"My Home Town Chihuahua" a Estado de Chihuahua Travel Page by EmilioR

Location: The state of Chihuahua is located at the northern end of Mexico, on the Northwest Central Plain. It is bordered to the north and northeast by the United States, to the west and south by the state of Sonora, and to the southeast by the state of Sinaloa.

General Information: Chihuahua covers a surface area of 244,938 square kilometers, making it the largest state in Mexico. Its climate is dry to semi-arid, though there is regular rainfall and occasional extremes in temperature. The average annual temperature is 68º F.

According to the 1990 Census, the state has 2.5 million residents, with the largest municipality, Ciudad Juarez, serving as home to 800,000 Chihuahuans. The municipality of Chihuahua has about half a million inhabitants; the municipalities of Cuauhtemoc, Delicias, and Parral are also significant population centers.

Communications:

Roads & Highways: The state of Chihuahua has 10,999 kilometers of paved highways linking the state to the rest of the country. A four-lane highway now connects Ciudad Juarez with the city of Chihuahua, and runs from there on to the cities of Cuauhtemoc and Jimenez, for a total length of 463 miles. A 435-mile two-lane highway also runs from Chihuahua to Sonora. Road construction by the state government of Chihuahua is guided by a plan called the "Gran Vision," which will ultimately connect the communities in the highlands with the rest of the state. This will facilitate the transportation of lumber and mining products and further encourage the regional development of Chihuahua..

Airports: Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua have international airports which offer flights to other cities in Mexico and destinations abroad as well. Airfields are also located in Jimenez, Camargo, Ojinaga, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Parral, and Delicias.

Railroads: The state boasts an extensive railway system, with 2,091 miles of track, connecting the cities of Chihuahua with the US border, with central Mexico, and with the modern port of Topolobampo. The Chihuahua-Pacifico railroad runs through the Urique and Copper Canyon areas.

Border Crossing: Chihuahua has seven border crossing points with the US, three of them linking the border cities of Juarez and El Paso, Texas, which form a center of great commercial, industrial, and tourist trade. Two other bridges will link Ciudad Juarez with the state of New Mexico: San Jeronimo-Santa Teresa, and Anapra-Sunland Park, which are in the final stages of development. The state also has crossings at Palomas (connecting to Columbus, NM) and Ojinaga (connecting to Presidio, TX).

Education: The state is also an important center of higher education. Major universities include the Universidad Autonoma of Juarez, the Universidad Autonoma of Chihuahua, the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional in Parral and Ciudad Juarez, the Universidad Autonoma of Chihuahua in Delicias, the Universidad Autonoma of Chihuahua in Delicias and in Juarez, and the Instituto Tecnologico Regional with campuses in Delicias, Juarez, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Cuauhtemoc, and the city of Chihuahua. There are also 145 technical schools, called CBTIS and CONALEP, located across the state.

Chihuahua's annual Gross State Product (GSP) is about $6.2 billion, or about 2.9% of Mexico's total GNP. Manufacturing accounts for a third of the total GSP, while trade and other services amount to 53.5% of the GSP. Agricultural production makes up only 6% of the total, though Chihuahua has the largest amount of forested land in all of Mexico. It is the leading producer of apples and nuts and second in pine and oak trees nationwide.

In the past few decades, Chihuahua has become a leader in many industries as well, including cellulose, wood moldings, and brewing beer. Modern, fully-developed industrial parks with all utilities are located in Ascencion, Camargo, Chihuahua, Cuauhtemoc, Delicias, Juarez, Meoqui, Nuevo Casas Grandes, and Parral. Each of the parks is equipped with rail connections, water and sewage, six-lane streets, telephone, telex, security, and fire protections. Close to the industrial parks are support services such as customs posts, trucking companies, repair shops, and post offices.

Another force in Chihuhua's industrial development are the "twin plants," which involve a Mexican production facility and a US administrative office. There are 390 "twin plants" in Chihuahua; they employ more than 165,000 people. Corporations such as Ford, Digital Equipment, Data General, Phillips, General Motors, Chrysler, Toshiba, Westinghouse, Zenith, RCA, General Electric, and Honeywell have successfully established manufacturing facilities in the state.

The city of Chihuahua is located 372 km from Juarez, 456 km from Torreon, 494 km from Monterrey, 920 km from Guadalajara, and 1,455 km from Mexico City.

Tourism: Chihuahua is a land of magnificent scenery --mountains, canyons, deserts and fresh, clean, clear air. Its spectacular canyons are the biggest in North America. Within the canyons are beautiful waterfalls, one of which is the highest in Mexico. Chihuahua also contains fertile valleys--orchards and cropfields that were coaxed from the desert by the persistence of hardworking, warm, and loyal people.

To the northwest of the state the Paquime ruins stand as mute witness to our rich ancestry and great pre-Hispanic culture that flourished here, about 900 years ago. Today is still a vigorous area, dedicated to horticulture and cattle raising. Paquime is a sleepy city on the plain. It dreams of glorious past and is proud to be the most important archeological site in the north of Mexico.

Continuing with archeological zones, close to Madera you will find the "Cuarenta Casas" (the 40 houses) built into the cliffs during the Mogollon era, and, probably, inhabited later by the original Paquime settlers.

The sister cities of Casas Grandes and Nuevo Casas Grandes have modern services that will accomplish the most demanding tastes. But the potters of the region make exquisite multi-colored ceramics, using ancient techniques inherited from their ancestors. Carefully hand-crafted and painted, these ceramics reflect the passion for excellence of their creators. They also show the influence of the master of this school of pottery, the internationally famous artist, Juan Quezda.

The state capital, Chihuahua, Lady of the Desert, was founded by Don Antonio Deza y Ulloa at the confluence of the Chuviscar and Sacramento rivers in the name of God and the King of Spain in 1709. Its renowned Cathedral whose construction lasted almost 100 years, was built thanks to the richness of the Santa Eulalia mines, and to the native skillful hands of, who adeptly learned the ability needed to work the quarry.

The city of Chihuahua was an important setting for the hazardous years of the Independence movement; the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the "Founding Father of Mexico", remained a prisoner in what is now the Federal Palace. He was executed on June 11th 1811, in the central patio of the Government Palace, where we keep permanently lit the flame of liberty on the altar of the country.

The city of Chihuahua has numerous architectonic attractions such as the Cathedral, built of pink quarry stone which lovely portal shows the first traces of the baroque style.

As well as a history forged by great men, Chihuahua has the most scenic engineering work of Mexico: the railroad line from Chihuahua to the Pacific. The railway twists past the craggy cliffs of the Sierra Madre, and hugs the rim of the Cañon del Cobre (Copper Canyon) which is twice the size of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Actually, Copper Canyon is the collective term for the union of several deep, spectacular canyons, and this train ride offers visitors many possibilities for both conventional and adventure tourism. There are hotel facilities at the key points of the journey --Creel, Divisadero, Bahuichivo and Temoris.

In the southern part of the State, linked by a superb four-lane highway, you will find the cities of Delicias, Camargo and Jimenez, all of which have something in common: they offer visitors beautiful places, aquatic sports, good hotels, and restaurants where you can enjoy delicious fried fish.

Please feel welcome in Chihuahua. As its popular song says --it is a blessed territory, bathed by the moon and the sun.....