Durango (redirected from Durango State)

Durango, city, Mexico

Durango (dräng`gō) or Victoria de Durango (vēktôr`yä thā), city (1990 pop. 348,036), capital of Durango state, N central Mexico, along the highway linking Mexico City with El Paso, Tex. Minerals are the chief product, but the city is also an agricultural, commercial, and tourist center. Founded as a mining town in 1563, Durango served as capital of the region of Nueva Viscaya. In the 19th cent. the city suffered frequent scorpion plagues. Nearby is the Cerro del Mercado (640 ft/195 m high), a hill of solid iron ore. Durango's cathedral is a massive example of early 18th-century architecture.

---

Durango, state, Mexico

Durango (dräng`gō), state (1990 pop. 1,349,378), 47,691 sq mi (123,520 sq km), N central Mexico. The city of Durango is the capital. The western half of the state is dominated by the Sierra Madre Occidental. These mountains contain deposits of many different minerals, and the mines extend north into the state of Chihuahua and south into Zacatecas. Durango is a leading national producer of ferrous metals. The semiarid plains of E Durango afford good ranching, and livestock raising is a major occupation. Lumbering is also economically important in the state. On the border of Coahuila is the fertile Laguna District, where vast desert basin lands are irrigated by the Nazas River. Gómez Palacio is the main settlement in this region. Cotton is the chief crop in the Nazas Valley, and wheat, sugarcane, tobacco, corn, and vegetables are also grown. Although known early to the Spanish, Durango was not opened up until 1562, when Francisco de Ibarra undertook its exploration and colonization. The early European settlers of Durango and Chihuahua (which were then called Nueva Viscaya) were strongly resisted by the native population, but the mines and grazing lands continued to attract colonists. Durango became a separate state in 1823, shortly after the Mexican revolution against Spain.

---

Durango, city, United States

Durango (drăng`gō), city (1990 pop. 12,430), seat of La Plata co., SW Colo., on the Animas River; inc. 1881. In a mountainous region at an elevation of c.6,500 ft (1,980 m), it produces computer software and has farming, mining, lumbering, and increasing tourism and recreation, especially skiing, rafting and kayaking, and fishing. Durango is the gateway to Mesa Verde National Park and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and the headquarters for the San Juan National Forest. Fort Lewis College is in the city, and Ute reservations are nearby.

---

Durango

State (pop., 2000: 1,448,661), north-central Mexico. It covers 47,560 sq mi (123,181 sq km), and its capital is Durango. The western portion of the state lies within the mineral-laden Sierra Madre Occidental; semiarid plains, used for ranching, comprise the eastern portion. The Nazas River, which flows about 375 mi (600 km), is the largest in the state and is a main source of water for commercial agriculture. Along the river's lower course is the Laguna cotton district, a large state-operated cooperative that Durango city shares with Coahuila state. First explored by Europeans in 1562, Durango shared the colonial history of Chihuahua as a major part of Nueva Vizcaya; the two states separated in 1823.

---

Durango

 officially Victoria de Durango

City (pop., 2000: 427,135), capital of Durango state, north-central Mexico. It lies in a fertile valley of the Sierra Madre, about 6,200 ft (1,890 m) above sea level. North of the city is the Cerro del Mercado, a hill of nearly pure iron ore representing one of the world's largest deposits of that mineral. First settled in 1556, Durango was the political and ecclesiastical capital of Nueva Vizcaya, which included Durango and Chihuahua until 1823. The city, long known as a health resort, is an important commercial and mining centre.

---

Durango

1. a state in N central Mexico: high plateau, with the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west; irrigated agriculture (esp cotton) and rich mineral resources. Capital: Durango. Pop.: 1 448 661 (2000). Area: 119 648 sq. km (46 662 sq. miles)

2. a city in NW central Mexico, capital of Durango state: mining centre. Pop.: 520 000 (2005 est.)