title: Golden hamster

text: Hamsters are very territorial and intolerant of each other; attacks against each other are commonplace. Exceptions do occur, usually when a female and male meet when the female is in heat, but even so, the female may attack the male after mating. Even siblings, once mature, may attack one another. In captivity, babies are separated from their mother and by sex after four weeks, as they sexually mature at four to five weeks old. Same-sex groups of siblings can stay with each other until they are about eight weeks old, at which point they will become territorial and fight with one another, sometimes to the death. Infanticide is not uncommon among female golden hamsters. In captivity, they may kill and eat healthy young as a result of the pups interacting with humans, for any foreign scent is treated as a threat. Females also eat their dead young in the wild.


title: Golden hamster

text: Golden hamsters mark their burrows with secretions from special scent glands on their hips, termed flank glands. Male hamsters in particular lick their bodies near the glands, creating damp spots on the fur, then drag their sides along objects to mark their territory. Females also use bodily secretions and feces.


title: Golden hamster

text: Following Professor Aharoni's collection in 1930, only infrequent sightings and captures were reported in the wild. Finally, to confirm the current existence of the wild golden hamster in northern Syria and southern Turkey, two expeditions were carried out in September 1997 and March 1999. The researchers found and mapped 30 burrows. None of the inhabited burrows contained more than one adult. The team caught six females and seven males. One female was pregnant and gave birth to six pups. All these 19 caught golden hamsters, together with three wild individuals from the University of Aleppo, were shipped to Germany to form a new breeding stock.


title: Golden hamster

text: Observations of females in this wild population have revealed, contrary to laboratory populations, activity patterns are crepuscular rather than nocturnal, possibly to avoid nocturnal predators such as owls.


title: Golden hamster

text: Owls, however, have also evolved to hunt at dusk and dawn, and even during the day on rare occasions, so the predator avoidance advantage may not apply to owls in particular. Another theory is that hamsters, which are extremely sensitive to temperature fluctuations, may be crepuscular to avoid the extreme temperatures of full daylight and night time temperatures.


title: Golden hamster

text: Golden hamsters in captivity run two to five miles per 24-hour period and can store up to one ton of food in a lifetime. They keep their food carefully separated from their urination and nesting areas. Very old hamsters with weak teeth break this "rule" by soaking hard seeds and nuts with urine to soften them for eating. Hamsters are extraordinary housekeepers and often sort through their hoards to clean and get rid of molding or rotting food. They gather food in the wild by foraging and carrying it home in their cheek pouches, which they empty by pushing it out through their open mouths, from back to front, with their paws, until it is empty. If a lot of food is available to carry, they may stuff the pouches so full that they cannot even close their mouths. Wild hamsters possibly behave similarly to those in captivity.


title: Golden hamster

text: Golden hamsters are used to model the human medical conditions including various cancers, metabolic diseases, non-cancer respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, and general health concerns. In 2006 and 2007, golden hamsters accounted for 19% of the total Animal Welfare Act-covered animal research subjects in the United States.


title: Golden hamster

text: Golden hamsters are popular as house pets due to their docile, inquisitive nature, cuteness, and small size. However, these animals have some special requirements that must be met for them to be healthy. Although some people think of them as a pet for young children, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends hamsters as pets only for people over age 6 and the child should be supervised by an adult. Cages should be a suitable size, safe, comfortable, and interesting. If a hamster is constantly chewing and/or climbing on the bars of its cage then it needs more stimulation or a larger cage. The minimum recommended size for a hamster cage is , of continuous floor space (although the source of this recommendation is unknown). These can be made from a plastic storage bin or a large glass tank. The majority of hamster cages sold in pet stores do not meet these size requirements. Hamster Society Singapore (HHS) recommends a minimum of for Syrian hamsters, while Tierärztliche Vereinigung für Tierschutz (TVT) recommends giving them as much space as you can and at minimum 100 cm × 50 cm × 50 cm (L × W × H) which is .


title: Golden hamster

text: A hamster wheel is a common type of environmental enrichment, and it is important that hamsters have a wheel in their cage. TVT recommends wheels should be at least 30 cm for Syrian hamsters, since smaller diameters lead to permanent spinal curvatures, especially in young animals. They also recommend a solid running surface because rungs or mesh can cause injury. A hamster should be able to run on its wheel without arching its back. A hamster that has to run with an arched back can have back pain and spine problems. A variety of toys, either shop-bought or home-made, can help to keep them entertained. Cardboard tubes and boxes are stimulating. Golden hamsters are energetic and need space to exercise.


title: Golden hamster

text: Most hamsters in American and British pet stores are golden hamsters. Originally, golden hamsters occurred in just one color – the mixture of brown, black, and gold, but they have since developed a variety of color and pattern mutations, including cream, white, blonde, cinnamon, tortoiseshell, black, three different shades of gray, dominant spot, banded, and dilute.


title: Golden hamster

text: The practice of selective breeding of golden hamsters requires an understanding of their care, knowledge about breed variations, a plan for selective breeding, scheduling of the female body cycle, and the ability to manage a colony of hamsters.


title: Golden hamster

text: Often long-haired hamsters are referred to by their nickname "teddy bear". They are identical to short-haired Syrians except for the hair length and can be found in any color, pattern, or other coat type available in the species.


title: Golden hamster

text: Male long-haired hamsters usually have longer fur than the female, culminating in a "skirt" of longer fur around their backsides. Long-haired females have a much shorter coat although it is still significantly longer than that of a short-haired female.


title: Rob Font

text: Rob Font (born June 25, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Font formerly competed for CES MMA, where he was the Featherweight Champion. As of December 6, 2022, he is #6 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.


title: Rob Font

text: A native of Central Massachusetts, Font began training as an amateur in 2009 and compiled a record of 3-1 before making his professional debut in December 2011.


title: Rob Font

text: Font compiled a record of 10-1 as a professional, competing for several regional promotions across his native New England before signing with the UFC in the spring of 2014.


title: Rob Font

text: Font made his promotional debut against George Roop on July 5, 2014 at UFC 175. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. He also earned a "Performance of the Night" bonus.


title: Rob Font

text: For his next bout, Font was expected to face Chris Beal on September 5, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50. However, Font pulled out of the bout, citing an injury.


title: Rob Font

text: Font was expected to face Mitch Gagnon on October 4, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 54. Subsequently, Font pulled out of the fight the week of the event, and he was replaced by Roman Salazar.


title: Rob Font

text: Font was expected to face Chris Williams on January 17, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 81. Subsequently, Williams was forced out of the fight due to an injury, and he was replaced by Joey Gomez. Font won the fight by TKO in the second round.


title: Rob Font

text: Font was expected to face Ian Entwistle on October 8, 2016 at UFC 204. However, on the day prior to the event, Entwistle fell ill during the weight cutting process and the bout was scrapped.


title: Rob Font

text: Font was expected to face Alejandro Pérez on December 3, 2016 at . However, Perez pulled out of the fight on November 24. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Matt Schnell. Font won the fight via TKO in the first round.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Douglas Silva de Andrade on July 8, 2017 at UFC 213. He won the fight by submission in the second round. He earned the Performance of the Night award for the win.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Pedro Munhoz on October 28, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 119. He lost the fight via submission in round one.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Thomas Almeida on January 20, 2018 at UFC 220. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Sergio Pettis on December 15, 2018 at UFC on Fox 31. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Rob Font

text: Font was expected to face Cody Stamann on June 22, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 154. However, on June 5, 2019, it was reported that Stamman pulled out of the event due to an injury, and he was replaced by John Lineker. In turn, Lineker was pulled from the bout for an undisclosed reason. Font, in turn, would be removed from the card.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Ricky Simón at on December 7, 2019. He won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the "Fight of the Night" award.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Marlon Moraes on December 19, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 183. Font won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him a "Performance of the Night "award.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Cody Garbrandt on May 22, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 188. He won the bout by unanimous decision.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced former WEC and UFC featherweight champion José Aldo in the headliner of UFC on ESPN 31 on December 4, 2021. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Rob Font

text: Font faced Marlon Vera on April 30, 2022 at UFC on ESPN 35. At the weigh-ins, Font weighed in at 138.5 pounds, two and half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight with Font forfeiting 20% of his purse to Vera. Despite significantly outstriking Vera, Font was dropped in three straight rounds and lost the fight via unanimous decision. The fight also earned the Fight of the Night award, although Font was deemed ineligible for a bonus due missing weight and his share went to Vera. Font set bantamweight records for significant and total strikes landed and attempted in a fight; It also had the second-most combined strikes landed of any UFC fight.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Project Habakkuk or Habbakuk (spelling varies) was a plan by the British during the Second World War to construct an aircraft carrier out of pykrete (a mixture of wood pulp and ice) for use against German U-boats in the mid-Atlantic, which were beyond the flight range of land-based planes at that time. The plan was to create what would have been the largest ship ever at 600 m long and would indeed have been much bigger than even USS "Enterprise", the largest naval vessel ever, at 342 m long.The idea came from Geoffrey Pyke, who worked for Combined Operations Headquarters. After promising scale tests and the creation of a prototype on Patricia Lake, Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada, the project was shelved due to rising costs, added requirements, and the availability of longer-range aircraft and escort carriers which closed the Mid-Atlantic gap that the project was intended to address.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Geoffrey Pyke was an old friend of J. D. Bernal and had been recommended to Lord Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, by the cabinet minister Leopold Amery. Pyke worked at Combined Operations Headquarters (COHQ) alongside Bernal and was regarded as a genius by Mountbatten.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Pyke conceived the idea of Habakkuk while he was in the United States organising the production of M29 Weasels for Project Plough, a scheme to assemble an elite unit for winter operations in Norway, Romania and the Italian Alps. He had been considering the problem of how to protect seaborne landings and Atlantic convoys out of reach of aircraft cover. The problem was that steel and aluminium were in short supply, and were required for other purposes. Pyke decided that the answer was ice, which could be manufactured for just 1% of the energy needed to make an equivalent mass of steel. He proposed that an iceberg, natural or artificial, be levelled to provide a runway and hollowed out to shelter aircraft.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: From New York Pyke sent the proposal via diplomatic bag to COHQ, with a label forbidding anyone apart from Mountbatten from opening the package. Mountbatten in turn passed Pyke's proposal on to Churchill, who was enthusiastic about it.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Pyke was not the first to suggest a floating mid-ocean stopping point for aircraft, nor even the first to suggest that such a floating island could be made of ice. A German scientist, Dr. A. Gerke from Waldenburg, had proposed the idea and carried out some preliminary experiments on Lake Zurich in 1930. The idea was a recurring one: in 1940 an idea for an ice island was circulated around the Admiralty, but was treated as a joke by officers, including Nevil Shute, who circulated a memorandum that gathered ever more caustic comments. The document was retrieved just before it reached the First Sea Lord's inbox.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: The project's code name was often incorrectly spelled "Habbakuk" in official documents. This may have been Pyke's error. At least one early unsigned document (apparently written by him) spells it Habbakuk. However, post-war publications by people concerned with the project, such as Perutz and Goodeve, all restore the proper spelling, with one "b" and three "k"s. The name is a reference to the project's ambitious goal:


title: Project Habakkuk

text: David Lampe, in his book, "Pyke, the Unknown Genius", states that the name was derived from Voltaire's "Candide" and was misspelled by Pyke's Canadian secretary. However, the word does not actually appear in "Candide", so this is probably inaccurate.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: In early 1942 Pyke and Bernal called in Max Perutz to determine whether an icefloe large enough to withstand Atlantic conditions could be built up fast enough. Perutz pointed out that natural icebergs have too small a surface above water for an airstrip, and are prone to suddenly rolling over. The project would have been abandoned if it had not been for the invention of pykrete, a mixture of water and woodpulp that when frozen was stronger than plain ice, was slower-melting and would not sink. Developed by his government group and named after Pyke, It has been suggested that Pyke was inspired by Inuit sleds reinforced with moss. This is probably apocryphal, as the material was originally described in a paper by Mark and Hohenstein in Brooklyn.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Pykrete could be machined like wood and cast into shapes like metal, and when immersed in water formed an insulating shell of wet wood pulp on its surface that protected its interior from further melting. However, Perutz found a problem: ice flows slowly, in what is known as plastic flow, and his tests showed that a pykrete ship would slowly sag unless it was cooled to . To accomplish this the ship's surface would have to be protected by insulation, and it would need a refrigeration plant and a complicated system of ducts.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Perutz proceeded to conduct experiments on the viability of pykrete and its optimum composition in a secret location underneath Smithfield Meat Market in the City of London. The research took place in a refrigerated meat locker behind a protective screen of frozen animal carcasses.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: The decision was made to build a large-scale model at Jasper National Park in Canada to examine insulation and refrigeration techniques, and to see how pykrete would stand up to artillery and explosives. Large ice blocks were constructed at Lake Louise, Alberta, and a small prototype was constructed at Patricia Lake, Alberta, measuring 60 by 30 feet (18 metres by 9 metres), weighing 1,000 tons and kept frozen by a one-horsepower motor. The work was done by conscientious objectors who did alternative service of various kinds instead of military service. They were never told what they were building. Bernal informed COHQ that the Canadians were building a 1,000-ton model, and that it was expected to take eight men fourteen days to build it. The Chief of Combined Operations (CCO) responded that Churchill had invited the Chiefs of Staff Committee to arrange for an order to be placed for one complete ship at once, with the highest priority, and that further ships were to be ordered immediately if it appeared that the scheme was certain of success.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: The Canadians were confident about constructing a vessel for 1944. The necessary materials were available to them in the form of 300,000 tons of wood pulp, 25,000 tons of fibreboard insulation, 35,000 tons of timber and 10,000 tons of steel. The cost was estimated at £700,000.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Meanwhile Perutz had determined via his experiments at Smithfield Market that the optimum structural properties were given by a mixture of 14 per cent wood pulp and 86 per cent water. He wrote to Pyke in early April 1943 and pointed out that if certain tests were not completed in May, there would be no chance of delivering a completed ship in 1944.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: By May the problem of cold flow had become serious and it was obvious that more steel reinforcement would be needed, as well as a more effective insulating skin around the vessel's hull. This caused the cost estimate to grow to £2.5 million. In addition, the Canadians had decided that it was impractical to attempt the project "this coming season". Bernal and Pyke were forced to conclude that no Habakkuk vessel would be ready in 1944.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Pyke was excluded from the planning for Habakkuk in an effort to secure American participation, a decision that Bernal supported. Pyke's earlier disagreements with American personnel on Project Plough, which had caused his removal from that project, were the main factor in this decision.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Naval architects and engineers continued to work on Habakkuk with Bernal and Perutz during the summer of 1943. The requirements for the vessel became more demanding: it had to have a range of and be able to withstand the largest waves recorded, and the Admiralty wanted it to be torpedo-proof, which meant that the hull had to be at least thick. The Fleet Air Arm decided that heavy bombers should be able to take off from it, which meant that the deck had to be long. Steering also raised problems; it was initially projected that the ship would be steered by varying the speed of the motors on either side, but the Royal Navy decided that a rudder was essential. However, the problem of mounting and controlling a rudder over high was never solved.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Naval architects produced three alternative versions of Pyke's original concept, which were discussed at a meeting with the Chiefs of Staff in August 1943:


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Air Chief Marshal Portal asked about potential bomb damage to Habakkuk III, and Bernal suggested that a certain amount of deck covering might be ripped off, but could be repaired by some kind of flexible matting. It would be more difficult to deal with bomb holes in the centre portion, though the roof over the aircraft hangars would be made blast proof against 1,000 kg bombs. Bernal considered that no one could say whether the larger Habakkuk II was a practical proposition until a large-scale model could be completed and tested in Canada in the spring of 1944. He had no doubts about the suitability of pykrete as a material, but said that constructional and navigational difficulties remained to be overcome.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: The final design of Habakkuk II gave the "bergship", as it was called, a displacement of 2.2 million tons. Steam turbogenerators were to supply for 26 electric motors mounted in separate external nacelles (normal, internal ship engines would have generated too much heat for an ice craft). Its armament would have included 40 dual-barrelled 4.5" DP (dual-purpose) turrets and numerous light anti-aircraft guns, and it would have housed an airstrip and up to 150 twin-engined bombers or fighters.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: According to some accounts, at the Quebec Conference in 1943 Lord Mountbatten brought a block of pykrete along to demonstrate its potential to the admirals and generals who accompanied Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mountbatten entered the project meeting with two blocks and placed them on the ground. One was a normal ice block and the other was pykrete. He then drew his service pistol and shot at the first block. It shattered and splintered. Next he fired at the pykrete to give an idea of the resistance of that kind of ice to projectiles. The bullet ricocheted off the block, grazing the trouser leg of Admiral Ernest King, and ended up in the wall.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Sir Alan Brooke's diaries support this account, telling how Mountbatten brought two blocks, one of ice and one of pykrete. After first shooting at the ice, with a warning to beware of splinters, Mountbatten said "I shall fire at the block on the right to show you the difference". Brooke reported that "the bullet rebounded out of the block and buzzed round our legs like an angry bee".


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Max Perutz gave an account of a similar incident in his book "I Wish I Made You Angry Earlier". A demonstration of pykrete was given at Combined Operations Headquarters (COHQ) by a naval officer, Lieutenant Commander Douglas Adshead-Grant, who was provided by Perutz with rods of ice and pykrete packed with dry ice in thermos flasks and large blocks of ice and pykrete. Grant demonstrated the comparative strength of ice and pykrete by firing bullets into both blocks: the ice shattered, but the bullet rebounded from the pykrete and hit the Chief of Imperial General Staff (Sir Alan Brooke) in the shoulder. Brooke was unhurt.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: By the time of the 1943 Quebec Conference the Habakkuk project had won the support of both Churchill and Mountbatten, and was assigned to the National Research Council of Canada because of the cold Canadian winters and Canadians' prior familiarity with ice physics. The small prototype built in 1944 on a Patricia Lake near Jasper, Alberta, confirmed the researchers' forecast that the full-size vessel would cost more money and machinery than a whole fleet of conventional aircraft carriers. NRC President C. J. Mackenzie later said British promoters of Habakkuk were so intimidated by Prime Minister Churchill that they kept this information from him until the Canadian's next visit to Britain. Mountbatten later listed several points:


title: Project Habakkuk

text: The final meeting of the Habakkuk board took place in December 1943. It was officially concluded that "The large Habbakuk II made of pykrete has been found to be impractical because of the enormous production resources required and technical difficulties involved."


title: Project Habakkuk

text: The use of ice had actually been falling out of favour before that, and other ideas for "floating islands" had been considered, such as welding Liberty Ships or landing craft together ("Project TENTACLE"). It took three hot summers to completely melt the prototype constructed in Canada.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: Perutz wrote that he stayed in Washington D.C. while U.S. Navy engineers evaluated the viability of Habakkuk. He concluded: "The U.S. Navy finally decided that Habakkuk was a false prophet. One reason was [that] the enormous amount of steel needed for the refrigeration plant that was to freeze the pykrete was greater than that needed to build the entire carrier of steel, but the crucial argument was that the rapidly increasing range of land-based aircraft rendered floating islands unnecessary."


title: Project Habakkuk

text: The Habakkuk design received criticism, notably from Sir Charles F. Goodeve, Assistant Controller of Research and Development for the Admiralty during the Second World War. In an article published after the war Goodeve pointed out the large amount of wood pulp that would be required was enough to affect paper production significantly. He also claimed that each ship would require 40,000 tons of cork insulation, thousands of miles of steel tubing for brine circulation and four power stations, but that for all those resources (some of which could be used to manufacture conventional ships of more effective fighting power) Habakkuk would be capable of travelling at only of speed. His article also contained extensive derisive comments about the properties of ice as used for ship construction.


title: Project Habakkuk

text: In the 15 April 2009 episode of the U.S. TV show "MythBusters" Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage built a small flat-bottomed boat dubbed "Yesterday's News" out of a modified version of pykrete, using whole sheets of wet newspaper instead of wood pulp. They successfully piloted the boat in Alaskan waters at a speed of , but it began to leak through the melting pykrete in 20 minutes and after attempting to flash freeze leaks with a fire extinguisher and bailing the water with a hand pump, 10 minutes later Hyneman determined that the boat was taking on more water than the pump could remove and they headed back to shore, trailing sloughed portions of newspaper in their wake. They later inferred that it is possible to build a boat out of pykrete, and that pykrete lived up to its purported properties of being bullet-proof, stronger than ice and taking longer to melt than ice. However, they expressed doubt that an aircraft carrier made of pykrete could have survived for long. The conclusion was "Plausible, but ludicrous."


title: Project Habakkuk

text: In September 2010 the BBC programme "Bang Goes The Theory" also attempted to recreate a pykrete boat. A rough hull using 5,000 kg of hemp fibre pykrete was frozen in a coldstore, then launched in Portsmouth Harbour for a planned trip across the Solent to Cowes. The hull immediately started to leak because of the holes that had been cut in its rear to mount an outboard motor; the weight of the motor itself caused these holes to drop below the waterline.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: The Seeds of Love is the third studio album by British pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 September 1989 by Fontana Records. It retained the band's epic sound while incorporating influences ranging from jazz and soul to Beatlesque pop. Its lengthy production and scrapped recording sessions cost over £1 million. The album spanned the title hit single "Sowing the Seeds of Love," as well as "Woman in Chains," and "Advice for the Young at Heart", both of which reached the top 40 in several countries.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: "The Seeds of Love" was an international success, entering the UK Albums Chart at number one, and top ten in other countries including the U.S. It has been certified Gold or Platinum in several territories including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands. Despite its success, personal tensions during recording led to band members Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal splitting up at the conclusion of their 1990 world tour, with Orzabal remaining as the band's sole official member until the two reunited in the early 2000s.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: In October 2020, the remastered reissue of "The Seeds of Love" was released in several formats including a super deluxe edition, with B-sides, remixes, and a 5.1 surround sound mix.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: The first song composed for "The Seeds of Love" was "Badman's Song" (originally titled "The Bad Man Song"), written during the band's 1985 world tour after Roland Orzabal overheard two members of the tour personnel maligning him in a hotel room one night. The song was co-written by Orzabal with keyboardist Nicky Holland, who was touring with the band throughout 1985. Holland would go on to play an integral part in the writing and recording of "The Seeds of Love", much as keyboardist Ian Stanley had on the band's previous album "Songs from the Big Chair".


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Recording sessions for the album began in late 1986 with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, but Orzabal and Curt Smith were unhappy with the results and so the recordings were scrapped in early 1987. Chris Hughes (who had produced both the previous Tears for Fears albums) was then brought back into the fold, but again conflicts arose over the direction of the new material. Orzabal in particular had grown weary of composing and playing music using machines and sequencers, as the majority of Tears for Fears' music had been up to that point, and was striving for something more organic and a different way of working.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: The song "Sowing the Seeds of Love" was written in June 1987, the same week as the UK general election in which Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won a third consecutive term in office (reflected in the lyric ""Politician granny with your high ideals, have you no idea how the majority feels?""). Hughes and longtime TFF keyboardist Ian Stanley both left the project later in 1987 citing "creative differences", though their contributions to the track remained on the final album. After two failed attempts to make the album, the band opted to produce it themselves, assisted by engineer Dave Bascombe. Also in 1987, Orzabal and Smith flew over to the US to track down a hotel lounge pianist/vocalist named Oleta Adams, whom they had seen playing in Kansas City during their 1985 American tour. Hoping she could add to the organic feel by bringing a soulful warmth to their music, they invited Adams to work with them on their new album. Adams would ultimately perform on three tracks ("Woman in Chains", "Badman's Song" and "Standing on the Corner of the Third World"), and a solo recording contract was also offered to her by the band's record company Fontana.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Recording recommenced in early 1988 and lasted until the summer of 1989. Featuring an assortment of respected session players including drummers Manu Katché and Simon Phillips, bassist Pino Palladino, and a guest appearance by Phil Collins on drums, much of the album was recorded as jam sessions featuring different performances of the music and then edited down later. Some of the tracks, particularly "Badman's Song", were recorded several times in a variety of musical styles including, according to Holland, versions of the song that were reminiscent of Barry White, Little Feat and Steely Dan before settling on the jazz/gospel version that is on the finished album. Co-producer Dave Bascombe commented that the final version of the song was almost nothing like the original demo because it had gone through so many changes. The track "Swords and Knives" was originally written for the 1986 film "Sid and Nancy" (about the relationship between Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen), but was rejected by the filmmakers for not being "punk" enough.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Due to the starry cast of session players and lengthy production process, including the scrapped earlier recordings, the album reportedly cost £1 million to make (by comparison, "Songs from the Big Chair" cost approximately £70,000). The final mix of the album was completed at London's Mayfair Studios in July 1989. Frustrations during the making of the album had also given rise to tensions between Orzabal and Smith, Orzabal having become something of an intricate perfectionist and Smith preoccupied with living a jet set lifestyle rather than focusing on the album (Smith's first marriage had also ended in divorce during the making of the album). At one point, Orzabal considered calling the album "Famous Last Words" (the title of the album's final track), commenting "it may well turn out to be our last album." Indeed, the duo did not make any further recordings together for over a decade.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Now assigned to the newly reactivated Phonogram subsidiary label Fontana, the first single from the album, "Sowing the Seeds of Love", was released in August 1989. It became a worldwide hit, peaking at no.5 in the UK, no.2 in the US, and no.1 in Canada. The album was released in September 1989, entering the UK Albums Chart at no.1 and would be certified Platinum by the BPI within three weeks. In the US, it peaked at no.8 and was also certified Platinum. This album reached the top ten in numerous other countries around the world.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Two other singles from the album, "Woman in Chains" (recorded as a duet with Adams) and "Advice for the Young at Heart" (the only track featuring Smith on lead vocals) reached the Top 40 in UK and internationally. "Famous Last Words" was released as fourth single in mid-1990 by the record company without the band's involvement, though this only peaked at no.83 in the UK. A video compilation, "Sowing the Seeds", featuring the promo videos for the first three singles from the album was also released in 1990.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: The band embarked on a world tour to promote the album in 1990, featuring Adams both as a support act and as a player with the band (her solo album, "Circle of One", produced by Orzabal and Dave Bascombe was also released during this time). The band's concert at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in May 1990 was filmed and released on home video, titled "Going to California".


title: The Seeds of Love

text: A 64-page companion book to the album, entitled "Tears for Fears – The Seeds of Love", was also released in 1990 by Virgin Books and offers insight into the writing and recording process behind the album as well as the sheet music for each song and rare promotional photographs from the period.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: The album was remastered and reissued in 1999 with four bonus tracks which were originally B-sides to the album's first three singles. It does not include the B-side "My Life in the Suicide Ranks" which was an additional B-side to "Woman in Chains" and could at the time only be found on the band's 1996 rarities compilation "Saturnine Martial & Lunatic". "The Seeds of Love" was rereleased again in 2020 in five different formats including a 5-disc super deluxe edition boxed set featuring bonus material such as single versions, B-sides (this time including "My Life in the Suicide Ranks"), demos, outtakes, and a 5.1 surround-sound mix, again made by Steven Wilson, who also was responsible for the surround mix for "Songs from the Big Chair". Other editions released at the same time include a 2-CD deluxe edition, a single CD edition, a vinyl album, and a vinyl picture disc album. The deluxe edition peaked at no.13 on the UK Albums Chart in October 2020.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Lloyd Bradley praised "The Seeds of Love" in "Q", summarising the album as "such a radical departure from Tears for Fears' robust, anthemic pop songs of the early '80s as to make them seem irrelevant." In "Rolling Stone", Michael Azerrad wrote, "If with the title track Tears for Fears beg comparison to the Beatles, it's in the unspoken assertion that popular music can also be outstanding music. That's something this remarkable record proves over and over again." Greg Kot of the "Chicago Tribune" described the album as "astonishing", with a "wide open, soulful spaciousness that belies the heavy production expenses". "Los Angeles Times" critic Chris Willman enjoyed the first three songs but lamented the "uncharacteristically frenzied rock 'n' roll climaxes" and "underdeveloped and overwrought" lyrics among the later tracks, describing the album as overall "just so-so". Simon Williams, writing for "NME", perceived "The Seeds of Love" as a self-consciously "'adult' and 'mature'" effort and found that Tears for Fears had "tumbled from joyful pop simplicity to cliche-ridden complexity."


title: The Seeds of Love

text: In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stanton Swihart observed the album's "polished, atmospheric soul", labelling it "the apotheosis of Orzabal and Smith's evolution". A review of the 1999 reissue by AllMusic's Bruce Eder pointed towards "the best vocals in Tears for Fears' history" and "their most ambitious production". Appraising the 2020 reissue for "Record Collector", John Earls alluded to Orzabal's "obsessive determination to achieve Steely Dan levels of technical perfection", while crediting his "melodic gifts" with preventing the album from "becoming too overblown". On the other hand, Ira Robbins of "Trouser Press" had praise for the title track and Adams's soulful vocals, but described the bulk of the album as "absurdly overintellectualized" and "almost impenetrable".


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Following the reissue campaigns of "The Hurting" (2013) and "Songs from the Big Chair" (2014), in October 2020, the remastered super deluxe edition of "The Seeds of Love" was released in several formats, including B-sides, remixes, 22 previously unreleased recordings, and a 5.1 surround sound mix.


title: The Seeds of Love

text: Paul Sinclair of the website Super Deluxe Edition co-compiled the track listing, and interviewed band members, producers and collaborators for the extensive sleeve notes of the edition.


title: Bill Cullen

text: William Lawrence Francis Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host; over the course of his career, he hosted 23 shows, and earned the nickname "Dean of Game Show Hosts". Aside from his hosting duties, he appeared as a panelist/celebrity guest on many other game shows, including regular appearances on "I've Got a Secret" and "To Tell the Truth".


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the only child of William and Lillian Cullen. His father was a Ford dealer in Pittsburgh.


title: Bill Cullen

text: He survived a childhood bout with polio that left him with significant physical limitations for the rest of his life. Cullen was a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, but had to withdraw because of financial problems. After he achieved some success in radio, he returned to the university and earned a bachelor's degree.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen's broadcasting career began in 1939 in Pittsburgh at WWSW radio, where he worked as a disc jockey and play-by-play announcer or color commentator for Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) and Pittsburgh Hornets (minor league hockey) games. In 1943, Cullen left WWSW for a brief job at rival station KDKA before leaving Pittsburgh a year later to try his luck in New York. A week after arriving in New York, he was hired as a staff announcer at CBS.


title: Bill Cullen

text: To supplement his then-meager income, he became a freelance joke writer for some of the top radio stars of the day, including Arthur Godfrey, Danny Kaye, and Jack Benny; he also worked as a staff writer for the "Easy Aces" radio show.


title: Bill Cullen

text: His first venture into game shows was in 1945, when he was hired as announcer for a radio quiz called "Give And Take". Between 1946 and 1953, he worked as announcer for various other local and network shows, including the radio version of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman's first game show, "Winner Take All", hosted by Ward Wilson; Cullen took over as host four months later when Wilson left. In the summer of 1950, he was quizmaster on "Hit the Jackpot", the summer replacement for "Amos 'n' Andy" on CBS radio. After a brief stint at WNEW in 1951, he hosted a popular morning show at WNBC radio from 1955 to 1961. His last regular radio job was as one of the hosts of NBC Radio's "Monitor" during 1971–1973.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen served in the Civil Air Patrol as an instructor and patrol aircraft pilot in his native Pennsylvania during World War II (having failed to qualify for combat duty due to his physical disabilities), and was interested in mechanics.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen's first television game show was the TV version of "Winner Take All", which premiered on NBC in 1952. In 1953, Cullen had "The Bill Cullen Show", a weekly morning variety program on CBS. He hosted "Bank on the Stars" in 1954. From 1954 to 1955, he hosted NBC's "Place the Face", a program in which celebrities identified people from their past; he simultaneously hosted CBS's "Name That Tune". From 1956 to 1965, he hosted the initial daytime and primetime versions of "The Price Is Right", another Goodson-Todman production. He was also a panelist on "I've Got a Secret" from 1952 to 1967, and "To Tell the Truth" from 1969 to 1978, where he also guest-hosted on occasion. After relocating to Southern California, Cullen guest-hosted "Password Plus" for four weeks in April 1980 while original host Allen Ludden was being treated for stomach cancer.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen was initially in the running to host the 1972 revival of "The Price Is Right", but the physical demands of the new format were deemed too strenuous for him. Consequently, when CBS picked up the daytime version, Bob Barker was selected to host the daytime version while Dennis James (who sold the pilot with Mark Goodson) hosted the syndicated nighttime version. Barker remained the show's daytime host until his retirement in 2007. Occasional references to Cullen have been made by current "The Price Is Right" host Drew Carey.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Other game shows Cullen hosted included "Eye Guess" in the 1960s; "Three on a Match", "Blankety Blanks", "The Love Experts", "How Do You Like Your Eggs?" (QUBE cable interactive program) and the syndicated version of "The $25,000 Pyramid" in the 1970s; and later in his career "Chain Reaction", "Blockbusters", "Child's Play", "Hot Potato" and "The Joker's Wild" (his final hosting job from 1984 to 1986, following the death of Jack Barry).


title: Bill Cullen

text: In a 1984 "TV Guide" article, Cullen commented on the ease with which he seemed to land his hosting jobs:


title: Bill Cullen

text: Packager: No. There's so-and-so, but we tried him in a run-through and he didn't work out ... How about you? You know someone?


title: Bill Cullen

text: Now, the sets are constructed, the game is worked out, the staff is hired, it's two weeks before the show is to go on, they are ready to shoot the pilot.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen appeared as a celebrity guest on many other game shows, including "I've Got a Secret", "What's My Line?", "To Tell the Truth", "Personality", "The Cross-Wits", "Password", "Password Plus", "Match Game", "Tattletales" (with his wife Ann), "Break the Bank", "Shoot for the Stars", and all of the pre-$100,000 versions of "Pyramid". Cullen hosted a number of pilots for his close friend, quiz producer Bob Stewart, who created "The Price Is Right", "Truth", and "Password" for Goodson-Todman and "Pyramid" for his own company. Cullen thus became the only person to host each of these formats on a full- or part-time basis. He also appeared as a panelist on game shows hosted by his favorite understudy, Bob Eubanks, including "Trivia Trap", "Rhyme and Reason", and "All Star Secrets", and he made guest appearances with Eubanks on "Family Feud".


title: Bill Cullen

text: In 1982, Cullen made an appearance on "The Price Is Right" to promote his new game show, "Child's Play". It was the only time he ever appeared on the revival of "The Price Is Right", but no mention was made of his role as the show's original host.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen did color commentary on college football games early in his career, and also broadcast track and field on NBC. On "I've Got A Secret," producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman and host Garry Moore quickly learned to never start the questioning with Cullen if the guest's secret was anything sports-related or mechanical, because chances were good that he would guess it immediately.


title: Bill Cullen

text: During his television career, Cullen was nominated three times for Emmy Awards; his only win was a Primetime Emmy for hosting "Three On A Match" (1973). He was later nominated for Daytime Emmys for his work on "Blockbusters" (1982) and "Hot Potato" (1985).


title: Bill Cullen

text: Throughout his entire career in radio and television, Cullen hosted more than 25,000 individual episodes of radio and television shows.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen was married three times and had no children. His first marriage was a brief one while still living in Pittsburgh. His second marriage (1948–1955) was to singer Carol Ames. On December 24, 1955, Cullen married former dancer and model Ann Roemheld Macomber, born Elise Ann Roemheld (whose sister was, at the time, married to game show announcer and future emcee Jack Narz), the daughter of composer Heinz Roemheld; this marriage lasted until his death in 1990. She occasionally worked as a model on Bill's "The Price Is Right" and made several appearances with him on "Tattletales". She died on July 21, 2018, aged 90.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen contracted polio in August 1921, when he was 18 months old. The long-term sequelae of that illness, combined with injuries sustained in a serious motor vehicle accident in 1937 requiring a nine-month hospitalization, made it difficult for him to walk or stand for an extended period of time.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Directors on his game shows took great care to limit the extent that Cullen was shown walking on camera. Each show's set was designed to accommodate Cullen's limited range of motion; the podiums, game boards, props, and any physical movements by contestants were arranged so that Cullen could, for the most part, remain stationary. Rather than the grand entrance common for most game show hosts, Cullen began each show either already seated, or hidden on set behind a nearby prop so he would only have to take a minimum number of steps to his podium. Similar accommodations were made when he appeared as a guest on other game shows.


title: Bill Cullen

text: As a consequence of these arrangements, many of Cullen's peers were likewise unaware of his disability, which occasionally led to awkward situations. In the August 2010 issue of "GQ" under the heading "Epic Tales of Embarrassment", Mel Brooks related the following story to writer Steve Heisler:


title: Bill Cullen

text: The week of October 17–21 in 1966—that would make me about 40—was a special celebrity week on "Eye Guess". Bill Cullen was the host. The game was very similar to "Concentration". I was teamed up with Julia Meade. Remember her? Actress, very pretty young lady, blonde... Okay, never mind. I don't think I won, but I did get the take-home game. Anyway, the show is over, and I start walking toward the podium to say good night to Bill, to thank him for having me on. He starts coming toward me cross-stage, and I don't know what he's doing. His feet are flopping. His hands are flying everywhere. He's doing this kind of wacky walk-of-the-unfortunates that Jerry Lewis used to do. So I figured, what the hell, I'll join him. I start doing, I dunno, this multiple-sclerosis walk, flapping my arms and doing the Milton Berle cross legs—my own Jerry Lewis impression... And Julia is whispering, "No! He's crippled, Mel!" I don't even hear her. Finally we meet in the middle, we hug, and he says to me, "You know, you're the only comic who's ever had the nerve to make fun of my crippled walk. Everyone's so careful, it makes me feel even worse." And I realize, Oh, my God, "this guy is really crippled!" It was my worst moment — and if you weren't me, probably the funniest thing that ever happened.


title: Bill Cullen

text: In the fall of 1969, shortly after "Eye Guess" ended, Cullen fell seriously ill. Diagnosed with pancreatitis and requiring major surgery, Cullen took time off from work to recuperate. When he returned to television, particularly his position on the panel for "To Tell The Truth", his physical appearance had drastically changed; along with letting his hair grow out, his pancreatitis had caused him to lose over , leaving his face gaunt and wrinkled.


title: Bill Cullen

text: Cullen, a smoker for most of his life, died on July 7, 1990, of lung cancer at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, aged 70. His widow, Ann Roemheld Macomber, died on July 21, 2018.


title: Querétaro

text: Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro (; Otomi: "Hyodi Ndämxei"), is one of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro. It is located in north-central Mexico, in a region known as Bajío. It is bordered by the states of San Luis Potosí to the north, Guanajuato to the west, Hidalgo to the east, México to the southeast and Michoacán to the southwest.


title: Querétaro

text: The state is one of the smallest in Mexico, but also one of the most heterogeneous geographically, with ecosystems varying from deserts to tropical rainforest, especially in the Sierra Gorda, which is filled with microecosystems. The area of the state was located on the northern edge of Mesoamerica, with both the Purépecha Empire and Aztec Empire having influence in the extreme south, but neither really dominating it. The area, especially the Sierra Gorda, had a number of small city-states, but by the time the Spanish arrived, the area was independent from Empirical powers. Small agricultural villages and seminomadic peoples lived in the area. Spanish conquest was focused on the establishment of Santiago de Querétaro, which still dominates the state culturally, economically and educationally.


title: Querétaro

text: For many years, the name of the state was "Querétaro de Arteaga", but in 2010 the State Legislature approved the adoption of the simpler name "Querétaro".


title: Querétaro

text: Querétaro is located in the north-central area of the country of Mexico, connecting the wetter climes of the south with the drier deserts of the north. The state is divided into 18 municipalities: Amealco de Bonfil, Arroyo Seco, Cadereyta de Montes, Colón, Corregidora, El Marqués, Ezequiel Montes, Huimilpan, Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros, Pedro Escobedo Municipality, Peñamiller, Pinal de Amoles, Querétaro, San Joaquín, San Juan del Río, Tequisquiapan and Tolimán.


title: Querétaro

text: Three of Mexico’s geographic zones cover parts of the state. The Mesa del Centro is in the center-west of the state, and mostly consists of small mesas with an average altitude of above sea level (ASL). A few elevations reach over . The Sierra Madre Oriental occupies the northeast of the state and includes the cities of Huasteca area. The topography of this area is rugged, with long mountain chains and narrow valleys. Elevations here range between and m ASL. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt occupies about half of the state in the center and south. The area is mostly volcanic rock with peaks and mesas between and and valleys between and ASL.


title: Querétaro

text: The state is divided into five geographical regions: The Sierra Gorda, El Semidesierto Queretano, Los Valles Centrales, El Bajío Queretano and La Sierra Queretana. The Sierra Gorda is located in the north of the state and is part of the Sierra Madre Oriental, specifically in a subprovince called the Huasteco Karst. It is found in the municipalities of Arroyo Seco, Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros, Pinal de Amoles and San Joaquín and covers an area of 3,789km2 or 32.2% of the state. The topography is rugged, with high elevations and steep valleys. It is a conjunction of mountains and hills formed mostly by limestone, with wide contrasts in climates and vegetation. They range from near desert conditions to forests of pine and holm oak to the tropical rainforests of the Huasteca area in the state of San Luis Potosí. The Sierra Gorda was made a biosphere reserve in 1997, the Reserva de la Biosfera de la Sierra Gorda, to protect its abundance of species and ecosystems. In 2001, the area was registered with the Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO. This area is managed by la Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources federal agency.


title: Querétaro

text: El Semidesierto Queretano (Querétaro Semidesert) is a wide strip that crosses the state from east to west, which is dry due to the blocking of moist air from the Gulf by the Sierra Madre Oriental. The area is found in the municipalities of Cadereyta de Montes, Colón, Peñamiller and Tolimán, with an area of 3,415.6km2 or 29% of the state. As it is near the mountain range, its topography is relatively rugged. Los Valles Centrales (Central Valleys) is in the center of the state, overlapping almost all of the area formed by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, with the exception of the north of the El Marqués municipality, which is in the Mesa del Centro. The continental divide runs through here marked by the Sierra Queretana, the El Macizo and El Zamoarano mountain chains. This area occupies the municipalities of Ezequiel Montes, El Marqués, Pedro Escobedo and San Juan del Río with an extension of 2,480.2kmw or 21.1% of the state. El Bajío Queretano is in the western part of the state, which is a low elevation area that extends into neighboring Guanajuato. This area covers 1,005.7km2 or 8.5% of the state, and contains low hills and small mountain chains that are part of the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt. La Sierra Queretana (Querétaro Sierra Mountains) is in the extreme south of the state, and also part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It is mostly found in the municipalities of Amealco de Bonfil and Huimilpan, covering an area of 1,078.3 km or 9.2% of the state. The area has high peaks and plains that narrow into valleys and canyons. Some of the flat areas border the Lerma River.


title: Querétaro

text: The state contains two river basins: the Lerma/Santiago and the Pánuco. The first is represented by the Lerma and La Laja Rivers and the second is represented by the Tamuín and Moctezuma Rivers. Other important rivers include the Santa María and the San Juan. These rivers contain 16 dams, including the Santa Catarina, El Batán, Constitution de 1917 and the San Ildefonso.


title: Querétaro

text: Most of the state is dry, with the exception of the north, which is temperate and rainy. The average temperature is . Three well-defined climate areas are in the state. The south has a temperate and fairly wet climate. Temperatures are relatively stable through the year, ranging from an average of between 12 and , with most rain falling in the summer. This region includes the municipalities of Amealco, Huimilpan, Pedro Escobedo, San Juan del Río and Corregidora. The center and west have drier and hotter climates, especially in areas under 2,000 m ASL. Here, the Sierra Madre Oriental and parts of the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt impede moist air from arriving. This dry area includes the municipalities of Querétaro, Corregidora, El Marqués, Peñamiller, Esequiel Montes, Cadereyta, San Juan del Río, Tolimán and Tequisquiapan. The Sierra Madre Oriental area has climates that range from temperate to cold, varying significantly from north to south and even more due to altitude. The north tends to be warmer than the south, but average temperatures can range from in lower elevations and between in higher elevations.


title: Querétaro

text: The state’s ecosystems have 18 different classifications ranging from tropical rainforest to arid scrub brush. Deciduous rainforest is found in parts of the north, center and west of the state such as Jalpan de Serra, Arroyo Seco and Landa de Matamoros. Small deciduous forests are found in Jalpan de Serra and Landa de Matamoros. Oyamel forests are found in the highest elevations of El Zamorano in the municipalities of El Marqués and Colón. Pure pine forests are found in Cadereyta de Montes, Pinal de Amoles, San Joaquín and Landa de Matamoros. Mixed pine and holm oak forests are found in the Sierra de El Zamorano and the El Lobo region, opposite the Sierra Madre Oriental. Deciduous oak forests are found in the municipalities of Amealco de Bonfil, Landa de Matamoros, El Marqués, and a number of others, but only at altitudes between 1,600 and 2,800 m ASL. Juniper and cedar forests are found in Pinal de Amoles, Landa de Matamoros, San Joaquín and Cadereyta de Montes at altitudes of between 1,390 and 2,500 m, generally on low hills. Mesquite forests are scarce given that they tend to grow on land suitable for agriculture, but some can still be found in Pedro Escobedo, San Juan del Río, Cadereyta de Montes and other municipalities. The two types of grasslands are those with some trees and those with none. The latter is much more common and found in various parts of the south of the state. Grasslands dotted with trees are found only in the municipality of Querétaro. The other five ecosystems are dominated by various types of arid scrub brush, ranging from those dominated by thorns, without thorns and intermixed with various types of cactus.


title: Querétaro

text: The Cerro del Cimatario, on the borders of the municipalities of Corregidora, Querétaro and El Marqués, has been declared a national park and biosphere reserve due to its forests.


title: Querétaro

text: Quakes are not uncommon in the state, so there are monitoring stations in Peñamiller, Extoraz, Peña Blanca and 10 in the Sierra Gorda, including Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros, Arroyo Seco, Pinal de Amoles and San Joaquín. More are planned for Tolimán and Cadereyta. In January 2011, about 70 small quakes caused some damage in the Peñamiller area, in the north, causing a certain amount of panic in the area, because the tremblers continued, with an average strength of 3.5 on the Richter magnitude scale; this is not normal for this area. The quakes are believed to be related to mining in the area, but the government denies this.


title: Querétaro

text: As of 2020, the state had a population of 2,368,467 and a population density of 137 inhabitants per square kilometer. Over the 20th century, from 1900 to 2005, the state’s population has grown from 232,389 to the current figure. Growth rates were highest in the 1970s at over 4%, but since have come down to 1.9%. The fastest rates of population growth in the state now are in Querétaro and San Juan del Río at about 4%. Two, Arroyo Seco and Peñamiller, have lost population in the previous decades. The capital city of Santiago de Querétaro has nearly half of the state’s population. Other major cities include San Juan del Río (208,462) Corregidora (104,218) El Marqués (79,743) and Cadereyta de Montes (57,204). About 37% lives in the 1420 communities with between 1 and 1,999 inhabitants, and 16% in communities of between 2,000 and 14,999. The population of the state is sparse in most areas, concentrated in only one true urban center and some smaller communities. Living standards are higher than average for Mexico in and around the city of Querétaro, but diminish significantly in the rural areas.


title: Querétaro

text: One important factor in the population growth has been migration into the state from other parts of Mexico due to the state’s industry, low crime rate and other factors. One recent phenomenon has been the influx of families from northern border states migrating south to escape drug-related violence. An estimated 49 new families move into the state every 24 hours, on average. This has made attendance at private universities climb 11% especially at ITESM-Querétaro, Universidad Anáhuac and the Universidad del Valle de México. Most of the families are moving to the area in and around the capital.


title: Querétaro

text: Over 96% of the population is Catholic, with very small percentages reporting as Protestant or Evangelical. The state is not culturally or socially homogenous. The first large distinction is between those who live in the mountains and those who live in the valleys. Those in the mountains are closer culturally to those living on the Gulf Coast, with the latter having more in common with cultures found in the west of Mexico and the central highlands .


title: Querétaro

text: There are indigenous communities in seven of the 18 municipalities of the state, mostly Otomi and Pame. These communities are divided into three regions: South, Arid Center and Sierra Madre Oriental, with the Otomis dominating in the first two and the Pames in the last. The most important indigenous group in the state is the Otomi. These people have inhabited central Mexico for over 5,000 years and were part of cities and empires such as Cuicuilco, Teotihuacan and Tula. Their language is part of the Oto-mangueana family, which includes Pame, Mazahua, Matlatzinca and the Chichimeca-Jonaz languages. They have maintained their language, which is called "hñahñu", which literally means to speak with nasal sounds. However, most Otomi speakers are bilingual. Their name for themselves varies in the different areas of central Mexico where they live, but in southern part of Querétaro, they call themselves the Ñano. Otomi communities in the state have their own authorities, in addition to Mexican ones, in both the civil and religious arenas, who are elected annually. Most profess the Catholic faith, but it is influenced by indigenous beliefs. The trading of goods is still an important part of the economy of many Otomi communities, and they are known for their abilities with herbal medicines. A number who live in rural areas can still be seen in traditional dress. For women, this includes a hand-embroidered blouse and skirt, a garment called a "quexquemetl" and "huaraches". For men, this includes shirts and pants of undyed or white cotton, tied with an embroidered belt, "huaraches" and a hat made with palm fronds. These communities are located in south in Amealco de Bonfil. Here, over 25,000 people live in 31 communities, such as San Ildefonso, Tultepec, Santiago Mexquititlán, Chitejé de la Cruz and San Miguel Tlaxcatltepec. In the arid parts of the center of the state, indigenous communities are found in the municipalities of Tolimán, Cadereyta, Colón and Ezequiel Montes, with about 21,500 Otomis in 56 different communities. In the Sierra Madre Oriental, about 3,775 people, mostly Pame with an important group of Huastecas are found in three communities in the municipalities of Jalpan de Serra and Arroyo Seco. However, of all the people in these indigenous communities, only a total of 23,363 spoke an indigenous language, primarily Otomi, as of 2005. Most (94.8%) of these were also speakers of Spanish.


title: Querétaro

text: According to the 2020 Census, 1.83% of Querétaro's population identified as Black, Afro-Mexican, or of African descent.


title: Querétaro

text: Western painting developed in the state during the colonial period, when artists such as Pedro de Rojas López, Tomás Noriega and Diego Sanabria produced primarily religious art. More diverse production came into being in the 19th century forward; José Mariano Perrusquia y Rubio, Mariano Montenegro and Germán Patiño Díaz produced paintings and even photography. Patiño Díaz was the director of the old Academia de Dibujo y Pintura de San Fernando, which trained more artists in the state such as Agustín Rivera Ugalde. The 20th century produced artists such as Braulio Rodríguez Granda, Jesús Rodríguez de la Vega, Jesús Águila Herrera and Restituto Rodríguez Camacho. The current generation of Querétaro artists includes Rafael Rodríguez, Virginia Ledesma, Ramsés de la Cruz and Juan Eduardo Muñoz . In the field of photography,


title: Querétaro

text: Natalia Baquedano was one of the first women to open a photographic studio in Mexico. She began her training in Querétaro, before moving to Mexico city.


title: Querétaro

text: The state has produced a large number of writers. Major writers from the 19th century include poet and journalist Juan María Wenceslao Sánchez de la Barquera y Morales, poet and short story writer Néstora Téllez Rendón, poet and orator Celestino Díaz Domínguez, journalist and playwright Luis Frías Hernández, writer and doctor Hilarión Frías y Soto and poet and academic Juan B. Delgado. The early 20th century produced poet and translator Francisco Cervantes, arguably the most important literary figure from Querétaro internationally; poet and journalist José Dolores Frías Rodríguez, songwriter Carlos Cabrera Pedraza, novelist Alfredo Coéllar Gómez and poet Carlos Septién García. The current generation of writers includes poets Román Luján, Luis Alberto Arellano, Benjamín Moreno, César Cano and Tadeus Argüeyo.


title: Querétaro

text: Indigenous music can be found in Otomi areas, such as in the municipalities of Amealco and the arid central areas of the state. Often this includes trios consisting of two flutes or two violins with a drum, most often played for community celebrations. The Otomi of Tolimán have a variant of Otomi music called "viñuetes", which is played with one large drum, one small drum and a violin. Huapango is a dominant musical form in the Sierra Gorda and some of the arid areas of the center of the state. Two types are generally played: Huasteco and Arribeño. Huasteco is played in trios with two guitars called "huapanguera" and the smaller "jarana huasteca" and a violin. The songs consist of stanzas of four to six verses sung in falsetto, often with improvisation. The Arribeño is most common in the mountains areas bordering the states of San Luis Potosí and Guanajuato. It is played in groups of four with a "huapanguera", a "vihuela" and two violins. Lyrics tend to be poetic and sung from memory or improvised. Some are religious in nature. Another indigenous form of music, called "comesolos", played with a flute and drum has almost completely died out. In the mountain village of San Joaquín in April is the Concurso Nacional de Huapango Huasteco (National Huasteca Huapango Contest) . This event attracts thousands of visitors and participants each year, as it is the most important Huapango contests in the country.


title: Querétaro

text: Most traditional festivals are tied to the Catholic religion, with some of the most important being "La Candelaria" (Candlemas), Holy Week and Day of the Dead. Locally important are the myriad of festivals to patron saints of towns, villages and municipalities. In addition, ta number of civic and economic festivals and fairs include celebrations of the founding of the various cities, regional fairs in Cadereyta, El Marqués, Jalpan de Serra and others to showcase local products and culture.


title: Querétaro

text: México Folklórico is a dance group created in 1990 within the Academia de la Cultura of the state teachers’ union. It consists of teachers’ children, who are studying high school or above, as an extracurricular activity. Its repertoire includes dances and other traditions from various parts of Mexico. It has performed in many parts of Mexico, as well as in the rest of the Americas and Europe.


title: Querétaro

text: The cooking of the Sierra Gorda region is strongly influenced by the Huasteca cuisine of neighboring Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí states. One notable dish is "sacahuil", which is a large tamal wrapped in the leaves of a plant called a "papatla". This dish is most prevalent in Landa de Matamoros and Jalpan de Serra. During festivals in San Miguel Tolimán, the main dish is chickpeas with saffron accompanied by tortillas in a number of colors. In Peñamiller, they celebrate with goat meat, accompanied by "pulque". Another common dish in this areas is a variety of tostadas called "arriero" (donkey handler) . "Simichol" is a fermented corn drink prepared in Santiago Mexquititlán. In San Joaquín, the drink is called "charape", made with "piloncillo". In this and other central municipalities, "gorditas de migajas" (literally crumb gorditas) is a common dish.


title: Querétaro

text: Traditional food products include a candy made of guava fruit and sugar, jams, and sweets made from "pulque", milk candies from Bernal, a hard bread called "mezquitamal", which is made by the Otomis, and various types of mole sauces made in Amealco. In the Sierra Gorda area, gorditas can be prepared with sugar, cheese, and "piloncillo". The "zacahuil", a large type of tamale, is filled with chicken, turkey or pork with dried chili pepper. A number of insects are used, especially in indigenous dishes such as "tantárreas" (ants from a type of mesquite tree) and "escamoles", often cooked with cactus flowers. One native beverage, called "mejengue", made with "piloncillo" (a type of sugar derived from the cane plant), banana, "pulque" and corn.


title: Querétaro

text: The official name of the state is "Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro" (Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro). The formal name of the capital is Santiago de Querétaro. However, both are commonly referred to simply as Querétaro. The most likely origin of the name is from the Purépecha word "Créttaro" which means "place with crags". However, there have been other explanations of the name including that it comes from Nahuatl and means Mesoamerican ball court, or even "island of the blue salamanders". Nevertheless, other scholars suggest that it can mean "place of the reptiles" or "place of the giant rocks". The city received the title of Noble y Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Querétaro in 1656, but after Independence, it was changed to simply Querétaro. It was returned to Santiago de Querétaro in 1996, when it was named a World Heritage Site. The ending of "de Arteaga" was added to the state’s name in 1867 in honor of General José María Cayetano Arteaga Magallanes. Originally from Mexico City, Arteaga became governor of Querétaro and distinguished himself as a soldier in the middle of the 19th century. It was removed in 2010.


title: Querétaro

text: Agricultural settlements dated to about 500 BCE have been found in the San Juan del Río and Huimilpan areas, which was during the Teotihuacan era. The ancient city had interest and influence in the area because of its agriculture, but did not dominate it. After the fall of this city, the Querétero area had its highest rate of development of both agriculture and social structure. The area was inhabited early on by a number of ethnicities, including the Otomi, Toltecs, Chichimecas, Purépechas and Mexicas. In the 10th century, the area experience population shifts which did not stabilize until the 12th century. Much of this migration moved south from the Querétaro area into the Valley of Mexico. Those who remained by the end of the 12th century were mostly in hunter-gatherer communities and small agricultural settlements. The region’s agriculture and minerals continued to attract the interest of more powerful neighbors. In the 15th century, both the Aztec Empire and Purépecha Empire had strong influence parts of the state, especially in the south, but would never incorporate the area completely into either empire. The Aztec’s interest in the area was mostly to use it as a bulwark against marauding northern Chichimeca tribes, and it never became a tributary state. During this time, as well, a number of new peoples entered the state, most likely from the north, primarily the Pames and the Chichimeca Jonaz. The first group practiced agriculture in the valleys and the latter in the mountain areas.


title: Querétaro

text: When the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire in the early 16th century, the largest indigenous group in the state was the Otomi, many of whom were living more or less under Purépecha rule. This population would increase with Otomi refugees from Aztec lands fleeing the Spanish. Another significant group was the Chichimecas. With the fall of Tenochtitlán, then the Purépecha Empire, the Spanish gained some control over the southern portion of the state. However, the area was still very independent, filled with peoples who lived in small isolated villages or nomadically. There were no major cities, nor large societies there or north.


title: Querétaro

text: The conquest and colonization of Querétaro began with the Spanish settlements at San Juan del Río, Querétaro and Huimilpan between 1529 and 1531. Conquistador Herán Pérez de Bocanegra joined forces with a local Otomi lord from Jilotepec named Conín, also known as Fernando de Tapia, to enter Otomi areas in what is now the city of Querétaro. There would be only one major battle as part of the conquest in 1531. The Spanish and their Indian allies were battling the local Otomi and Chichimecas at a hill now known as Sangremal, which was then called Ynlotepeque, and considered sacred in pre-Hispanic times. Chronicles of this event, such as those written by Friar Isidro Félix de Espinoza, state that the natives were at the point of winning when a total eclipse of the sun occurred. This supposedly scared the natives and the Spanish claimed to have seen an image of Saint James (the patron saint of Spain) riding a white horse carrying a rose-colored cross. This event caused the natives to surrender. This event is why the city is called Santiago (Saint James) de Querétaro, with James as patron saint A stone cross imitating the one the Spanish supposedly saw was erected on the hill, which later was accompanied by a church and monastery.


title: Querétaro

text: During the rest of the 16th century, the Spanish city of Querétaro would form the northern extension of known lands to the Spanish conquerors. The Spanish initially shared power in the area with local indigenous leaders until well into the 17th century in many areas. However, indigenous power waned over time, eventually disappearing completely. However, the Spanish would not subdue and evangelized the last of the resistant peoples, the Chichimec Jonaz until the end of the 18th century.


title: Querétaro

text: Most of the north of the state consists of an area known as the Sierra Gorda, which is an area of very rugged terrain, with widely varying climates. From the 16th to 19th centuries The Spanish would slowly dominate the lands around it, south in Querétaro, west in Guanajuato and east in Hidalgo, with only military and missionary incursions into the area's interior. This was due to the fierce resistance of the local native peoples. Unlike the Pames on the south, the Chichimeca Jonaz were mostly hunter gatherers, not city dwellers, and they were not used to a hierarchical governing system. Attempts to militarily pacify and evangelize the area had little success, with a number of missions never completed or destroyed shortly after they were built. In the mid 18th century, the colonial government in Mexico City decided to make a concerted effort to bring this territory into submission, as it contained important routes to mining areas such as Zacatecas and Guanajuato. José de Escandón was sent in 1727 to pacified a revolt of Pames in Celaya, and was promoted to sergeant mayor of the regiment. In 1732, he subdued rebels at the mines in Guanajuato, and the following year he did the same at Irapuato. In 1734 he pacified 10,000 Indian rebels at San Miguel el Grande. For these accomplishments, he was promoted to colonel and assigned as an aide to the captain general of the Sierra Gorda. However, it was until 1748 that José de Escandón won the Battle of Media Luna, in which the Chichimecas were decisively defeated. The Sierra Gorda Indian missions, some 90 miles north of Santiago de Querétaro, were nestled in a vast region of jagged mountains, home of the Pame people and a scattering of Spanish colonists. When Junipero Serra and Francisco Palóu arrived at the village of Jalpan, they found the mission in disarray: The parishioners, numbering fewer than a thousand, were attending neither confession nor Mass. Junipero Serra tackled the practical side of mission administration; working with the college of San Fernando, he had cattle, goats, sheep, and farming tools brought to the Sierra Gorda mission. Francisco Palóu supervised the farm labor of men of the mission, while the women learned spinning, sewing and knitting. Their products were collected and rationed to the mission residents, according to personal needs. Christian Pames sold their surplus products in nearby trading centers, under the friars' supervision to protect them from cheaters. Pames who adapted successfully to mission life received their own parcels of land to raise corn, beans and pumpkins, and sometimes received oxen and seeds as well. Today, those mission buildings are considered World Heritage Site. A district called an "alcaldía mayor" was established in San José de Escandón -today in the municipality of Pinal de Amoles- which governed what is now the northern half of the state. Decline of mining in the area would have this seat of government moved to Cadereyta in 1675, but this territory would be joined with the alcaldía mayor of the city of Querétaro to form the modern state.


title: Querétaro

text: The territory of Querétaro was consolidated during the 17th century. Santiago de Querétaro was declared a city in 1655. The coat of arms granted to the capital city that year is now the state coat of arms, with the substitution of an eagle on a cactus to replace the section referring to the Spanish royalty. Over the colonial period, the Querétaro area became important strategically and economically as it connected the newly explored and conquered lands to the north and west to the center of New Spain in Mexico City. Various trade routes converged here and the city became a cultural crossroads. The activities of Franciscan missionaries were a decisive factor in building the economic, social, political and religious institutions of the state. They were also mostly responsible for the building of most of the religious buildings and the acquisition of paintings and sculptures that can still be seen. These works gave the city an image of richness. The buildings from this era of the city’s history include the Plaza de Armas, The Casa de Ecala, the Casa de los Septién, the Cassa de los Samaniego, the Casa de los Fernández de Jáuregui, the Palacio de la Corregiduría de Legres de Querétaro as well as the Congregación and San Antonio churches. However, the most important structure from the time is the Aqueduct of Querétaro. Much of the evangelization efforts in the Sierra Gorda area was done by Junípero Serra. These efforts left behind a number of missions which exist to this day in Jalpan de Serra, Tancoyol, Concá, Tilaco and Landa de Matamoros.


title: Querétaro

text: This development made the city wealthy for the rest of the colonial period. Querétaro reached its height of the colonial period during the 18th century due to its strategic position with the northern territories and because of its livestock production. There was also a significant textile industry for local and regional markets. Querétaro was the first major producer of wool cloth in New Spain. At the end of the century, The Real Fabrica de Tabaco (Royal Tobacco Factory) was established, the second most important of its type in New Spain. There was also some mineral production, especially silver in an area called El Doctor.


title: Querétaro

text: The city of Querétaro was strategic in the development of events just before the start of the Mexican War of Independence. It was the site of the conspiracy among Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Ignacio Allende, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez and her husband the Corregidor of Querétaro Miguel Domínguez. The plot was uncovered when another conspirator, Epigmenio González, was caught with a stockpile of weapons to start the war. Ortiz de Dominguez sent word to Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in Dolores, Guanajuato (now Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato) that the plot was discovered. At that point, Hidalgo decided to begin the revolt against colonial rule in on 15 September, rather than in December as planned. Gonzalez was imprisoned in the Philippines from 1810 to 1838 for his role. The Corregidor and his wife were caught and imprisoned for their parts as well. Soon after, the city of Querétaro was taken by royalist forces and would stay that way for much of the war. The only fighting in the state were skirmishes fought in the mountain areas. The city of Querétaro would be one of the last royalist bastions to fall.


title: Querétaro

text: After the war, Querétaro was made a state with the 1824 Constitution. However, the city and state would lose the economic and cultural prominence that both had enjoyed during the colonial period. The political instability of the 19th century took its toll on commerce, which made the area’s economy suffer. The status of Querétaro would change between state and department, depending on whether Liberals or Conservatives were in power nationally. Within the state, battles for power between the two groups would lead to the state having twenty five governors between 1824 and 1855.


title: Querétaro

text: During the century, the capital city was the scene of a number of important events. During the Mexican–American War, the capital was moved from Mexico City to Querétaro. At the end of that war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed here. The southernmost raids of the Comanche Indians from the plains and prairies of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas far to the north (along with Kiowas and some Apaches) occurred here during the middle of the 1800s. The 1857 Constitution was published in the city as well and a coalition of states including Querétaro, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Guanajuato and Michoacán formed a coalition to defend this constitution against the Plan of Tacubaya. During the short reign of Maximilian I, there were battles between Liberals and Conservatives (with the latter supporting the emperor) in Querétaro. However, Maximilian lost the military support provided by Napoleon III, leaving only four states loyal to the emperor. Querétaro was one of them. Maximilian still resisted Liberal forces which eventually surrounded him at Cerro de Campanas, then outside the city of Querétaro. The emperor was caught and executed on 19 June 1867. Afterwards, the state wrote a new constitution based on Liberal principles. Another new state constitution would be written at the beginning of the Porfiriato in 1879. Despite the turmoil, there was still economic progress in the state, with the establishment of textile mills such as Hércules, Casa Rubio and two other factories in San Antonio and La Purísma. There was also some mining, especially in El Doctor, Río Blando, Maconí and Escanelilla with a total of 216 mines producing silver with some producing gold, copper, lead and more.


title: Querétaro

text: Before the end of the century, modern infrastructure such as electricity, telegraph and telephones began to appear. Industry grew and modernized, with El Hércules becoming the largest textile factory in the country. Haciendas and agricultural production also grew, especially in the north of the state. The capital was modified and expanded, and it was linked to the rest of the country via rail in 1882. Public education began in the state at the beginning of the 20th century with fifty-four primary schools and the first graduates of the state’s first teachers’ college.


title: Querétaro

text: However, at the same time, strikes and other movements against the Diaz regime had begun in the state and elsewhere in the country. The largest strike in the state was against the El Hércules factory in 1909. At the start of the Mexican Revolution, there were revolts in Jalpan de Serra and Cadereyta along with protests in the capital. Governor González de Cosío resigned in 1911, replaced by Joaquín F. Chicarro, who was allied with Victoriano Huerta and more authoritarian. In 1916 and 1917, the federal government of Venustiano Carranza had to abandon Mexico City, moving the country’s capital to Querétaro. The country’s current 1917 Constitution was promulgated from Teatro de la República in the city of Querétaro.


title: Querétaro

text: After the war, the economy of the state recovered slowly. Between 1940 and 1960, economic progress came more rapidly, with the industrial infrastructure growing and modernizing. During the same period, the population grew substantially as well. Much of industrial growth from then to the present can be seen in the various industrial parks located north of the capital city. In the following thirty years, the city grew to over four times its previous size. However, the state conserved the city’s historic center, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. The city’s official name, which had been changed simply to "Querétaro", was restored to "Santiago de Querétaro" the same year.


title: Querétaro

text: In 1997, the National Action Party (PAN) won the gubernatorial elections and Ignacio Loyola Vera became the first non PRI governor of the state since the Revolution. In 2008, the state’s constitution was amended to make Querétaro the official state name. The aqueduct Acueducto II was inaugurated in 2011 by President Felipe Calderón and state governor José Calzada Rovirosa. It transports water over 122 km from springs in El Infiernillo to the city of Querétaro. This is to supplement local water sources which are no longer able to meet the city’s needs.


title: Querétaro

text: Economic activity in the state is closely tied to trends at the national level. This includes the declining contribution to GDP of the agricultural sector and an increase in manufacturing and commerce/services. The city of Querétaro is by far the most important economic center in the state, followed by San Juan del Río. Not only is Querétero the population center of the state, it has high-quality soil for irrigation farming and cattle. It is directly connected by highway to Mexico City, the country’s largest market, as well as the north of the country and the United States. This makes the city an almost obligatory stop for most people and goods traveling north and south. This geographical advantage has spurred industrial development in the state, especially since the 1970s. Another advantage the state has is its stable social and political situation. It has a low crime rate and also noted by NGO Transparencia Mexicana as having the lowest levels of corruption among all of Mexico’s states. Of the three main sectors of the economy: agriculture, mining/industry and commerce/services, the percentage each employs and contributes to the GDP varies significantly from municipality to municipality, with agriculture making up a higher percentage of local employment and GDP in rural municipalities than in the Querétaro metropolitan area. However, overall, the state has one of the country’s strongest economies. Government authorities report an increase of 4,602 jobs in the state for January 2011, accounting for a quarter of the gain for the country. Some related to Bombardier.


title: Querétaro

text: The municipalities of the state are grouped into five economic regions centered on Amealco de Bonfil, Cadereyta de Montes, Jalpan de Serra, Querétaro and San Juan del Río. The Amealco region includes this municipality and the municipality of Huimilpan. Most of its economy is based on cereal production with only minor industry such as maquiladoras and textiles. There are also handcrafts produced by indigenous groups.


title: Querétaro

text: The Cadereyta región includes this municipality, Colón, Peñamiller and Tolimán. Agriculture is limited to the rainy season, but there is significant production of livestock such as goats. There is also some forestry activity. Industry is not common, but some technically advanced factories exist. There are also maquiladoras, textile and recycling operations which primarily employ women.


title: Querétaro

text: The Jalpan de Serra region includes this municipality and Arroyo Seco, Pinal de Amoles, Landa de Matamoros and San Joaquín. Agriculture is limited, mostly producing fruits such as citrus, mangos, coffee, peaches and apples. Fish farming is a growing and promising enterprise for the areas. Industry is also very limited.


title: Querétaro

text: The Querétaro región includes the capital and the municipalities of Corregidora and El Marqués. This area has the second most productive farms in the state, much of which is irrigated. Crops include sorghum, wheat, barley, alfalfa, oats with some vegetables, corn and beans. This area is also an important producer of all kinds of livestock. Industry is limited to the industrial parks located just north of the capital, but they employ most of the industrial workers of the state.


title: Querétaro

text: The San Juan del Río region includes this municipality and Ezequiel Montes, Pedro Escobedo and Tequisquiapan. This is the most agriculturally production region of the state, with most farmland irrigated. There is intensive farming of sorghum, wheat, barley, alfalfa, and oats, with some vegetables, corn and beans. Large areas of natural pasture supports a large livestock industry. The region is second in industry behind Querétaro, concentrating on paper products and food processing. Most industry is located in San Juan del Río.


title: Querétaro

text: Agriculture and livestock have been traditionally important for the state, and while it only provides about four percent of the state’s GDP, down from eighteen percent in 1970, it employs a far larger percentage of the population, with it being the basis of the economy in many rural areas. 28.24% of state land is used for agriculture, mostly raising corn, wheat, alfalfa, sorghum and squash. There is also intensive farming in areas of a number of important crops. Much of the large scale farming is irrigated and is supported in part by the state government, with loans and help with infrastructure such as water and roads. However, most farmland is seasonal, meaning it is worked only during the rainy season. Grains such as barley, wheat, oats and alfalfa are almost exclusively planted on irrigated land along with certain vegetables such as broccoli, garlic, carrots, lettuce, onions and cauliflower. Most nonirrigated land is planted with corn, followed by beans mostly for auto or local consumption. Leading cash crops are beans, cabbage, alfalfa, onions, lettuce and sorghum.


title: Querétaro

text: Within agriculture, production of crops has decreased while the production of animal products has increased. Crops as a percentage of agricultural production dropped from 34% in 1988 to 25.8% in 1993. One of the leading milk producers in the country, Querétaro farms also breed livestock and dairy cows. Livestock production is important and growing, mostly consisting of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and domestic fowl. Querétaro is one of the top producers of chicken in Mexico. The largest producers of livestock in the state are Jalpan, Cadereyta, San Juan del Río and Querétaro.


title: Querétaro

text: Forest land is one of the state’s two main natural resources. These forests contain commercial species such as pine, oak, cedar, juniper, mesquite and more. Most of these are found in and around the Sierra Gorda area. There is about 70,000 hectares of possible productive land but only 17,000 have been studied for management. Land actively involved in forestry operations equals 9,358m2, most of which is in the municipalities of Landa de Matamoros and Amealco de Bonfil. 20.7% is used for grazing. 24.22% is forest; 3.95% is rainforest and 40.62 is arid scrub brush.


title: Querétaro

text: Mining, manufacturing and construction accounts for about 39% of the GDP, with manufacturing alone accounting for 32%. This has remained steady for the past few decades. Minerals is one of the state’s two main natural resources. Mining is a traditional economic activity for the state. There are ten mining districts in the Sierra Gorda alone producing lead, silver, zinc, copper, gold, mercury and antimony. Nonmetallic products include marble, kaolin, sandstone, and more. Opals are a distinctive state resource. State and local governments, in partnership with private industry, actively promote foreign investment into the region. The priority of the state government is to encourage industries which use low levels of water for environmental reasons. These have mostly been auto parts, food processing and electronics. Other major industries include chemicals, plastics, textiles, paper products and printing and wood products. Most are micro and small sized operations.


title: Querétaro

text: Querétaro’s major cities are home to industrial complexes that produce machinery and other metallic products, chemicals and processed foods. However, most of the state’s manufacturing companies are located in or around the city of Querétaro. Carnation and Purina are among the best-known food processing companies with facilities in the state, and numerous textile mills manufacture clothing made of wool, cotton and henequen. One of the biggest employers is Tremec, an auto parts manufacturer. Currently, there are 392 companies with direct foreign investment and 238 exporting companies that have located in the state. Exports in 2002 totaled $3.35 billion USD, and direct investment in 2003 reached $169 million. Many of these companies are headquartered in modern industrial parks, one of the newest and most technologically advanced being El Marques Industrial Park. This facility was inaugurated in 2003, with an initial investment of $13 million USD. The park occupies a space of with international tenants from Italy, Germany, Spain, the US, Taiwan as well as Mexico representing real estate, automotive, carton packing, food processing and some high tech enterprises. One of these tenants is Siemens whose plant is dedicated to manufacturing equipment for high voltage systems.


title: Querétaro

text: The city of Querétaro has become the most advanced center of the aeronautics industry in Mexico, anchored by plant belonging to Canadian conglomerate Bombardier, which opened in 2005. This plant manufactures fuselages and electrical system, recently adding wing production for the Learjet 85, a nonmetallic plane. This plant is the largest of the 189 aeronautics facilities in Mexico, employing about 2,000 people. There are eight other aeronautics enterprises located in the state.


title: Querétaro

text: The state is known for dairy products and wine. Two of Querétaro’s cities, San Juan del Río and Ezequiel Montes, have thriving vinicultures. Some of the best comes from the Rancho Santa Marina just to the south of the capital in the municipality of El Marqués. This ranch specializes in sheep milk cheese such as feta, ricotta, picodon and criollo/crottin. Rancho Hondonada is another reputable producer as well as Quesos Vai, which specializes in Mexican cheeses such as Oaxaca and panela. The best known winery is Freixenet which is on the highway between Tequisquiapan and San Juan del Río. The 45-hectare vineyard grows four varieties of grapes: Saint Emilion, Macabeu, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. A cave 25 meters (82 ft) below ground maintains a constant and ideal climate for wine cellaring. Other producers include La Redonda and Rancho Los Azteca.


title: Querétaro

text: Handcrafts produced in the state include baskets, textiles, metal objects, pottery and items made from wood, leather and paper. Basket making is common in many parts of the state, and similar fibers are also used to create hats, decorative items and more made from various materials such as reed, willow branches and palm fronds. In Jalpan de Serra, they make various items from palm fronds such as bags, hats and mats. Fine woven hats can be found in Tequisquiapan as well as baskets made with a variety of willow. Baskets are made in San Juan del Río as well as in Cadereyta with willow and with reeds. Basket making and rope are made in most areas of the state. In Ezequiel Montes, ixtle fiber is used to make sisal and rope. In Peñamiller henequen is used. In San Juan del Río reeds are used to make baskets. In Tolimán, furniture and more is made with willow branches. Tequisquiapan makes crafts with rattan, roots, juniper and pine branches along with ixtle.


title: Querétaro

text: Tolimán is known for its traditional clothing, especially quexquemetls made of silk and embroidered with colored thread for men and quexquemetls made of cotton for women. The ones made here are the largest in the country, made on backstrap looms. They also weave and embroider bags and linens such as tablecloths and napkins. Another area for traditional Otomi dress is Amealco de Bonfil, where blouses, skirts and more are embroidered with designs from this ethnicity. They also make cloth dolls dressed in traditional clothing. In Tolimán, Pame influence is noted in the textiles, which are mostly woven to make tablecloths and napkins. Colón, Cadereyta and Bernal are known for items made of wool which has been naturally dyed, such as rebozos, blankets and more.


title: Querétaro

text: Sculpting and building with sandstone is a major business and craft due to the material’s abundance in the mountains. Various types of sculptures as well as building blocks are created from it. In the communities of Escolásticas and Ejido de Ajuchitlancito in the Pedro Escobedo municipality, families, associations and cooperatives work with the stone. The work from Pedro Escobedo has been exported for many years. Various communities in the Huimilpan municipality do as well. The items create range from ashtrays to large columns for buildings. Much of the stonework of La Cañada in the El Marqués municipality is exported. Another stone that is worked is marble, especially in Vizarrón in Cadereyta municipality and in Tequisquiapan. Onyx, marble, opal and turquoise are worked in San Juan del Río and in the capital city. Opals are mined in the state and come in a variety of colors and sizes. They are mostly made into jewelry.