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Coahuila

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Coahuila

Flag

Coat of arms

Location within Mexico

Country

Mexico

Capital

Saltillo

Municipalities

Largest City

Government

- Governor

Humberto Moreira Valdés (PRI)

- Federal Deputies

PAN: 5
PRI: 2

- Federal Senators

PAN: 2
PRI: 1

Area
Ranked 3rd

- Total

149,982 km² (57,908.4 sq mi)

Population (2005)

- Total

2,495,200 (Ranked 17th)

HDI (2004)

0.8284 - high
Ranked 3rd

ISO 3166-2

MX-COA

Postal abbr.

Coah.

Website: Coahuila State Government

Coahuila (formal name: Coahuila de Zaragoza) is one of Mexico's 31 component states. It is located in the north of the country.

To the north, Coahuila accounts for a 512 kilometers (318 mi) stretch of the U.S. - Mexico border, adjacent to the U.S. state of Texas along the course of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte). Coahuila also borders the Mexican states of Nuevo León to the east, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas to the south, and Durango and Chihuahua to the west. With an area of 151,571 square kilometers (58,521.9 sq mi), it is the nation's third-largest state. It comprises 38 municipalities (municipios). In 2005, Coahuila's population was 2,495,200 inhabitants. Coahuila's population is comprised mainly of people of European ancestry, making up 74 per cent of the population. The second-largest ethnic group is the Mestizo (European-Amerindian) who are 20 per cent of the population, and the smallest ethnic group is the Amerindian, comprising 1 per cent of Coahuila's population. The rest of the population is composed of American, Canadian, and Japanese communities.

The capital of Coahuila is the city of Saltillo. Coahuila also includes the cities of Monclova (a former state capital), Piedras Negras, and Torreón (the biggest metropolitan area of the state).

1 Geography
2 History
3 Economy
4 Municipalities
5 Major communities
6 List of governors
7 Notable people
8 See also
9 Bibliography
10 References
11 External links

The Sierra Madre Oriental runs northwest to southeast through the state, and the higher elevations are home to the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests.

East of the range, the land slopes gently toward the Rio Grande, and is drained by several rivers, including the Salado and its tributary the Sabinas. The Tamaulipan mezquital, a dry shrubland ecoregion, occupies the western portion of the state, and extends across the Rio Grande into southern Texas.

The portion of the state west of the Sierra Madre Oriental lies on the Mexican Plateau, and is part of the Chihuahuan Desert. The Bolsón de Mapimí is a large endorheic basin which covers much of the western portion of the state and extends into adjacent portions of Chihuahua, Durango, and Zacatecas. The Nazas River, which flows east from Durango, and the Aguanaval River, which flows north from Zacatecas, empty into lakes in the Bolsón. Torreón, the most populous city in the state, lies on the Nazas in the irrigated Laguna Region, the (Comarca Lagunera), which straddles the border of Coahuila and Durango.

The state contains two biosphere reserves. Maderas del Carmen lies on the northern border of the state, and includes sections of the Chihuahuan desert and sky islands of pine-oak forest in the Sierra del Carmen. The springs, lakes, and wetlands of Cuatro Ciénegas lie west of Monclova on the west slope of the Sierra Madre.

The state is largely arid or semi-arid, but the rivers of the state support extensive irrigated agriculture, particularly cotton. The Parras district in the southern part of the state produces wines and brandies. The pine-oak forests of the Sierra Madre produce timber.

The Spanish explored the north of Mexico some decades after their victory in the capital of the Aztecs. Such exploration was delayed because the northern climate was harsher and there was no gold. The first Spanish settlement in the region now called Coahuila was at Saltillo in 1586, when it formed part of the province of Nueva Vizcaya of the vice-royalty of New Spain. Later it became the province of Nueva Estremadura. Francisco Cano was one of the earliest Europeans to explore Nueva Extremadura.

Coahuila y Tejas ("Coahuila and Texas") was one of the constituent states of the newly independent United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution, and included Texas, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon. Later in the same year Nuevo Leon was detached, but Texas remained a part of the state until 1835, when it seceded to form the Republic of Texas. Monclova was the capital of the state from 1833 to 1835.

In 1840 Coahuila breifly became a member of the short lived Republic of the Rio Grande.

On February 19, 1856, Santiago Vidaurri annexed Coahuila to his state, Nuevo León, but it regained its separate status in 1868.

During the Mexican Revolution, Francisco Villa attacked the city of Torreón.

On April 5, 2004, the border city of Piedras Negras was flooded. More than 30 people died and more than 4000 lost their homes.

About 95% of Mexico's coal reserves are found in Coahuila, which is the country's top mining state. Saltillo also has a growing automobile industry, hosting General Motors and Daimler-Chrysler assembly plants.

Coahuila is subdivided into five regions and 38 municipalities (municipios). For a full list with municipal seats, see: municipalities of Coahuila