Coahuila << `koh` uh WEE luh >> is a state in northern Mexico. It covers 57,908 square miles (149,982 square kilometers) and shares its northern border with the United States. Coahuila is Mexico’s third largest state in area. Only Chihuahua and Sonora are larger. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Coahuila was 3,146,771. As in other northern states, relatively few American Indians live there. The state has an extremely dry climate and a mountainous landscape. Saltillo is its capital.
The economy of Coahuila is based on mining, agriculture, and heavy industry. A majority of Mexico’s coal comes from Coahuila. Miners extract iron, lead, and silver from the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains in the east. Farmers produce corn, grapes, and milk and raise cattle and goats. The Laguna District, in the south, is an important cotton-growing region. The urban centers of Piedras Negras and Torreon produce automotive and dairy products, furniture, and textiles. Saltillo is one of the nation’s leading producer of automobiles. Monclova is home to one of Latin America’s largest steel mills. Many foreign-owned factories called maquiladoras operate in Coahuila.
Spanish colonists settled in what is now Coahuila in the mid-1500’s. Until 1836, when Texas gained independence from Mexico, Saltillo was the capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas. Important battles took place in Coahuila during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Francisco Madero and Venustiano Carranza, two presidents of Mexico during the early 1900’s, came from Coahuila.
