Chihuahua (chee-WAH-wah), state (94,831 sq mi/245,612 sq km; 1990 pop. 2,441,873), N Mexico, on the U.S. (Texas) border; Chihuahua; 26°36'N 103°11'W. Largest of the Mex. states, Chihuahua is divided into 2 regions—the mts. of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the W, and the vast, cactus-and-greasewood desert basins, broken by scattered barren ranges, to the N and E. In extreme E Chihuahua and W Coahuila is a desert basin, the Bolsón de Mapimí. Chihuahua is a leading natl. mineral producer; gold, zinc, lead, and other minerals constitute the state’s most valuable industry. Cattle raising has been revived. The state has seen damming of some rivers for irrigation. Chihuahua is one of Mexico’s chief agr. states. Foreign (particularly U.S.) corporations have taken advantage of the large and rapidly expanding pop. and built mfg. plants (maquiladoras). Among the prods. are electronics and motor vehicles. First known to the Spanish through the explorations of Cabeza de Vaca, and after the settlement of Durango in 1562 by Francisco de Ibarra, Chihuahua and Durango were called Nueva Vizcaya. Became a state after the Mex. revolution against Spain. During the 19th cent. Chihuahua was a center of Apache and Yaqui activity; today the Tarahumara and Tepehuan Indians inhabit some of the remote regions of Chihuahua. Of considerable importance to Chihuahua’s economic and political development was the W expansion of the U.S.; during the 19th and early 20th cent. foreign investment was considerable, with the border city of Juárez as the commercial link. Occupied by Amer. forces in the Mex. War and played a prominent part in the turbulent years following the revolution in 1910. In 1961, in an attempt to open some of the most valuable timber and mining lands in the nation, Mexico inaugurated the 560-mi/901-km Chihuahua-Pacific RR, which borders the gigantic Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon). At Nuevo Casas Grandes, in NW Chihuahua, is Paquimé (Casas Grandes), a vast and important archaeological site.
Capital city or county seat is shown by the symbol
Chihuahua; 26°36'N 103°11'W. Largest of the Mex. states, Chihuahua is divided into 2 regions—the mts. of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the W, and the vast, cactus-and-greasewood desert basins, broken by scattered barren ranges, to the N and E. In extreme E Chihuahua and W Coahuila is a desert basin, the Bolsón de Mapimí. Chihuahua is a leading natl. mineral producer; gold, zinc, lead, and other minerals constitute the state’s most valuable industry. Cattle raising has been revived. The state has seen damming of some rivers for irrigation. Chihuahua is one of Mexico’s chief agr. states. Foreign (particularly U.S.) corporations have taken advantage of the large and rapidly expanding pop. and built mfg. plants (maquiladoras). Among the prods. are electronics and motor vehicles. First known to the Spanish through the explorations of Cabeza de Vaca, and after the settlement of Durango in 1562 by Francisco de Ibarra, Chihuahua and Durango were called Nueva Vizcaya. Became a state after the Mex. revolution against Spain. During the 19th cent. Chihuahua was a center of Apache and Yaqui activity; today the Tarahumara and Tepehuan Indians inhabit some of the remote regions of Chihuahua. Of considerable importance to Chihuahua’s economic and political development was the W expansion of the U.S.; during the 19th and early 20th cent. foreign investment was considerable, with the border city of Juárez as the commercial link. Occupied by Amer. forces in the Mex. War and played a prominent part in the turbulent years following the revolution in 1910. In 1961, in an attempt to open some of the most valuable timber and mining lands in the nation, Mexico inaugurated the 560-mi/901-km Chihuahua-Pacific RR, which borders the gigantic Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon). At Nuevo Casas Grandes, in NW Chihuahua, is Paquimé (Casas Grandes), a vast and important archaeological site.
