Chihuahua

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the state in Mexico. For the capital city of that state, see Chihuahua, Chihuahua.

For other uses, see Chihuahua (disambiguation).

Chihuahua
Image:Escudo MX-CHH.gif
Location
Image:Chihuahua in Mexico.png
Statistics
Capital	Chihuahua
Area	244,938 km² Ranked 1st
Population (2005 census)	3,241,444 Ranked 11th
HDI (2004)	0.8224 - high Ranked 8th
Governor (2004-2010)	José Reyes Baeza Terrazas (PRI)
Federal Deputies	PRI: 5 PAN:4
Federal Senators	PAN: 2 PRI: 1
ISO 3166-2 Postal abbr.	MX-CHH Chih.

Chihuahua is a state in northwestern Mexico. With a mainland area of 244,938 km², it is the largest Mexican state. Although Chihuahua is primarily identified by its large desert areas, it has more forests than any other Mexican state. On the slope of the Sierra Madre mountains (around the regions of Casas Grandes, Cuauhtémoc and Parral), there are vast prairies of short yellow grass, where most of the agricultural production of the state comes from.

The state is named after its capital city, Chihuahua. The origin of the name is not known for sure, but it is old, predating the Spanish, and is thought to derive from the Nahuatl Xicuahua, or "dry, sandy place".

Chihuahua stands on the U.S.-Mexico border, bounded on the north by the U.S. states of Texas and New Mexico and, to the east of Ciudad Juárez, by the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande). The states of Sonora and Sinaloa border it on the west, Durango on the south, and Coahuila on the east.

As of 1990, there were 2.5 million inhabitants of the state. The largest city is not the capital, Chihuahua, with a half-million inhabitants, but Ciudad Juárez, with 1.5 million residents (2004 estimate). The capital was founded in 1709 by Don Antonio Deza y Ulloa.

Chihuahua's population is predominantly Mestizo, but it also has one of the largest proportion of white population among the Mexican States (35%) only suprated for the state of Coahuila (45%). It also includes such minority groups as the indigenous Tarahumara, Tepehuanes and Warojios in the mountainous areas, as well as large rural communities of Mennonites of German/Dutch origin and Anglo-American Mormon settlers (primarily in Colonia Juarez and Colonia Dublan, near Casas Grandes ).

Chihuahua is known for its production of apples, nuts, timber, cattle and dairy products, sheep, ferrous (gold, silver, lead, zinc) and nonferrous metals, cement and ceramics. Large assembly plants (also known as Maquiladoras) geared toward export across the northern border are the dominant industry. The town of Mata Ortiz is recognized worldwide as the center of a new pottery movement.

The state also has a large service sector: tourism, banking and high tech enterprises.

One of the most notable features of Chihuahua is the Barranca del Cobre, or Copper Canyon, a spectacular canyon system larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Chihuahua played a pivotal role in the Mexican Revolution, and was a battleground between revolutionary forces led by Pancho Villa and federal forces.