Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the states which make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650, the eighth lowest of Mexico's states, Durango has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja California Sur. The capital city, Victoria de Durango, is named after the first President of Mexico, Guadalupe Victoria.

Geography

General information

The area of Durango is ; this accounts for about 6.3% of the entire territory of Mexico. It is the fourth largest state, lying at the extreme northwest of the Central Mexican Plateau, where it meets the Sierra Madre Occidental—the highest peaks in the state. The state has an average elevation of 1,775 meters above sea level, with a mean elevation of 1,750 m in the Valleys region and 2,450 m in the Sierra region. The city of Durango is on the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, with an elevation of 1,857 m.

Durango is landlocked, bordered by Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Nayarit and Sinaloa. based on the 1917 Constitution of Mexico, and several additional divisions have been made since.

The Sierra Madre Occidental blocks moisture from the Pacific Ocean, impacting the local climate of the state. Las Quebradas region, located over the mountain chain and on the northwest of the state, has a humid subtropical climate. Excepting the highest elevations, the rest of the state has semi-arid and temperate climates. It is hot and dry in the East, with some temperate areas existing at higher elevations.

Many rivers begin in Durango, but lead into other Mexican states. Some of these rivers empty into the Pacific, or into the lake area of La Comarca, while one, the Florida, flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

Ecological regions

Ecologically, the state is divided into four regions: La Quebrada, the Sierra, the Valleys and the Semi-desert. The area is relatively flat with some mountain ranges and a slight incline towards the interior of the country. The area was at one time under the sea, but today the vegetation consists of scrub, nopal cactus, maguey plants, barrel cactus and other arid zone plants. It is defined by two rivers: the Nazas and the Aguanaval. The region has two reservoirs: the Lázaro Cárdenas (Palmito) and the Francisco Zarco (Tórtolas), located between the Cuencamé and Lerdo municipalities. Animals that can be found here include coyotes, gavilanes (sparrowhawks), various snakes, owls, chameleons, tarantulas and scorpions. Most of the economically important natural resources come from mining, including deposits of gold, silver, iron and mercury. There are also large deposits of marble.

The area is home to Durango's only caverns. The Rosario Caves (grutas) are located near Ciudad Lerdo, as well as the Mapimí Biosphere, noted for various plants and the desert tortoise. It is a highly protected area centering on where the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango meet. There are deposits of gold and silver in the Sierra region, San Dimas, Otáez and Topia. The Valleys region has deposits of gold, silver, iron and mercury.

To date, over 130 films have been shot here both because of the Western-type landscapes and the natural light. The state is still called La Tierra del Cine (Land of the Cinema) although movie production here has waned with the decline of westerns starting in the 1980s. Many of the old sets are still standing, if not used, and some have been converted into tourist attractions, and one has been converted into a real town.

Tourism is a small industry here, despite the state's natural resources and history. The government has worked to promote the state for tourism, but this is concentrated mostly on the capital (including the movie sets around the city), two other towns in the state and to some extent, ecotourism.

There are many historic and tourist sites in the Valleys region, in particular in the city of Durango. The San Juan del Rio municipality has the house in which Francisco Villa was born. There are several important architectural sites in the city, including the Ganot-Peschard Museum of Archeology, which is recognized by the National Institute of Anthropology and History as a site of historical significance. In Súchil, the former hacienda of El Mortero was the home of the Count of the Valley of Súchil and is one of the state's major examples of colonial architecture. The town of Mapimí has conserved its traditional urban layout which has permitted it to become a Pueblo Mágico. The most important mine is Ojuela, now famous for its hanging bridge which connects the town with the mine, separated by an extremely deep ravine.

Media

Newspapers of Durango include: Contacto Hoy, Diario de Durango, El Siglo de Durango, El Sol de Durango, and Victoria de Durango.

Demographics

Largest cities

Culture

thumb|Plaza de Armas

Durango is a rural state. Most scorpions range in size from one to twelve centimeters but a 17-centimeter one was found in 1963.

History

Conquest and colonial period

thumb|Azatlan-style pottery at the [[Ganot-Peschard Museum of Archeology|Durango City Archeological Museum]]

Durango sits on a corridor that linked central Mexico with the northwest. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area had attracted migration into it by Huichols, Coras, Tepehuanos and Tarahumaras. These were sedentary people whose spread was checked by hostility from nomadic tribes. The eastern edge of the state was dominated by Chichimecas (particularly the Zacatecos and Caxcanes) and various tribes of the Laguna region, which were distinguished by their informal social structure and nudity.

Durango was the center of a colonial entity called Nuevo Vizcaya or sometimes México del Norte (Northern Mexico). It included all or part of what are now Durango, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Sonora and Arizona. The diocese also included all or part of New Mexico, Colorado, Coahuila, Texas, Zacatecas, California and Baja California.

It is distinct from cities further north as it was laid out when Philip II's Ordenanzas and Descubrimiento y Población order was still in effect. One major point of contention was the government's efforts to take the church out of secular life, especially education, which threatened centuries-old ways of life, especially for many farmers and villagers. These rebellions were strongest in the center and south of the state, including the capital of Victoria de Durango. Rebel activity in parts of Mezquital were such that secular teachers were withdrawn for a time. The 2000s were a particularly difficult time as this was during Felipe Calderon's efforts to combat the drug cartels and for a time Joaquin Guzman ("El Chapo") hid out in the state. Most of the violence was in relation to control over the drug routes here. Drug-related violence was a major problem, with hundreds of bodies found in clandestine graves, around the city of Durango in particular. The violence reached a peak here between 2009 and 2011.

Notes

References

  • Durango State Government
  • Film Commission Durango
  • Durango thousands of pictures of local rural communities
  • John P. Schmal, "The history of indigenous Durango" detailing the series of revolts
  • Territorial Division (legal text)