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COAHUILA
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COAHUILA , a See also:northern frontier See also:state of See also:Mexico, bounded N. and N.E. by See also:Texas, U.S.A., E. by Nuevo See also:Leon, S. by See also:San Luis See also:Potosi and See also:Zacatecas, and W. by See also:Durango and See also:Chihuahua. See also:Area, 63,569 sq. m.; pop. (1895) 237,$15; (1900) 296,938. Its See also:surface is a roughly broken See also:plateau, traversed N.W. to S.E. by several ranges of mountains and sloping gently toward the Rio Grande. The only level See also:tract of any See also:size in the state is the Bolson de Mapimf, a See also:great depression on the western See also:side which was See also:long considered barren and uninhabitable. It is a region of lakes and morasses, of arid plains and high temperatures, but experiments with See also:irrigation toward the end of the 19th See also:century were highly successful and considerable tracts have since been brought under cultivation. In See also:general the state is insufficiently watered, the rainfall being See also:light and the See also:rivers small. The rivers flow eastward to the Rio Grande. The See also:climate is hot and dry, and generally healthy. Stock-raising was for a See also:time the See also:principal See also:industry, but See also:agriculture has been largely See also:developed in several localities, among the See also:chief products of which are cotton—Coahuila is the principal See also:cotton-producing state in Mexico—Indian See also:corn, See also:wheat, beans, See also:sugar and grapes. The Parras See also:district in the See also:southern See also:part of the state has long been celebrated for its wines and brandies. The See also:mineral See also:wealth of the state is very great, and the See also:mining See also:industries, largely operated with See also:foreign See also:capital, are important. The mineral products include See also:silver, See also:lead, See also:coal, See also:copper, and See also:iron. The mining operations are chiefly centred in the Sierra Mojada, Sierra Carmen, and in the See also:Santa See also:Rosa valley. The See also:modern See also:industrial development of the state is due to the railway lines constructed across it during the last See also:quarter of the 19th century, and to the investment of foreign capital in See also:local enterprises. The first See also:Spanish See also:settlement in the region now called Coahuila was at See also:Saltillo in 1586, when it formed part of the See also:province of Nueva Viscaya. Later it became the province of Nueva See also:Estremadura under the Spanish regime, and in 1824, under the new republican organization, it became the state of Coahuila and included Texas and Nuevo Leon. Later in the same See also:year Nuevo Leon was detached, but Texas remained a part of the state until 1835. The capital of the state is Saltillo; Monclova was the capital from 1833 to 1835. Among the more important towns are Parras (pop. 6476 in 1900), 98 m. W. by N. of Saltillo in a See also:rich See also:grape-producing district, See also:Ciudad Porfirio See also:Diaz, and Monclova (pop. 6684 in 1900), 105 m. N. by W. of Saltillo, on the Mexican See also:International railway. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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