Zapopan

Zapopan pronunciation (?·i) is a city and one of the 125 municipalities that make up the state of Jalisco, Mexico. It was part of the Province of New Galicia, in the Kingdom of New Galicia between its foundation and 1786, and of the Intendence of Guadalajara from 1786 to 1821. It is located in the central region of the state, in the macroregion of the West Bank or West Centre from Mexico. It is the most populous municipality in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara

The municipality has a population of 1.47 million inhabitants, being the seventh most populous in Mexico (2020 Census).

Zapopan is the municipality with the highest GDP per capita and HDI in Jalisco, as well as one of the 50 municipalities with the highest HDI and GDP per capita in Mexico.

Toponymy

Nahuatl glyph whose meaning is Tzapopan

The most accepted etymology for the word Zapopan derives from the Nahuatl Tzapopan, and suggests that the meaning is "place of zapotes"; formed by the words Tzapotl, "zapote", and pan, "over", represented by tzápotl, sapote, and pantli, flag. The name derives from a Nahuatl glyph represented by the sapote fruit tree, with a flag at its side (see image). Subsequently, the sapote tree and the flag, representative of said pictogram, were included in the municipal shield.

History

Pre-Hispanic period

The existence of a pre-Hispanic town called Tzapopan located in the current municipal seat is highly disputed by various historians, since the town was never mentioned in documents of the time, unlike other towns in the now municipality and neighboring municipalities to it. This casts doubt on the existence of Tzapopan.

However, for some experts; The history of Zapopan began during the years 1160 to 1325, when a large number of Zapotecs, Nahuas and Mayans arrived in the current territory of Zapopan near the current Profundo stream, these groups came from the south. The inhabitants, over the years, were mixing with other tribes, such as the Aztecs who went to the Valley of Mexico; however, the tecuexes were the ones that dominated the terrain over time. Tzapopan was founded by the Aztecs and the Tecuexes, from its beginnings it was a religious city that had shrines and sanctuaries to the sun god, and to the god Teopiltzintli. The diet of the inhabitants was based on corn, beans and fruits, they also dedicated themselves to hunting and fishing.

Tzapopan was a city with a large population; Despite this, the constant wars with other nomadic tribes caused a decline in the city until it became a settlement of very little importance, subjected to the dominion of Atemajac, which depended on the Hueytlatoanazgo de Tonalá, turning it into an insignificant and unimportant town The arrival of the Spaniards.

Conquest

The conquest of the town of Tzapopan began around the year 1530, when Nuño de Guzmán conquered the Kingdom of Tonalá (to which "Tzapopan" belonged), although possibly by then the town was insignificant or even depopulated. Finally, with the victory of the conquistadors in the Miztón War in 1541, the region was conquered, and with the permission of the then viceroy, Francisco de Bobadilla, encomendero of Tlaltenango, who removed from his encomienda the necessary Indians to repopulate Tzapopan, in order to After counting on manpower to help the foundation of Guadalajara, the task of repopulation and re-foundation was left in the hands of Fray Antonio de Segovia who, together with Fray Ángel de Valencia, delivered on December 8, 1541 as patron saint the image of the Conception of Zapopan. This image is credited with the successful repopulation and subsequent calm by the Indians. The construction of the current basilica was started in 1690 by Juan de Santiago de León Garabito.

In the historiography of the origin of Zapopan, a legendary figure named Nicolás de Bobadilla appears, a lord encomendero that some sources indicate that, with Indians from the Jalostotitlán region, he arrived in Zapopan around 1541 or 1543, depending on the source consulted.. However, there is no reliable evidence that any character with that name has benefited from any Indian favor; if he really existed, the testimonies of his passage through these lands were simply lost in the sea of the bureaucracy of Seville, Cádiz or Madrid.

On the other hand, for a repopulation to take place, an abandonment of said population must have occurred before; but, as is established in the different chronicles, the towns on the eastern side of the San Juan de Dios river did not insubordinate, what is more, it is mentioned, for example, that Indians from Atemajac participated in the siege of the pawnbrokers in Mixtón, at orders of the viceroy of Mendoza, that is to say, none of the towns mentioned by Mata Torres, was razed during the War, for which reason they were not repopulated either, in any case they were assigned to an encomendero, according to the forms of domain indicated by the crown Spanish.

The key to the foundation of Zapopan is linked to the image of the Virgin. The Spaniards, from the time of the conquest of Tenochtitlán, had ordered to replace the images of their gods with images of the Virgin in the shrines of the natives. Although the legend remembers the Virgin of Zapopan as "pacifier in the wars against the indigenous people, Zapopan, an indigenous town, was the site of their most famous sanctuary in all of the West"

Fray Antonio de Segovia deposits the image of the virgin there because this is the place of worship for all the lordships of these lands, following the custom of spiritual conquest.

In conclusion, Zapopan was a cult center before the conquest, it continued to be so after the conquest, as a center of veneration of a Christian image and it was later that a population arose, with Indians owned by Francisco de Bobadilla, encomendero from the Tlaltenango region, not from Jalostotitlán, around 1570.

19th century: after independence

After the failed imperial attempt, on June 21, 1823, the territory of the former Province of Guadalajara was proclaimed as the Free State of Jalisco. The nascent state of Jalisco changed the scheme of Parties with which the territory under its jurisdiction was divided -which had been used since the Bourbon reforms- for the model of Departments, which in turn were subject to another larger unit: the Canton. Each Canton had a header with a political chief who, in turn, depended on the Governor of the State. This concentrated in itself the making of political, military and fiscal decisions. In the first model of territorial organization of the State of Jalisco, dated March 27, 1824, named Plan for the Political Division of the Territory of the State of Jalisco, Zapopan is a State Department and the town of Zapopan was proclaimed head of the Department and named Villa. On November 18 of the same year, once the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco had been promulgated, Zapopan was ratified as a Department and attached to the first State Canton, headquartered in Guadalajara. The Villa de Zapopan communicated with Guadalajara by two roads: the first ran towards the southeast of Zapopan, crossed the Colomo stream and entered through the western part of Guadalajara; the second left towards the east of Zapopan, passed through Zoquipan and Atemajac and then entered the northern part of Guadalajara through the Mezquitán neighborhood.

In 1857, with the liberal republicans in power, Jalisco was a State and Zapopan a Department attached to the first Canton of Jalisco.

On April 6, 1837, the territorial organization model changed and Zapopan became the Partido del Distrito de Guadalajara. In 1846 another reorganization turned Zapopan into a department of the first Canton of Jalisco whose head was Guadalajara. The model, with some minor variations, was maintained until 1914 when the category of Municipality became the basis for the territorial division of the Republic. On April 6, 1917, the Political Constitution of the State of Jalisco recognized Zapopan as a Free Municipality.

The category of municipal seat remained unchanged until December 7, 1994 when, through decree 14358, the Jalisco State Congress changed the category of Villa that it had had since the beginning of the century XIX for City.

Geography

Location of the municipality of Zapopan in the State of Jalisco.

Zapopan is located in the central part of the state of Jalisco, its extreme coordinates are 20°25'30" at 20°57'00" north latitude, and 103°19'30" to 103°39'20" west longitude. It borders to the north with the municipality of San Cristóbal de la Barranca; to the east with the municipalities of Ixtlahuacán del Río and Guadalajara; to the south with the municipalities of Guadalajara, San Pedro Tlaquepaque and Tlajomulco de Zúñiga; and to the west with the municipalities of Tala, El Arenal, Amatitlán and Tequila. Its total area is 893.15 km², which represent 1,119% of the total area of the state of Jalisco, the municipality has an average altitude of 1,548 meters above sea level.

Relief

Main elevations of Zapopan
Cerro el Colli (1960 msnm)
Name	msnm
Cerro La Col	2200
Table The Nejahuete	2.110
Cerro El Tule	2100
Cerro El Chapulín	2.020
Cerro San Francisco	2.020
Cerro Los Bailadores	2.020
Cerro El Alto	2,000

The relief is very rugged with numerous elevations and fractures, a small area of the surface in the northeast and northwest of the municipality is part of the Sierra Madre Occidental with elevations below 1200 masl, while the rest of the surface It is part of the Neovolcanic Axis with higher elevations that exceed 1400 meters above sea level. The morphology of the Zapopano relief is composed to a greater extent by mountains, hills with ravines and plateau with ravines, which represents 87% of the total area of the municipality. In addition, other variants can be found such as the canyon, which represents the entire physiographic province of the Sierra Madre Occidental with about 12% of the municipal area. The plain is the least common of all, with less than 1% of the municipality's surface. The municipality has a large number of elevations, the highest being Cerro La Col with 2,200 meters above sea level. Likewise, it has heights lower than 1000 meters above sea level, located mainly in the limits of the municipality to the northeast and northwest. The towns of the municipality are located between 1,550 and 1,650 meters above sea level, among these is the municipal head that is located at 1,560 meters above sea level.

Hydrography

Zapopan is located on the Pacific slope, so its water currents are short and fast. The streams and bodies of water are grouped into two regions: Lerma-Santiago and Ameca. The first region has two basins: the Chapala lagoon and the Santiago-Guadalajara river. The second region, with one, the La Vega-Cocula dam. Likewise, each basin is divided into sub-basins: San Marcos Lake, Corona River-Verde River, Verde River-Santa Rosa Dam and Salado River. Of all of them, the Río Verde-Santa Rosa dam sub-basin is the one that covers the largest portion of the municipality with 81.8% of the total area and is located in the north and center of the territory. Most of the water currents and all the dams of the municipality are located in this sub-basin, such is the case of the Santiago River, the San Antonio, Blanco, La Soledad, Agua Zarca and Grande streams, and the Copalita, San José, the Peñitas and the Turtles.

The Salado River sub-basin is the second largest in the municipality, located to the southwest. The main body of water is the Salado River, which represents about 9% of the municipal area. On the other hand, the Corona-Río Verde and San Marcos lakes sub-basins represent 8.7% and 0.5% of the municipal area, respectively.

Climate

The municipality has three main types of climate: warm sub-humid with summer rains, semi-warm sub-humid with summer rains, and temperate sub-humid with summer rains. They are distributed as follows: in the center of the municipality, where all the human settlements are located, including the municipal seat, covering about 81.16% of its surface, the climate is semi-warm; in the northwest and northeast there is a warm climate, which affects about 17.05% of the surface of the municipality; and, finally, to a lesser extent (only 1.7% of the surface) there is a temperate climate to the south of Zapopan, on the border with the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga. Zapopan's climate is sub-humid, with dry and temperate winters and springs. The average temperature is 23.5 °C, with a maximum of 35 °C and a minimum of 5.4 °C. The average annual precipitation is 906.1 mm, and it rains mainly between the months of June to October.

Average weather parameters of Zapopan (municipal street)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	32.0	35.0	38.0	39.0	39.5	38.5	36.0	38.5	35.0	34.0	34.0	34.0	39.5
Average temperature (°C)	22.1	26.0	27.9	32.3	33.4	31.1	27.8	27.8	27.6	27.5	26.6	23.0	28.5
Average temperature (°C)	16.8	18.4	20.4	22.6	24.2	23.6	21.8	21.8	21.7	20.7	18.7	17.0	20.5
Temp. medium (°C)	5.4	9.5	10.8	13.0	15.0	16.1	15.8	15.7	15.7	12.0	8.8	6.0	12.8
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	1.0	1.0	3.5	6.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	6.0	8.0	8.0	4.0	-7.0	-7.0
Total precipitation (mm)	15.1	10.0	4.5	4.2	22.6	195.5	264.1	217.8	163.8	60.4	13.5	12.1	983.6
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	2.1	1.1	0.5	1.0	3.1	14.2	20.0	18.7	14.1	6.2	1.6	2.1	84.7
Source: National Meteorological Service

However, the north of the municipality is warmer and colder but with less precipitation than the south and center.

Natural resources

The municipality's vegetation is basically made up of pine and oak, both species are found in the Sierra de La Primavera, the Nixticuil Forest and the Centinela Forest. There are other species such as the cratón, the jonote, the madroño, the ozote, the retama, the aloe vera and the nopal in the northern and eastern part of the ravine. The municipality has 11,400 hectares of forest where, in addition to the aforementioned plant species, you can find species of oak, oyamel and tepame, mainly. Its mineral resources are deposits of marble, kaolin, feldspar, agate, tezontle, gravel and sand (clay).

Its fauna includes 106 species of animals such as white-tailed deer, puma, lynx, coyote, gray fox, badger, hare, and raccoon, among others. About 137 species of both migratory and resident birds have been identified and you can see hawks, eagles, herons, thrushes, quail, roadrunners, woodpeckers and many more.

Geology

The territory of Zapopan is not made up of tertiary and quaternary period land. The soils are composed of predominant types Regosol, Feozem and Litosol, and also small portions of Luvisol. The use of the 89,315 hectares that correspond to the municipal territory is distributed as follows: 43,269 are used for agricultural purposes, 23,730 in livestock activities, 11,400 are for forest use, 3,910 are urban land and 7,006 hectares have other uses. As far as property is concerned, an extension of 49,031 hectares is private, and another of 32,938 is ejidal; 7,346 hectares are communal property. Zapopan, according to the type and use of soil, has obtained for several years the first national place in yield per hectare.

Geographical Maps of Zapopan
Relieve	Hydrology	Climates

Demographics

Population

According to the 2020 National Population Census of INEGI, the population of Zapopan was 1,476,491 inhabitants, and it is the first most populous municipality in Jalisco, higher than Guadalajara, as well as the eighth most populous municipality in the country.

Demographic evolution

Map of urban districts of Zapopan.

In the year 1950 the total population of the municipality of Zapopan amounted to 27,115 inhabitants, practically the same population as in the year 2000 was counted only in the Santa Margarita neighborhood. In ten years the population of the municipality increased 100% and by the year 1960 it reached 54,562 inhabitants. The population grew 300% in the 1960s and reached a total of 163,185 inhabitants in 1970. The population increase during the 1970s was 238.5%, which rose to 389,081 inhabitants in 1980. In 1990, Zapopan had 712,008 inhabitants and by the year 2000 the population exceeded one million inhabitants.

Government

As in the rest of the municipalities in Mexico, Zapopan is governed by a municipal president who exercises executive power for three consecutive years; This position is held, since October 1, 2021, by Juan José Frangie, of the Citizen Movement Party. Legislative power rests with the council, occupied by people elected by the citizens of the municipality in elections that were held, until 2018, on the first Sunday in July, and since 2021, elections have been held on the first Sunday in June.

The municipality is divided into four electoral districts, for the purpose of electing the representatives of the city in the federal legislative branch. These districts are IV, VI, X and shares the XIII district with Tlaquepaque.

The Zapopan City Council is responsible for providing public services to the towns within the municipality: drinking water, drainage, public lighting, public safety, traffic regulation, maintenance of parks, gardens and cemeteries, and urban planning. They participate in public education, rescue and emergency services, environmental protection, and maintenance of parks and historical monuments. They also have the power to collect property taxes and other payments, although they can obtain more funds from the Jalisco state government and the federal government.

Economy

About three quarters of the municipality's land is used for agriculture and livestock. About 15 percent of the land is covered by forest, and the rest is part of the urban area. The main crops are corn, sorghum, pumpkin, tomato, chickpea, avocado, mango and plum. Cows, pigs and poultry are raised. Agriculture employs less than 3 percent of the population. About a third of the population is employed in industry and manufacturing. Major companies with facilities include: Sabritas, Intel, Bimbo, Flextronics, Motorola, Jaguar and Coca Cola. The rest of the population is involved in trade and services.

Tourism

Tourism in Zapopan is an important economic activity for the development of the city, since it has many historical, religious and modern attractions, with a wide variety of hotels, restaurants and shopping centers. During 2007, the municipality had a percentage of creepers due to its hotel occupancy of 58.6% and in 2008 it achieved a higher percentage with 62.4%. The economic benefit that was generated in the municipality in 2008 was estimated at 689 million 359 thousand 250 pesos, it is also estimated that another 345 million pesos were obtained by other tourist services in the municipality.

Flag Square in Zapopan.

Historic Center

One of the main tourist attractions of the historic centre is the Zapopan Basilica, a Baroque-style Franciscan sanctuary completed in 1892, which houses the Virgin of Zapopan.

On Paseo Teopiltzintli, which was once the main street of the city, is the Arch of Entrance to Zapopan, built by the Spanish founders of the city. It is made of quarry and is twenty meters high. The arch is decorated with sculptures and is topped with large jars and an eagle. The Paseo leads to the Plaza de las Américas, after passing the Civic Square.

The Plaza de las Américas-Juan Pablo II is located in front of the Basilica of Zapopan and its pavement is made with pink quarry. It has a metal kiosk (formerly made of quarry) and four large fountains. There are also two large bronze sculptures that represent the god and goddess of corn, made by Juan Méndez.

The main pedestrian corridor of the city is the Andador 20 de Noviembre, a settlement of bars, galleries and restaurants. Every Saturday, artists and antique dealers display merchandise for sale.

The Municipal Cultural Center, built in 1979, organizes plastic arts exhibitions, as well as theater and dance acts. Next to it is the Plaza del Arte, which is decorated with arches and quarry columns and three permanent sculptures. The main mural of the building is titled "The history of the town and the Mexican revolution", painted in 1980 by Ricardo Peña. There are also twenty-three other murals made by art students in recent years.

I monument the eagles on Avenida López Mateos.

Metropolitan Area

Zapopan has a significant number of shopping centers and entertainment venues.

Places of interest

• Zapopan or MAZ Art Museum, located in the city center. It has a multidisciplinary forum and three exhibition halls where music, dance, theatre and audiovisual media are disseminated.
• Trompo Mágico, located between Santa Margarita and Paseo Valle Real, is an interactive museum designed for the whole family, has state-of-the-art technology, exhibitions, exhibitions and countless activities.
• Telmex Auditorium; it is a space for shows. It is part of the most ambitious and transcendent cultural project of the University of Guadalajara. The auditorium is the first building that takes life to promote the development of the University Cultural Center. Its first stone was installed on 22 July 2003 and the inauguration was held on 1 September 2007, with a ceremony attended by Plácido Domingo.
• The Spring; population, delegation and ejido, to the west of the village called La Venta del Astillero, and immediately to the south of the Federal Highway 15, known as "the International". The village The Spring is located on the north end of the Spring Forest, and there also begins the road that leads to the sulfur river known as the Hot River and the Canyon of the Flowers (the latter with access to the public by paying a fee).

Ecotourism

Zapopan has areas dedicated to ecotourism such as the Mirador Dr. Atl park (with the Cola de Caballo waterfall), the El Centinela Forest, the Villa Fantasía Zoo, the Primavera Forest, the Metropolitan Park, the El Diente cliff, in addition to the Huaxtla spas, the Río Caliente Spa and the Ixtépete archaeological zone

Education

Zapopan is the headquarters of the Colegio de Jalisco, an academic institution with official support that develops historical and humanistic research relevant to the state of Jalisco and western Mexico. Also with the Higher Technological Institute of Zapopan (ITSZ) that offers engineering courses endorsed by the SEP and the SEJ (Jalisco Secretary of Education) also accredited for their quality in ISO 9001:2000 and CACEI. Also the Center for Industrial Technical Education (CETI) Campus Colomos both integrated into SESTEJ (Higher Technological Education System of the State of Jalisco) and the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the IPN (Cinvestav) Guadalajara Unit.

The municipality is also home to private universities of international stature: Autonomous University of Guadalajara (U.A.G.); from the University of the Valley of Atemajac (UNIVA); from the Pan-American University (U.P.); from the Marist University of Guadalajara; as well as part of the public education university network: the University Center of Administrative Economic Sciences. CUCEA, where international conferences regarding Entrepreneurship apart from other branches of the economic sector and the University Center for Biological and Agricultural Sciences are also housed.CUCBA.

Guadalajara (like Zapopan) has been chosen among 5 other cities in the world to be the first model of an intelligent city (Smart Cities) by the IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. This commits the universities that already contribute to the society of the metropolitan area to participate in projects aimed at turning Guadalajara and Zapopan into a city of the future.

The Colegio del Aire, a military education institution, has been located in Zapopan since 1959, where future aviator pilots and technical specialists of the Mexican Air Force are trained.

The Colegio del Aire, a military education institution, has been located in Zapopan since 1959, where future aviator pilots and technical specialists of the Mexican Air Force are trained.

The Japanese College of Guadalajara A.C. (グアダラハラ補習授業校 Guadarahara Hoshū Jugyō Kō), a part-time Japanese complementary institute, conducts its classes at the Colinas de San Javier Girls' Junior High School in Zapopan.

Shield

Shoopan shield.

The coat of arms of Zapopan presents the shape of the semicircular or semicircular Spanish shield, and is surrounded by a blue border. It contains, in the field of sinople (green) and field of gold, a tree stemmed also of sinople and fruited with seven cherimoyas or zapotes of gold; to its reclining trunk a spear shaft with a flag of gules and behind, a jumping dog outlined in silver; instead of honor a simple cross of gules, accompanied by a semicircular silver currency with the nickname of sinople: HOC SIGNUM VINCIT (This Sign Wins).

Culture

Zapopan benefits from the cultural initiatives of the government and the University of Guadalajara. It also has an Author's House.

Expressions of popular culture

In the municipality, festivities with various themes are held, such as Zapopum! and the October Fiestas, as well as festivals held in the municipality of Guadalajara. Zapopan houses several colonial buildings of a religious and civil nature, whose architectural styles represent the ethnic diversity of the municipality,

Zapopan Pilgrimage

Museums and Galleries

Main entrance to the Zapopan Art Museum.

One of the main museums in the municipality is the Zapopan Art Museum (MAZ), a museum and cultural center. It has three exhibition halls and a multidisciplinary forum with contemporary art, music, dance, theater and audiovisual proposals.

The Magic Spinning Top is an interactive museum dedicated to children, it presents various topics related to art, science, civility, among others, as well as activities. The Art Garden is an outdoor art exhibition and sale, which takes place every Sunday at the Glorieta Chapalita.

The Magic Trompo, an interactive museum dedicated to children.

The Colegio del Aire de la Fuerza Aérea Mexicana has a historical gallery of the Mexican Air Force, a room for the Mexican expeditionary air force, and a room for aircraft models.

The Benito Albarrán Hunting Museum is a Sudan-style house, which has kept inside for 31 years an extraordinary taxidermy collection of animals hunted by Don Benito Albarrán, on three different continents, America, Euroasia and Africa; 270 game pieces of one hundred and ten different species presented in dioramas of great realism and setting.

The Museum of Huichol Wixárica Art offers visitors a permanent display of crafts by this ethnic group. Sale and exhibition of shirts, pants, backpacks, skirts, blouses, necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and small beads bags. In addition to carved wooden masks and photographs with daily scenes of the rural life of this ethnic group.

The Museum of the Virgin of Zapopan presents an impressive collection of cloaks made of silver and gold threads, offerings made to the Virgin as a token of gratitude for some miracle, old paintings, niches in which the image was transported, and a collection of various items used in past centuries for decoration.

The box museum in Zapopan Palace of Culture and Communication

Plastic arts

The municipality has great paintings, including "The Baptism of Jesus" Made in the XVII century by Juan Correa, the mural of "The History of the Villa and the Mexican Revolution&# 3. 4; Painted in 1980 by Ricardo Peña, it is located in the Municipal Center of Culture, which also houses another 23 murals made by painting students. In the municipal palace you can admire a mural made in 1970 by Guillermo Chávez Vega, a painter from Guadalajara, where scenes from the French, Industrial, English, Mexican and Socialist revolutions are depicted.

Gastronomy

Like the rest of Mexico, there are multiple foods made from corn such as pozole, tamales and atole. Also, some typical dishes stand out such as tortas ahogadas and esquites, cooked corn grains that are served in a glass and accompanied by seasonings such as lemon, salt, chili powder, cream and cheese.

Among the traditional candies are those made with coconut such as alfajor and cocadas, and a variety of sweets made from milk.

Archaeological zones

Zapopan has three important archaeological zones: Ixtépete, an archaeological zone that has a pyramidal structure of Teotihuacan influence built from the V span> to X, 20 meters long, 16 meters wide and a height of around 1.83 meters; El Grillo, which is located to the north of the Atemajac Valley next to a currently dry stream, formed by fourteen shaft tombs; and the area of La Coronilla, located in the area known as La Experiencia.

Sports

The sports that are practiced in the municipality of Zapopan are very varied thanks to the important existing infrastructure in its urban area. The Municipal Sports Council (COMUDE) of Zapopan is the public institution that is in charge of promoting physical activity, sports and social recreation, it also tries to promote the use of sports units in the municipality. The sports infrastructure of the municipality is very extensive, it has about 54 sports units distributed in the different towns of the municipality, in these units the practice of sports and recreational activities are carried out, they also serve as sports initiation schools.

The municipality has been and will be the venue for various national and international sporting events. Also in October 2011, the municipality of Zapopan hosted some of the competitions of the 2011 Pan American Games that took place in Guadalajara.

For these competitions, the Pan American Stadium track was approved by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2011, with the idea that it would be used by athletes such as the Charros de Jalisco Baseball team, but in 2015. The head of CODE Jalisco, Andre Marx Miranda reported that during that year it would only be used by the Baseball team. Although it should be expected that after this year it will be reconsidered as it was originally approved.

The city has the Estadio Tres de Marzo, which is home to the Tecos club, a team from Group XI of the Third Division. Chivas de Guadalajara also has the Chivas Stadium, which was inaugurated in July 2010 and has witnessed important events such as: the Pan American Soccer Final: Mexico vs. Argentina and Closing of the Guadalajara 2011 Pan American Games, Copa Libertadores Chivas Final. from Guadalajara vs Internacional de Porto Alegre first leg. and various concerts.

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  Three March Stadium of the UAG Tecos.

• 

  Chivas Stadium

Via RecreActiva

La Vía RecreActiva in the Municipality of Zapopan, is a social program in which road spaces are set up for mass use for recreational and leisure purposes by people of all ages. It operates on Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. During said hours, the circulation of motor vehicles is restricted on the established routes, allowing only the passage of pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles.

Currently in Zapopan there are three routes:

• RUTA 1: South Extension (6.4 km) Avenida de las Rosas (López Mateos)-Tepeyac-Abogados-Beethoven-Independence(Parque Metropolitano).
• RUTA 2: South Extension (10 km) Labna (Tepeyac)-Friend Nervo-Pegaso-Sagitario-Galileo Galilei-Mariano Otero-Tepeyac-Las Torres(Avenida Guadalupe).
• RUTA 3: North Extension (8 km) Cannzo Charro Zapopan, Avenida Hidalgo-5 de mayo-Industria-Avenida los Laureles-Dr. Luis Farias-Enrique Díaz de León-Miguel Amaya-Gral. Agustin Olachea-Lic. Luis Manuel Rojas-J. Aguirre E.-North Peripheral-of the Tabachines-Paseo of the Frambues (passing of yours).

Topography

The territory is made up of land from the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. The municipality has a land area of 89,315 hectares, of which 43,269 are used for agricultural purposes, 23,730 for livestock activities, 11,400 are for forest use, 3,910 are urban land, and 7,006 hectares have other uses. As far as property is concerned, an extension of 49,031 hectares is private and another of 32,938 is ejidal; 7,346 hectares are communal property. Zapopan, according to the type and use of soil, has obtained for several years the first national place in yield per hectare. The northern part of the municipality is located in the Tesistán Valley. The municipality of Zapopan represents 1,119% of the territory of the State of Jalisco, with an extension of 893.15 km². It borders to the north with the municipalities of Tequila, San Cristóbal de la Barranca and Ixtlahuacán del Río; to the east with the municipalities of Ixtlahuacán del Río and Guadalajara; to the south with the municipalities of Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque, Tlajomulco de Zúñiga and Tala; to the west with the municipalities of Tala, Arenal, Amatitán and Tequila.

The most important towns are Nuevo México, San Francisco Tesistán, Valle Real, La Venta del Astillero, La Magdalena (San José Ejidal), Nextipac, Ciudad Bugambilias, Military Air Base of the XV Zone, San Esteban (San Miguel Tateposco).

Neighborhoods

• Arroyo Hondo
• Cruise of the Bureau
• Table of the Ocotes
• White table
• La Coronilla
• Views of the Sentinel
• New Vergel
• Haciendas Guadalupe
• Gardens of the Auditorium
• Ecological Seattle
• The Vigil
• EXITMEX.
• Haciendas de Zapopan.
• San Gonzalo Gardens.
• The Masters.
• Luis Donaldo Colosio.
• Military Residential.

Important characters

• Cruz de la Mora Ramírez, quarry sculptor
• Gabriel Pareyón, composer
• Guillermo del Toro, film director
• J. Angel Romero Llamas: competitor in the Helsinki Olympic Games, best sportsman in Mexico, President and Representative of Zapopan
• Lorena del Castillo, actress
• Felipe Cazals (1937): Film director. He was born in Guéthary, France, but his birth certificate was issued in Zapopan, where he lived his first years.
• Eva Briseño: a professional nurse who dedicated her life to philanthropy.
• Soledad Orozco: first lady of Mexico between 1940 and 1946.
• Pascual Díaz Barreto: achieved a pact with the government and ended the war.

International relations

Consulates

• Honorary Consulate of the Netherlands
• Honorary Consulate of Lebanon
• Honorary Consulate of Poland
• Honorary Consulate of Colombia
• United Kingdom Honorary Consulate
• Honorary Consulate of Belgium

Sister Cities

The city of Zapopan has twinning agreements with the following cities:

Agreements

Zapopan has various inter-institutional technical cooperation agreements with the following cities and organizations

• Amsterdam, Netherlands (2011).
• Medellin, Colombia (2011).
• Phoenix, United States (2015).
• Zaragoza, Spain (2010).
• Stuttgart, Germany (2011).
• Angoulême, France (2012).