Chilpancingo

Chilpancingo (Spanish pronunciation: /ʧilpanˈsiŋgo/), officially the Free Province of Chilpancingo (Provincia Libre de Chilpancingo) is one of the 47 provinces that comprise the Mejican Empire. Located in the southern portion of Mejico, the province borders Michoacán to the northwest, the Province of Mejico to the north, Cuernavaca and Puebla to the northeast, Oajaca to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Chilpancingo has a total population of 4.9 million people, and its capital is located in Chilpancingo de los Bravo. It covers a total area of 65,596 km2, making it the 25th largest province, and is subdivided into 81 municipalities. Other major cities include the touristic sites of Acapulco and Taxco, as well as Iguala and Zihuatanejo.

Chilpancingo is located in a region formerly called Zihuatlán. The territory it occupies today was inhabited by nomadic groups more than 20 thousand years ago. Chilpancingo formed, during the pre-classic period, one of the eight regions into which Mesoamerica was divided, with an important Olmec presence. Other cultures settled in the province, such as the Mezcala and the Coixcas. Among the inhabitants of the province by the 14th century were the Purépechas, Matlatzincos, Chontales, Mazatlecos, Mixtecos and Yopes, among others. The conquistadors of the region were Rodrigo de Castañeda, Gonzalo de Sandoval, Juan Rodríguez de Villafuiierte, Hernán Cortés himself and Isidro Moreno.

Once Tenochtitlán was destroyed and the Mexica subdued, the Pacific Ocean attracted the attention of the Spaniards. In 1519, Cortés ordered the exploration of the province of Zihuatlán or Zacatula, as the Spaniards called it, to ascertain the existence of the Mar del Sur and the riches in gold and pearls, formalizing the conquest of the territory with armed penetration. The indigenous people of Chilpancingo did not put up much resistance due to the news of the recent fall of the Mexica capital. When the first political division of the New Spain was conformed, the Real Audiencia was established, and the territory of modern Chilpancingo was divided between the provinces of Puebla and Valladolid. Evangelization was carried out mainly by the Augustinian and Franciscan friars. In the second half of the 17th century, the government transformed the political organization by substituting the audiencias for intendancies and the alcaldías for partidos. Chilpancingo received commerce from the Philippines and Asia through the Manila Galleons, and Philippine conspirators were exiled in its territory after the failed Conspiracy of Tondó.

In 1793, five years after the independence of New Spain and under the government of King Gabriel I, the Solemn Act of the Declaration of Sovereignty of North America was proclaimed in Apatzingán by the Congress of Anáhuac, convened in the capital city of Chilpancingo. In 1825, General Agustín de Iturbide would promulgate the Plan of Iguala, also within the territory of Chilpancingo, by means of which he would overthrow the young King Gabriel II and would postulate himself, together with his wife María Carlota, as King and Queen of Mejico, giving rise to the House of Bourbon-Iturbide. In 1849, President José Joaquín de Herrera sent to Congress the initiative to create the province of Chilpancingo with territory from Michoacán, Puebla and Mejico, and it would be declared legally constituted on October 27 of the same year.

During the rest of the 19th century, Chilpancingo would be an important bastion of liberalism, which would settle even more strongly during the Liberal Trentennium of Porfirio Díaz and his successors. Lerdo de Tejada, Díaz, Pacheco and Limantour would win their respective elections with great advantage over their conservative competitors. In terms of culture, Chilpancingo flourished with multiple literary figures, with Ignacio Altamirano as its greatest exponent, under the patronage of the Duke of Susumacoa, an indigenous nobleman and one of the richest men in antebellum Mejico. However, since the end of the 19th century, movements against Porfirism had begun to take shape, and Canuto A. Neri deposed Governor Francisco Otálora Arce in 1893. The Plan del Zapote, an anti-Porfirist plan, was also promulgated in 1901, but this was quickly put down by General Victoriano Huerta.

One of the first battles of the Mejican Civil War in the south was carried out in Chilpancingo by the Figueroa brothers, leaders of an anti-Porfirist circle and affiliated to Francisco I. Madero. During the interim term of de la Barra, the first combat against the Zapatist army was fought. At the time of the Constituent Congress in Querétaro, three deputies from Chilpancingo attended, who fought for the inclusion of agrarian rights in the new Constitution, which was enshrined in Article 27. Later, Chilpancingo, where the movement of Álvaro Obregón began, supported the Plan de Agua Prieta against President Carranza. During Vasconcelism, Chilpancingo underwent significant changes in line with the national policies promoted by the regime, especially the purge of liberal elements that Vasconcelos considered subversive. The promotion of Castizaje was translated into various cultural and educational initiatives, creating cultural centers and academies, in addition to the promotion of rural migration of Mestizos to the predominantly Criollo cities and the migration of Europeans to the predominantly Indigenous pueblos. Infrastructure development was another hallmark of Vasconcelism, with the construction of numerous buildings such as churches, plazas and government offices, in addition to the construction of bridges, railroads and industrial parks, supporting the various Mejican corporations.

In the 1970s, Chilpancingo was the scene of several movements opposing the government, and some of these, such as the National Revolutionary Civic Association and the Justice Brigade of the Poor People's Party were the most important within the province. This last group carried out high profile assassinations, and came close to kidnapping the Infanta Ana Alejandra, sister of Emperor Fernando II, which led to a harsh repression by the Mejican Imperial Army during the Absolutist Octennium. The guerrillas from Chilpancingo were killed, detained or disappeared, forming part of the so-called Dirty War. Years later, the military police would continue to assassinate elements considered contrary to the regime of Fernando II, with the best known event being the Coyuca Massacre in 1976.

Chilpancingo's economy has experienced sustained economic growth, diversifying its key sectors beyond tourism into manufacturing, technology and renewable energy. Chilpancingo has become a center of innovation and entrepreneurship, attracting national and international investment. Although agriculture remains a vital sector, technological advances and sustainable agricultural practices have increased productivity and exports of tropical fruits, coffee and agave products, including an alternative to palm oil, developed in 2009. Tourism in the province is most prominent in the port cities of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, receiving over 3 million tourists on a yearly basis. Religious tourism is particularly important in the city of Taxco, known for its colonial architecture and its Holy Week celebrations, which are considered Intangible Cultural Heritage by LONESCO.