Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The largest city and State Capital is the city of

Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and high ...

; the second largest is Torreón and the third largest is Monclova (a former state capital); the fourth largest is Piedras Negras; and the fifth largest is Ciudad Acuña. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

to the east,

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

to the south, and

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

and Chihuahua to the west. To the north, Coahuila accounts for a stretch of the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

, adjacent to the U.S. state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

along the course of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

(Río Bravo del Norte). With an area of , it is the nation's third-largest state. It comprises 38 municipalities ''( municipios)''. In the 2020 Census, Coahuila had a population of 3,146,771.

History

The name Coahuila derives from native terms for the region, and has been known by variations such as Cuagüila and Cuauila. Some historians believe that this means "flying serpent", "place of many trees", or "place where serpents creep". The official name of the state is Coahuila de Zaragoza, in honor of General

Ignacio Zaragoza Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín (March 24, 1829 – September 8, 1862) was a Mexican Army officer and politician. He is best known for leading a Mexican army of 3,791 men which defeated a 5,730-strong force of French troops at the battle of Puebla ...

. The Spanish explored the north of Mexico some decades after their victory in

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

, 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 Minas de la Trinidad in 1577. Saltillo was settled in 1586, to form part of the province of Nueva Vizcaya of the Vice-royalty of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

. Later it became one of the first provinces of

Nueva Extremadura Nueva Extremadura means "New Extremadura" in Spanish, and originates from Extremadura, Spain. Nueva Extremadura could refer to * a large jurisdiction in the north of New Spain, bordered in the 17th century to its west and south by Nueva Vizcaya, ...

to be explored by Europeans. Among the 16th century settlers of Saltillo and other communities in Nueva Vizcaya were Tlaxcalans, who founded an independent community bordering Saltillo, called San Esteban de Nueva Tlaxcala.

Coahuila y Tejas Coahuila y Tejas, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila y Tejas (), was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution. It had two capitals: first Saltillo (1822–1825) f ...

was one of the constituent states of the newly independent

United Mexican States Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

under their 1824 Constitution, and included

, Coahuila and

. Later in the same year Nuevo León was detached, but Texas remained a part of the state until 1836, when it seceded to form the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

. Monclova was the capital of the state from 1833 to 1835. In 1840, Coahuila briefly became a member of the short lived Republic of the Rio Grande. In the mid-19th century, the Sánchez Navarro family owned a ranch of mostly in Coahuila. It was the largest privately-owned property in the Americas. In the 1840s and 1850s, Coahuila was the target of frequent Comanche raids. On February 19, 1856, Santiago Vidaurri annexed Coahuila to his state,

, but it regained its separate status in 1868. During the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

, Francisco Villa attacked the city of Torreón. On April 4, 2004, the border city of Piedras Negras was flooded. More than 30 people died and more than 4,000 lost their homes. In 2007 Coahuila became the first state in Mexico to offer

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

s (Pacto Civil de Solidaridad) to same-sex couples.

Geography

The

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...

runs northwest to southeast through the State, and the higher elevations are home to the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests. The northernmost fingers of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra del Burro and the Sierra del Carmen, reach to the border with the United States at the

. 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 River. The Tamaulipan mezquital, a dry shrubland

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

, occupies the eastern 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 The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano (), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the United States border in the north to the T ...

, and is part of the Chihuahuan Desert. The Bolsón de Mapimí is a large

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

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. Coahuila contains two

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s. 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 the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin lie west of Monclova on the west slope of the Sierra Madre. Coahuila is largely arid or semi-arid, but the rivers of the State support extensive irrigated agriculture, particularly

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. The Parras district in the southern part of the State produces wines and brandies. The pine-oak forests of the Sierra Madre produce timber.

Flora and fauna

Demographics

The last population census run across Mexico in the year 2020, reports Coahuila de Zaragoza as having 3,146,771 inhabitants, which, considering its size, means that the state has a very low density, in fact as low as only 15 persons per square kilometer. Coahuila's population is mainly made up of

Mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

s. Fewer than 7,500 natives reside in Coahuila, or merely 0.3% of the total population. According to the 2020 Census, 1.46% of Coahuila's population identified as Black, Afro-Mexican, or of African descent. The rest of the demographic particulars in the state are very similar to national averages, such as a high life expectancy (reaching 75 years of age) and a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

majority.

Education

* Basic education Basic public education in Coahuila is mainly managed by the state's Secretary of Education, but federal-sustained schools are also very common. There are also a lot of private schools in the main cities of the state. * Higher education :Some of the most recognized universities in Coahuila include: ** Iberoamerican University of Torreón, Iberoamerican University (Universidad Iberoamericana) :::A private university part of the Jesuit University System with a campus in Torreón and a university extension center in Saltillo. ** Technological Institute of La Laguna (Instituto Tecnológico de la Laguna) :::The most recognized public technological university of La Laguna Region located in the city of Torreón. ** Technological Institute of Saltillo (Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo) **

Monterrey Institute Of Technology and Higher Studies Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM; ), also known as Technological Institute of Monterrey () or just Tec, is aresearch university based in Monterrey, Mexico, which has grown to include 35 campuses located across 25 cit ...

:::It is the most known technological university in Mexico with two campuses: one in Saltillo and another one in Torreón. ** Autonomous University of La Laguna ** Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University (UAAAN) ** Autonomous University of Coahuila (Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila) :::It is considered the best public university of the states and it has campuses and schools all across Coahuila.

Economy

About 95% of Mexico's

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

reserves are found in Coahuila, which is the country's top mining state.

and the Southeast region have one of the largest automobile industry in the country and the major industry in the state, hosting companies such as

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

and

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automaker formed in 2021 through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, PSA (Peugeot S.A.) Group. The company's hea ...

assembly plants. Torreón has Met-Mex Peñoles, a mining company. The city is the world's largest

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

producer and Mexico's largest

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

producer. It also has Lala, a

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

products company, which produces 40% of Mexico's

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

consumption and distribution. As of 2005, Coahuila's economy represents 3.5% of Mexico's total

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

or US$22,874 million. Coahuila's economy has a strong focus on export oriented manufacturing (i.e.

maquiladora A (), or (), is a factory that is largely duty (economics), duty free and tariff free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present thro ...

/ INMEX). As of 2005, 221,273 people are employed in the manufacturing sector. Foreign direct investment in Coahuila was US$143.1 million for 2005. The average wage for an employee in Coahuila is approximately 190 pesos per day. On the other hand, Coahuila is the Mexican state with the highest level of

public debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occu ...

in the nation.

Municipalities

Coahuila is subdivided into five regions and 38 municipalities ''( municipios)''.

Media

Newspapers A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

of Coahuila include: ''El Diario de Coahuila'', ''El Guardián'', ''El Heraldo de Saltillo'', ''El Siglo de Torreón'', ''Esto del Norte'', ''La I (Laguna)'', ''la I (Saltillo)'', ''La Opinión Milenio'', ''La Voz de Coahuila (Monclova)'', ''Noticias de El Sol de la Laguna'', ''Vanguardia'', ''Zócalo (Monclova)'', ''Zócalo (Piedras Negras)'', ''Zócalo El Periódico de Saltillo'', and ''Zócalo Saltillo.''

Politics

Coahuila has eight Electoral Districts that elect one deputy each to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

List of governors

This list is incomplete * José María Garza Galán (1886–1893)Benjamin, Thomas, and William McNellie. Other Mexicos: Essays on Regional Mexican History, 1876-1911. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1984. * José María Múzquiz (1894) * Miguel Cárdenas (1894–1909) * Jesús de Valle (1909–1911) *

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920), known as Venustiano Carranza, was a Mexican land owner and politician who served as President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, during the Mexican Re ...

(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 S. 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 Humberto Moreira Valdés (born 28 July 1966) is a Mexican politician who served as President of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. He was Governor of the Political divisions of Mexico, State of Coahuila from 2005 to 2011. Moreira was inclu ...

(2005–2011) (Left) * Jorge Torres López (2011) (Humberto Moreira's substitute) * Rubén Moreira Valdez (2011–2017) * Miguel Riquelme Solís (2017–2023) *

Manolo Jiménez Salinas Manolo Jiménez Salinas (born 12 June 1984) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party who is the Governor of Coahuila under the alliance Va por México. He previously served as the mayor of Saltillo Sal ...

(2023–present)

People

Raul Allegre Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French ...

- Former football placekicker in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

* Gladys Pearl Baker - mother of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

and Berniece Baker Miracle * Reading Wood Black - Founder of

Uvalde, Texas Uvalde ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,217 at the 2020 census, down from 15,751 in 2010. It is the principal city in the Uvalde, Texas Micropolitan Statistical Area. Uvalde is ...

, spent American Civil War years in Coahuila *

- President of Mexico *Sangre Chicana - Professional wrestler *Mario Domm - musician and lead singer of Mexican pop band Camila (band), Camila *Luis Farell - Combat pilot and general *Eulalio Gutiérrez - President of Mexico *Rosario Ibarra - Activist, deputy and senator *Francisco I. Madero - President of Mexico November 1911 – February 1913 *Pablo Montero - Singer and actor *Sánchez Navarro latifundio, Sanchez Navarro, large landholding family in the 18th and 19th centuries. *Oribe Peralta - football player *Horacio Piña - MLB pitcher *Marco Antonio Rubio - Professional boxer *Joakim Soria - MLB closer (baseball), closer *Ari Telch - Actor *Andrea Villarreal - Feminist and revolutionary *Dr. Wagner - Professional wrestler *Dr. Wagner, Jr. - Professional wrestler *Susana Zabaleta - singer and actress *Humberto Zurita - Actor, director and producer

Notes

References

External links

* *
Coahuila State Government
*
Coahuila State Government
*
Coahuilense College of Historical ResearchArchived
* * {{Authority control Coahuila, 1824 establishments in Mexico Mexican Plateau states States and territories established in 1824 States of Mexico