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The state of Chihuahua is the largest of the 31 states of Mexico and is located in the northwestern part of the country. It has a mainland area of 244,938 km². It is largely a desert state, although there are areas of significant rainfall and green forests. In fact, Chihuahua state has more forest than any other Mexican state.

The state is named after its capital city, Chihuahua. The origin of the name is not known for sure, but it is old, predating the Spanish, and is thought to derive from the Nahuatl Xicuahua, or "dry, sandy place".

Chihuahua is bounded on the north mostly by the Río Bravo del Norte ( Rio Grande) and TexasTexas joined the United States of America as its 28th member state in 1845. It has the postal abbreviation TX . The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, tejas meaning friends or allies Spanish explorers mistakenly applied t, and to some extent by the state line of New MexicoNew Mexico is a state in the southwestern United States and its U. postal abbreviation is NM . The state's two official languages are English and Spanish. Nuevo Mexico was the Spanish name for the territory north and west of the Rio Grande. USS New Mexico. The states of SonoraThis article is about the Mexican State of Sonora. For other places with the same name, see Sonora (disambiguation). ESTADO DE SONORA Other Mexican States Capital Hermosillo Other major cities Ciudad Obregon Nogales list of municipalities Area182,052 km² and SinaloaSinaloa is the name of a city, a municipality and a state in Mexico. This article is about the state. For the city, see: Sinaloa, Sinaloa. Mexican states ESTADO DE SINALOA Other Mexican States Capital Culiacan Other major cities Mazatlan, Los Mochis Area5 border it on the west, DurangoESTADO DE DURANGO Other Mexican States Capital Durango Other major cities Gomez Palacio Lerdo list of municipalities Area123,181 km² Ranked 4th Population(2000 census)1,445,900 Ranked 23rd Governor(2004-2010) Ismael Hernandez Deras ( PRI) Federal Deputies on the south, and CoahuilaSTATE OF COAHUILA Other Mexican States Capital Saltillo Other major cities Torreon Piedras Negras list of municipalities Area149,982 km² Ranked 3rd Population(2000 census)2,295,800 Ranked 17th Governor(1999-2005) Enrique Martinez y Martinez ( PRI) Federal on the east.

As of 1990, there were 2.5 million inhabitants of the state. The largest city is not the capital, Chihuahua, with a half-million inhabitants, but Ciudad Juárez, with 800,000 residents, and perhaps the same number in the unincorporated colonias surrounding Ciudad Juárez. The capital was founded in 1709 by Don Antonio Deza y Ulloa .

Chihuahua's population is predominantly Mestizo and Creole, but includes such minority groups as the indigenous Tarahumara in the mountainous areas, as well as large rural communities of Mennonites of German origin and Anglo-American Mormon settlers.

Chihuahua is known for its production of apples, nuts, timber, cattle and dairy products, sheep, and nonferrous metals. Large assembly plants geared toward export across the northern border are also dominant.

One of the most notable features of Chihuahua is the Barranca del Cobre, or Copper Canyon, a spectacular canyon system rivalling the Grand Canyon.

Chihuahua played a pivotal role in the Mexican Revolution, and was a battleground between revolutionary forces led by Pancho Villa and federal forces.