gastronomy

The gastronomy of the State of Chihuahua includes many dairy products such as Chile con Queso and cheeses made by the Menonites of the region, as well as soups and dishes made of dried beef and jerky, jellied fruit desserts called ates, from such produce as peaches and quince, empanadas, and excellent northern-grown steaks.

corrido de chihuahua

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CHIHUAHUA

economy

As of 2005, Chihuahua's economy represents 4.5% of Mexico's total gross domestic product or 29,826 million USD. Chihuahua's economy has a strong focus on export oriented manufacturing (i.e. maquiladora). As of 2005, 329,939 people are employed in the manufacturing sector. There are a more than 406 companies operating under the federal IMMEX or Prosec program in Chihuahua. The average wage for an employee in Chihuahua is approximately 193 pesos per day

climate

Chihuahua lies on the western side of the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion and as such has a semiarid climate (476.7 mm of precipitation annually) but is not as hot as most of the lower elevated portions of the desert to the east owing to an altitude of almost 1500 m ASL (the average temperature is 17.8 °C). The National Weather Service of Mexico (Servicio Meteorologico Nacional) states that for the period of 1971 to 2000 the warmest temperature recorded in the city is 40 °C on June 21, 1981 and the coldest was -10 °C on December 9, 1978. July 1973 is the record wettest month, with 242.5 mm. For a single day the record rainfall is 81 mm on September 25, 1978. Snowfall is somewhat uncommon, normally with 2 snowfalls a year, although the surrounding area may receive three or four snowfalls.

tourism

The Copper Canyon (Spanish: Barranca del Cobre) is a group of canyons consisting of 6 distinct canyons in the Sierra Tarahumara in the southwestern part of the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. The overall canyon system is larger and portions are deeper than the Grand Canyon in the neighboring United States.[1] The canyons were formed by six rivers which drain the western side of the Sierra Tarahumara (a part of the Sierra Madre Occidental). All six rivers merge into the Rio Fuerte and empty into the Sea of Cortez. The walls of the canyon are a copper/green color which is where the name originatesThere are many other ways to explore Copper Canyon such as hiking, biking, driving or horseback riding. The most popular way is by train, as the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad, or ChePe, runs along the main canyon called Canyon Urique, between Chihuahua and Los Mochis, on the Gulf of California. The Chihuahua al Pacifico began in the late 19th century. The revolution, lack of funding, and the overall difficulty of building a railroad over such terrain hindered its completion until 1961. The railroad comprises 405 miles of rails with 39 bridges and 86 tunnels. The total trip takes approximately 15 hours and passes through towns, as well as the towering cliffs of the canyons. Along the railway, you are likely to see many Tarahumara Indians laying out their food, crafts and other wares for sale.
Mexico established the Parque Nacional Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon National Park) to showcase this remote area

tourism

Basaseachic Falls on the Basaseachic River is the second-highest waterfall in Mexico, located in the Parque Nacional Basaseachic at Cañon Basaseachic in the Copper Canyon region of northwest Mexico, near Creel, Chihuahua. They are 246 meters (807 ft) tall, second in Mexico only to the Cascada de Piedra Volada (Flying Stone Fall).
Basaseachic Falls is located in the high mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the Municipality of Ocampo, 3 km. (1.86 miles) from Basaseachi community and about 265 km. (165 miles) west of Chihuahua, it is linked via Federal Highway 16 and its surroundings make up the Parque Nacional Cascada de Basaseachic (Basaseachi Fall National Park).
The fall is made by two streams, Arroyo del Durazno (Durazno stream) and Arroyo de Basaseachic (Basaseachic Stream), which merge in the high mountain and then fall down the canyon. Past the fall, the stream is called Río Candameña (Candamena River), as well as the canyon it flows through, the Candamena River contributes to the formation of Río Mayo (Mayo River).
The Fall's surroundings are known for their beauty, such as rock formations and pine woods.
Basaseachic was deemed for a certain time period as the tallest fall in México, until the discovery in September, 1994 of the Cascada de Piedra Volada. However, Piedra Volada flows only during the rainy season, while Basaseachic is permanent.

Demography

The latest population census, which took place nationwide during the year 2005, reported 3,241,444 inhabitants in the state of Chihuahua, each gender taking 50% of the total. The northern state is placed seventh in the nation regarding quality of life and sixth in terms of life expectancy at 75.2 years of age. The median age is located at 25 years.

Chihuahua holds one of the largest proportion of white population of Mexico, as is the case in much of northern Mexico. Caucasians make up 55% of the population, most of them of Spaniard origin, but also of French, Basque, Italian, German, Dutch and Middle Eastern descent, while the rest of the population are Mestizo groups of predominant Spaniard descent. Indians form 5% of the state habitants and remain isolated in the woods of southwestern Chihuahua. The admixture with Indians never existed in Nueva Vizcaya due to the scarcity of natives (most of them warrior and anti-European Conchos and Tarahumaras), and the size of the territory.

85% of people in Chihuahua claim to follow the Catholic faith; only 3% of those over 5 years of age speak a native dialect, mostly Tarahumara, the largest indigenous group, followed by the Pimas, Tepehuanes and Warojios.

History

It has been said that the name derives from the Tarahumara language, meaning "between two waters", other accepted definitions are "place of the holed-rock" or "dry and sandy place". The name itself is older than the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The city was founded on October 12, 1709, by Antonio Deza y Ulloa, a Spanish explorer, as El Real de Minas de San Francisco el Cuellar. The town was erected a Villa in 1718 with the name of San Felipe el Real de Chihuahua, and the name was shortened in 1823. The location was chosen because it is the intersection of the rivers Chuviscar and Sacramento. It is also the midpoint between the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) and the then-important mining city of Hidalgo del Parral.

Just as in other parts of Northern Mexico, Roman Catholic missionaries were an important influence during the colonial era, and the city became a meeting point for missionaries heading to and from the 'sierra', the mountainous region in western Chihuahua State where the native Tarahumara still live.

During the War of Independence, the city saw little action. However, it was in Chihuahua where Miguel Hidalgo, considered the Father of the Country, was held prisoner in the Federal Palace of Chihuahua and executed in 1811 at the nearby Government Palace by the Spaniards.

During the Mexican-American War, Chihuahua fell to U.S. forces in 1847, after the Mexican Army was defeated at the Battle of the Sacramento, 15 miles north of the city.


During the French invasion, President Benito Juárez made the city the seat of his government-in-exile from 1864 to 1867. During the presidency of Porfirio Díaz the city experienced explosive growth and became one of the most important cities in Mexico. The city became the seat for important banks and wealthy families.

The city was more involved during the Mexican Revolution (1910–1917), for it became at times the operations base for the División del Norte, the army led by Pancho Villa. Many sites and memories remain of the Revolutionary era; the most important of these is the Historical Museum of the Mexican Revolution at Villa's former estate house near downtown Chihuahua. La Quinta Luz was turned into a museum by his widow, Sra. María Luz Corral de Villa, and is now managed by the federal government.

During the 20th century, the city grew in population and learned to take advantage of its proximity with the U.S. border. Until the establishment of foreign manufacturing plants in the 1970s, the city was largely a trade post for cattle and agricultural products. During the 1990s the city grew dramatically economically, becoming the third wealthiest municipality (per capita) in the republic, after Benito Juárez borough of the Federal District (Mexico City), and San Pedro Garza García in Nuevo León.

In 2002, Mayor Jorge Barousse Moreno from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) died and was succeeded by Alejandro Cano Ricaud. During Cano's administration, the city experienced dramatic growth in the security sector when the Police Department was certified by the ISO and surveillance aircraft bought.

Between 2002 and 2005, the city experimented with the introduction of certain new commercial innovations, like the first large mall in the city, Plaza del Sol, and the rise of the commercial Zone of the Sun, all along the Périferico de la Juventud, one of the main thoroughfares in the city.

In 2004 Juan Blanco Zaldivar, of the National Action Party (PAN), won the election for mayor (municipal president) of the city for the term 2004-2007. Since 2005, the International Festivals of Chihuahua have been celebrated by both the state and city governments during the months of September/October with art shows, plays, stage presentations and concerts by such bands as America, Foreigner, Creedence and Los Lobos being held at venues throughout the city.


Elections for mayor for the term 2007-2010 were held at the beginning of July 2007; Carlos Borruel Baquera of the PAN defeated former mayor Alejandro Cano Ricaud (PRI) by less than one-quarter of a percentage point of almost 200,000 votes cast. The turnout of registered voters, at about 41%, was the lowest in years.

In January, 2010, Mayor Carlos Borruel submitted his resignation in order to campaign for election to the office of Governor of Chihuahua. His deputy, Lic. Alvaro Guillermo Madero Muñoz, assumed the office of mayor for the balance of his term.