Culiacán


Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico. It is the capital of and the largest city in Sinaloa and in the Culiacán Municipality. It is the most populous and extensive city in Sinaloa and was founded on September 29, 1531 by the Spanish conquerors Lázaro de Cebreros and Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán. The first outline of the city was made by the architect Luis F. Molina.
The city is in a valley at the confluence of the Tamazula and Humayas River, where they meet to form the Culiacán River 55 m above sea level.

Etymology

The genuine Aztec name of the Nahuatl language is Colhuacán or Culhuacán, which is from colhua or culhua and can, which is a place, and its meaning varies according to different historians:
The most respected theory is "place of the colhuas, that is, inhabited by the colhua tribe", and the most frequent meaning is "place of worshiping the God Coltzin".

History

Prehispanic era

In ancient times, there was an indigenous population called Huey Colhuacan that dates back to Tecpatl, which corresponds to the year 628 of our era; the Aztecs built it during their pilgrimage. Its exact location is unknown, but it is assumed that it was close to the current town of Culiacancito. Here he was born in 1065 A.D. the cult of Huitzilopochtli, the warrior god of Aztec mythology. The ancient settlers were called Culichis.

Virreinal time

The city that we know today as Culiacán was co-founded in 1531 by Lázaro de Cebreros and Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán under the name of Villa de San Miguel. Upon their arrival in the 16th century, the Spanish found the existence of farmhouses organized in indigenous nations by the tribe of the Tahues, which brought together a group of people of the same origin and language who had a common tradition, their limits were the elements natural, like rivers, mountains, among others.
Other indigenous peoples that inhabited the original territory of Culiacán were the Tebacas, Pacaxes, Sabaibo and Achires.
After their war of conquest, Lázaro de Cebreros and Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán, organized the territories acquired in three provinces, one of them was Culiacán which was delimited, to the south, by the Elota river and in the north by the Mocorito River, depending on the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia. Organized in this way, it lasted until 1786, the year in which the administration system was implemented, with Sonora and Sinaloa forming the administration of Arizpe and the ancient province of Culiacán gave life to the party of the same name with equal jurisdiction.

Independent Mexico

On October 6, 1821, Independence was sworn in Culiacán. Culiacán is granted the category of city, on July 21, 1823, when the provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa separated by decree from Congress. In 1824, by Constitutive Act of the Mexican Federation, Sinaloa and Sonora meet again, forming the state of the West. In 1830, the provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa were definitively separated, by decree of October 13, 1830, the city of Culiacán being designated capital of the state of Sinaloa. Later, during the conservative government related to the French Intervention in 1861, prefectures were installed and the Municipalities Law was decreed that divided the Districts into City Councils. The Badiraguato District was suppressed and became part of the Culiacán District as a Municipality.
From 1859 to 1873 it ceased to be the capital of Sinaloa, which moved to Mazatlán. Already in the Restored Republic, Governor Eustaquio Buelna confronted the merchants of the port. He returned to Culiacán and the Local Congress gave him the status of capital of the state.

Porfirian and revolutionary times

For 1878, Culiacán had three City Halls, whose headwaters were Culiacán, Quilá and Badiraguato, it remained that way until in 1880 Badiraguato returned to being a district with the limits that previously corresponded to it.
1912 was the year in which the Municipalities were established by law as a new form of internal government, but it was until 1915 that the Political Directories were suppressed, this law coming into force, causing the Districts to become free municipalities.
Culiacán was established as a Municipality by decree published on April 8, 1915, comprising within its limits the current Municipality of Navolato that was segregated in 1982, according to a decree of August 27 of that year, thus losing 2,285 km² of the valley agricultural.
Some time later, the State Congress approved the extension of the name of the capital city, giving it its current official name, Culiacán de Rosales, in honor of the great Mexican military man, Antonio Rosales.

After World War II

Beginning in the late 1950s, Culiacán became the birthplace of an incipient underground economy based on illicit drugs exported to the United States. The completion of the Pan-American Highway and the regional airport in the 1960s accelerated the expansion of a workable distribution infrastructure for the enterprising few families that would later come to dominate the international drug cartels along Mexico's Pacific Northwest.

Geography

Location

It is located in the central region of the State of Sinaloa, forming part of the northwest of Mexico. The coordinates correspond to it: 24 ° 48'15 "N and 107 ° 25'52" W, with an altitude of 54 meters above sea level.
It is located 1,240 km from Mexico City, from Culiacán to Tepic, there are only 502 km; to Durango, 536 km; to Hermosillo, 688 km; to Guadalajara, 708 km; to Monterrey, 1,118 km; Chihuahua, 1,159 km; to Tijuana, 1,552 km; and to Matamoros, 1,434 km.

Relief and hydrography

The relief of the municipality is well defined by a mountainous part and the coastal plain; the physiographic region of the highlands is a relatively large portion that is part of the Pacific slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental, which has heights of 300 to 2,100 meters above sea level. The municipality of Culiacán is crossed by four hydrological currents: the Humaya, Tamazula, Culiacán and San Lorenzo rivers; Humaya has its origin in the State of Durango, entering Sinaloa through the municipality of Badiraguato; its waters are controlled by the dam Licenciado Adolfo López Mateos. The Tamazula River rises in the Sierra Madre Occidental near the Topia Valley; its current is controlled by the Sanalona dam; the Humaya and Tamazula rivers unite in front of the city of Culiacán to form the Culiacán river, which finally empties into the Gulf of California; the San Lorenzo river is born in the Sierra Madre Occidental within the State of Durango, enters Sinaloa through the municipality of Cosalá and empties into the Gulf of California.

Climate

Culiacán has a hot semiarid climate, despite receiving an annual rainfall over, due to its hot temperatures and high evaporation. Summers are very hot and humid, shade temperatures can reach and high humidity can produce heat indices of, with the risk of heavy rainfall from decaying tropical cyclones also present. Winters are much milder with less humidity and an average high of 27 °C, with warm nights.

Parks and green areas

The green areas are located in different areas of the city; In recent years, the municipal and state government have been concerned with protecting, safeguarding, and increasing green lungs, in order to provide a better quality of life for Culiacans and tourists; it has the following:

Las Riberas Park

It is the area attached to the Tamazula and Humaya rivers, where you can admire different species of trees such as willows, poplars, guamúchiles, eucalyptus, among others, with a bicycle lane, zip line, boat rides and a walker for exercises and family fun.. Recently it has a new attraction, the "White or bimodal bridge" which connects the park with the city center to facilitate access for pedestrians and at night it becomes a light show that contrasts with the already famous "Black Bridge" from Culiacán ".

Culiacán Botanical Garden

Located to the east of the city, this area comprises 10 ha and is home to different ecosystems and hundreds of plant and tree species. The Culiacán Botanical Garden has a variety of more than 2,000 plants. It is known because here runners and cyclists choose to take the morning walk, the prohibition of dogs on the path of plants stands out. Many photographers flock to this garden to capture young quinceañeras and newlyweds.

Culiacán Zoo

Located next to the heart of the city, forming part of the Civic Center Constitución with an extension of 13.5 hectares; which houses 1,400 animals belonging to more than 450 species including mammals, reptiles and birds. It was built on December 14, 1950 as part of the Development Plan of the Sinaloa State Government, which contemplated the need to create a natural area that would contribute to promoting the education of flora and fauna existing in this region under the mandate of the State Governor. General Gabriel Leyva Velásquez, supported by Mr. Emilio Aguerreverre, Municipal President of Culiacán.

Rosales Square

Located next to the Rosalina house, which has diverse vegetation, it is a space with colonial architecture that offers pedestrians a rest from the busy rhythm of life in the city.

Obregón Square

Located on Álvaro Obregón Avenue, you can enjoy a pleasant stay thanks to its lush trees that prevent you from feeling the overwhelming heat of the city. Also, you can find candy and food stalls in the surroundings of the area, as well as a small book stand. Besides, the square comes alive in the weekends afternoons, where there is live music and many people dance to the rhythm of the songs.

Park 87

Located on Av. México 68, República Mexicana. The park has as attractions, slides, swimming pools, zip lines, the garden of peace.

Economy

Culiacán's economy is mainly agricultural and commerce, being a trade center for produce, meat, and fish. Among other industries, Culiacán represents 32 percent of the state economy.
Coppel, Casa Ley, Homex and other companies of national importance are headquartered in Culiacan.
The Sinaloa Cartel, a drug-trafficking and organized crime syndicate, is based in Culiacán.

Demographics

The city had an urban population of 785,800 in 2015 while 905,660 lived in the entire municipality. While the municipality has a total area of, the city itself is considerably more compact, at only.

Administrative divisions

Culiacán is divided into 27 sectors, which are groups of several quarters :
The newspaper El Debate is published in Culiacán.

Education

Universities

Transit system

Urban transport

At present, Culiacán has just over 68 urban transport routes, which serve about one million users. The Culiacán urban transport is operated by RedPlus.

Rail

The city has a train station, operated by Ferromex, and it is used only to transport freight. It is connected to south with Mazatlán and north with Guaymas.

Bus station

Culiacán uses the Central Internacional de Autobuses "Millennium" to travel across all Mexico and to the United States. This replaced the old bus terminal in the southern city.

Roads and expressways

Though several high-speed roads have been built, most of the city's streets are rather narrow and traffic jams are common at rush hours. Now, 300,000 cars are in Culiacan, making the per capita number of cars one of the highest in the country considering the 745,000 inhabitants.

Main roads

Culiacán has several roads, but some of these are the main quick connection to other points of the city.
The city has a total of 13 bridges: six across the Tamazula River, two spanning the Humaya River, and the longest one with other four crossing the Culiacán River. Efforts to solve traffic problems have been made, but most of the city streets and bridges are now crowded and insufficient to handle regular and rush hours traffic; a 40-km/h speed limit in most parts of the city worsens the situation.
Also, Culiacán has bridges in streets conforming to high transit systems in places where the rush hour is common.
On February 17, 2014, investigators from Mexico and the United States learned that Joaquín Guzmán Loera, or El Chapo, was using underground sewage tunnels in Culiacán by constructing hatches connecting to the drainage network in the bathtubs of his city "stash houses".
On at least one occasion, authorities chased Guzman into the tunnels, but lost him. An AP reporter said some of the tunnels were well lit, had wood paneling, and were air-conditioned.

Highways and freeways

Culiacán is a rail junction and is located on the Panamerican Highway that runs north to the United States and south to Guadalajara and Mexico City, and the Benito Juárez Highway or Maxipista, which is a toll road that runs parallel to the toll-free federal highway. It is connected to the north with Los Mochis and to the south with Mazatlán, Tepic, and Guadalajara with the Federal Highway 15.
Culiacán is linked to the satellite city of Navolato by an excellent freeway that now reaches Altata, in the Pacific Ocean coast. Culiacán is also linked to Tamazula de Victoria in Durango state.
Culiacán is served by Federal de Bachigualato International Airport, the most important domestic gateway in the state of Sinaloa, and the second in international operations after Mazatlán International Airport. It is located south of downtown; it is also the 10th Mexican Air Force base.

Entertainment

Tourism

The city is home to three professional league sport teams: baseball with the Tomateros de Culiacán from the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico, two championships in Caribbean series in 1996 and 2002; and football with Dorados de Sinaloa, who play at the Estadio Banorte and basketball with the Caballeros de Culiacan from the CIBACOPA. Duck, dove, and goose hunting season goes from early November through March. Culiacán also holds a yearly international marathon.

Notable people from Culiacán

Entertainment