Guadalupe

The city of Guadalupe is located in the state of Nuevo León, in northern Mexico. It shares borders with San Nicolás de los Garza and state capital Monterrey. Covering a territory of 118.73 km², it is located at 25°41'N 100°16'W, at an altitude of 500 meters above sea level. In 2000, its population was 670,162 (332,973 men and 337,189 women), and the illiteracy rate was 2.7%. It is the location of the two international airports in Nuevo León, serving the Monterrey metropolitan area. The city was founded on January 4, 1716, but the land was inhabited long before that. When Monterrey was founded in 1596, the land, which was populated by various indigenous tribes, was ceded to Diego de Montemayor, the founder of Monterrey, but he did not make use of the land. In 1627, the land was turned into large plantations, where sugar cane and corn was raised. The owner of the land during around the time of the turn of the 18th century was named Capitán Nicolás Ochoa de Elejalde, but the land was taken from him by the Spanish government and converted into a mission in February, 1715. In 1756, the city was renamed the "Pueblo de la nueva Tlaxcala de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Horcasitas". On March 5, 1825, the city was declared a municipality of Nuevo León and categorized as a "Villa", even though for many years it continued to be called the "Pueblo de Guadalupe".