Salamanca, Guanajuato

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Salamanca is an industrial city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. The city serves as the municipal seat of the municipality, which lies in the south-central part of the state, south of the state capital of Guanajuato. The city reported a 2005 census population of 143,838, while the municipality had 233,623. The municipality has an areal extent of 745.96 km² (288.02 sq mi), which includes such smaller outlying communities as Valtierrilla, Cerro Gordo, San José Temascatio, and Loma Pelada. The fourth-largest city in the state (behind León, Irapuato, and Celaya), it is also the largest of four places called "Salamanca" in Mexico.

The city was founded on 1 January 1603, by Viceroy Gaspar de Zúñiga y Acevedo, a native of the Spanish city of Salamanca.