Map of Chihuahua
Chihuahua is a first-level division of Mexico. Its largest mapped city is Ciudad Juárez, with about 1.34 million people in the metropolitan area. The interactive map below is centred on Chihuahua, and the tables list its 11 mapped cities along with the mountains, lakes nearest to them.
- Cities Mapped
- 11
- Largest City
- Ciudad Juárez
- Country
- Mexico
- Highest Point Mapped
- 2,780 m
Interactive Map of Chihuahua
About Chihuahua
Chihuahua (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃiˈwawa] ), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Chihuahua (English: Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua) is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, are the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is located in the northwestern part of Mexico and is bordered by the states of Sonora to the west, Sinaloa to the southwest, Durango to the south, and Coahuila to the east. To the north and northeast, it shares an extensive border with the U.S. adjacent to the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. The state was named after its capital city, Chihuahua City; the largest city is Ciudad Juárez. In 1864 the city of Chihuahua was declared capital of Mexico by Benito Juárez during the Reform War and French intervention, until 1867. The city of Parral was the largest producer of silver in the world in 1640. During the Mexican War of Independence, Miguel Hidalgo was executed on July 30, 1811, in Chihuahua city.
Although Chihuahua is primarily identified with its namesake, the Chihuahuan Desert, it has more forests than any other state in Mexico, aside from Durango. Due to its varied climate, the state has a large variety of fauna and flora. The state is mostly characterized by rugged mountainous terrain and wide river valleys. The Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, part of the continental spine that also includes the Rocky Mountains, dominates the state's terrain, and is home to the state's greatest attraction, Las Barrancas del Cobre, or Copper Canyon, a canyon system larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon. The state also has the largest crystal cave in Mexico known as the Naica cave, discovered in 2001. Chihuahua is also home to the archaeological site of Paquimé in Casas Grandes that was created by the people of the Mogollon culture of Northern Mexico and is recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage site.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Chihuahua (state) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Chihuahua in Depth
History
The earliest evidence of human inhabitants of Chihuahua was discovered in the area of the Samalayuca Dune Fields and Rancho Colorado. Clovis points have been found in northeastern Chihuahua that have been dated from 12,000 to 7000 BCE. It is thought that these inhabitants were hunter-gatherers.
Inhabitants of the state later developed farming with the domestication of maize. An archeological site in northern Chihuahua known as Cerro Juanaqueña revealed squash cultivation, irrigation techniques, and ceramic artifacts dating to around 2000 BCE.
Between 300 and 1300 in the southern part of the state, in a region known as Aridoamerica, groups survived by hunting, gathering, and farming. Nahuan speakers referred to these groups as the Chichimeca.
Geography
The state of Chihuahua is the largest state in the country and is known as El Estado Grande (The Big State); it accounts for 12.6% of the land of Mexico and is slightly larger than the United Kingdom. The area is landlocked by the states of Sonora to the west, Sinaloa to the south-west, Durango to the south, and Coahuila to the east, and by the U.S. states of Texas to the northeast and New Mexico to the north. The state is made up of three geologic regions: Mountains, Plains-Valleys, and Desert, which occur in large bands from west to east. Because of the different geologic regions there are contrasting climates and ecosystems.
The main mountain range in the state is the Sierra Madre Occidental reaching a maximum altitude of 10,826 ft (3,300 m) known as Cerro Mohinora.
Economy
The state has the 9th-largest state economy in Mexico, accounting for 3.69% of the country's GDP. Chihuahua has the fifth highest manufacturing GDP in Mexico and ranks second for the most factories funded by foreign investment in the country. As of 2022, the state had an estimated 1.050 trillion pesos (52.2 billion dollars) of annual GDP. According to official federal statistical studies, the service sector accounted for the largest portion of the state economy at 59.28%; the manufacturing and industrial sector is estimated to account for 34.36% of the state's GDP, with the agricultural sector accounting for 6.36% of the state's GDP. Manufacturing sector was the principal foreign investment in the state followed by the mining sector.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Chihuahua (state) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
History of Chihuahua: Empires and States
The atlas records 3 polities whose mapped territory included part of Chihuahua, from The Spanish Empire in 1629 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here |
|---|---|
| The Spanish Empire | 1629–1821 CE |
| Federated Republic of Mexico | 1824–1864 CE |
| Mexico | 1868–2024 CE |
Historical Maps of Chihuahua
Chihuahua on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Visiting Chihuahua
Chihuahua is a state in Northern Mexico. It is known for its great deserts, its snow-capped mountains and ravines covered with alpine forests, which make it well-suited for ecotourism. It also has mining towns and colonial cities that were of great importance to the history of the country.
Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Chihuahua (state) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Largest Cities in Chihuahua
11 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciudad Juárez | 1.34 million | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 2 | Chihuahua | 793,000 | Chihuahua | Admin-1 capital |
| 3 | Delicias | 114,783 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 4 | Hidalgo del Parral | 103,378 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 5 | Cuauhtémoc | 90,835 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 6 | Nuevo Casas Grandes | 54,826 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 7 | Ciudad Camargo | 37,743 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 8 | Ojinaga | 22,128 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 9 | Ascensión | 11,781 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 10 | Santa Barbara | 10,800 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
| 11 | Villa Ahumada | 9,326 | Chihuahua | Populated place |
Highest Mountains in Chihuahua
1 mountain mapped. Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Elevation | Feet | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cerro Grande | 2,780 m | 9,121 ft | North America |
Largest Lakes in Chihuahua
1 lake mapped. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Surface Area | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Presa de la Boquilla | 89 km² | Reservoir |
Chihuahua: Quick Answers
- Where is Chihuahua?
- Chihuahua is a first-level division of Mexico, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 29.0962° N, 106.2197° W.
- What is the largest city in Chihuahua?
- Ciudad Juárez is the largest city mapped in Chihuahua, with a metropolitan population of about 1.34 million.
- How many cities are in Chihuahua?
- YearMaps maps 11 cities and towns in Chihuahua, with a combined metropolitan population of about 2.59 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.
- What is the highest mountain in Chihuahua?
- The highest summit mapped in Chihuahua is Cerro Grande at 2,780 m.
- What is the largest lake in Chihuahua?
- The largest lake mapped in or beside Chihuahua is Presa de la Boquilla, at about 89 km².