Coahuila Totally Explained

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 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 on 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, it's the nation's third biggest state. It comprises 38 municipalities (municipios). In 2005 Coahuila had a population of 2,495,200 inhabitants. Coahuila's population is compromised mainly of people of European ancestry, making up about 74% of the state's population, the second largest ethnic group are the Mestizo (People of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry) which make up around 20% of the state's population, and the smallest ethnic group are the Amerindians which compromise around 1% of Coahuila's population. The rest of the population is made of communities of people mainly from the United States, Canada, and Japan.
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 metro of the state).

Geography

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 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 (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.

History

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.

Economy

About 95% of Mexico's coal reserve is 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.

Municipalities

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

Major communities

List of governors

This list is incomplete

José María Garza Galán (?-1893)

José María Múzquiz (1894)

Miguel Cárdenas (1894-1909)

Jesús de Valle (1909-1911)

Venustiano Carranza (1911-1913)

Gustavo Espinoza Mireles (1917-1920)

Luis Gutiérrez Ortíz (1920-1921)

Arnulfo González (1921-1923)

Carlos Garza Castro (1923-1925)

Manuel Pérez Treviño (1925-1929)

Bruno Neira González (1929-1929)

Nazario Ortiz Garza (1929-1933)

Jesús Valdez Sánchez (1933-1937)

Pedro Rodríguez Triana (1937-1941)

Gabriel Cervera Riza (1941-1941)

Benecio López Padilla (1941-1945)

Ignacio Cepeda Dávila (1945-1947)

Ricardo Ainslie Rivera (1947-1948)

Paz Faz Risa (1948-1948)

Raúl López Sánchez (1948-1951)

Roman Cepeda Flores (1951-1957)

Raúl Madero González (1957-1963)

Braulio Fernández Aguirre (1963-1969)

Eulalio Gutiérrez Treviño (1969-1975)

Oscar Flores Tapia (1975-1981)

Francisco José Madero González (1981-1981)

José de las Fuentes Rodríguez (1981-1987)

Eliseo Mendoza Berrueto (1987-1993)

Rogelio Montemayor Seguy (1993-1999)

Enrique Martínez y Martínez (1999-2005)

Humberto Moreira Valdés (2005–)

Notable people

Horacio Piña (MLB pitcher)

Andrea Villarreal (1881 - 1963) feminist and revolutionary

External results

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