the Río Santiago. The Santiago leaves Lake Chapala at Ocotlán and runs north-west across Nayarit to the Pacific; with the Lerma above it the system is Mexico's longest, about 1,280 km. Below the industrial corridor at El Salto it is one of the country's most polluted rivers.

Lake Chapala, 50 km south-east of the capital, is the largest natural lake in Mexico — about 1,100 km², roughly 80 km long and mostly under 10 m deep. It is fed almost entirely by the Río Lerma, which reaches it after crossing the central plateau, so the level turns on what upstream irrigation leaves in the river: extraction and drought drove it below a quarter of capacity in 2001–2002, and it recovered only after the rains of 2003. Guadalajara draws much of its drinking water from the lake, and Chapala, Ajijic and Jocotepec on the north shore hold Mexico's largest US and Canadian retirement community.

North-west of the capital the ground drops into the Santiago valley around the town of Tequila and the Volcán de Tequila, 2,920 m, where blue agave on red volcanic soil supplies the distilleries of Tequila, Amatitán and Arandas. The denomination of origin, registered in 1974, covers all 125 Jalisco municipalities plus a few dozen in Nayarit, Guanajuato, Michoacán and Tamaulipas; agave spirit distilled outside it cannot be sold as tequila. UNESCO inscribed the agave landscape between the volcano and the Santiago gorge in 2006, some 350 km² of terraced fields, distilleries and haciendas. Los Altos, around Tepatitlán, Arandas and San Juan de los Lagos, is a second agave belt and the country's leading dairy and poultry district.

Bahía de Banderas at Puerto Vallarta is one of the largest bays in the Americas. South of Cabo Corrientes the Costalegre is a chain of little-built bays — Chamela, Careyes, Tenacatita, Melaque and Barra de Navidad — behind which the Chamela–Cuixmala reserve holds dry tropical forest. On the southern border Nevado de Colima reaches 4,260 m, the state's high point, beside Volcán de Colima, 3,860 m and one of Mexico's most active.

Main cities

Municipal populations, INEGI census of 2020; the first five belong to the Guadalajara metropolitan area, nine municipalities and 5.3 million people. Electronics assembly and, since the 1990s, software are its largest export sector, concentrated at El Salto and southern Zapopan; the November book fair is the biggest in the Spanish-speaking world.

Neighbouring states

Seven states border Jalisco. Clockwise from the north: Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Colima, Nayarit. The Pacific forms the western edge, 342 km of it, and the line with Nayarit runs through Bahía de Banderas, so the north shore of the bay is in another state. San Luis Potosí touches only a short stretch beyond Lagos de Moreno, Michoacán holds the far side of Lake Chapala, and Colima the coastal corner behind Manzanillo. Jalisco is counted in Pacific Coast and, through Los Altos, in El Bajío; its western ranges belong to the Sierra Madre.

Getting there

Guadalajara's Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International (GDL), 17 km south-east of the centre on the Chapala road, is Mexico's third-busiest airport, with direct flights to about 30 US cities. Puerto Vallarta (PVR) serves the coast and takes most of its traffic in winter. See the airports map.

By road, Federal Highway 15 and its toll road 15D link Guadalajara to Mexico City through Morelia — 540 km, about six hours — and north-west through Tepic towards Mazatlán and the Pacific coast. Highway 80 crosses the sierra to Barra de Navidad, Highway 54 runs north to Zacatecas and south to Manzanillo, and Highway 200 follows the shore from Puerto Vallarta down the Costalegre into Colima and north into Nayarit. See the road map and the physical map.

Questions about Jalisco

Where is Jalisco on the map of Mexico?

On the Pacific coast of west-central Mexico, about 500 km west of Mexico City. It borders seven states — Nayarit, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Michoacán and Colima — and has 342 km of Pacific coast.

What is Jalisco known for?

Tequila (the town and the drink, protected by a denomination of origin), mariachi, charrería, Guadalajara's tech industry and the resort of Puerto Vallarta. It is the fourth-largest state economy.

How far is Guadalajara from Mexico City?

About 540 km east on Federal Highway 15D, six hours by car and roughly seven by first-class bus. Flights between the two take about an hour and twenty minutes and run several times an hour.

How big is Lake Chapala?

About 1,100 km² at a normal level, some 80 km long and nowhere much more than 10 m deep — the largest natural lake in Mexico. It sits at about 1,520 m, 50 km south-east of Guadalajara, and is fed almost entirely by the Río Lerma.

Is Jalisco safe to visit?

Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Chapala and the tequila region receive millions of visitors a year without incident; the US State Department advises caution for the state as a whole and against travel to the Michoacán and Zacatecas borders. Check current advisories.