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'Durango' (IPA pronunciation ) is one of the constituent states of Mexico. Its population in 2005 census was about 1,509,117 people. It has Mexico's second-lowest population density (after Baja California ). The city of Durango is the capital of the state of Durango. The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range located in the western part of the state. This mountain range contains a good supply of minerals, including the silver that encouraged Spanish occupation of the territory after it was discovered. These mines extend north into Chihuahua and south into the state of Zacatecas.
The major occupations in Durango are farming, lumbering and ranching. Vast desert basins in the Laguna District are irrigated by the Río Nazas. Major crops grown in the area include cotton, wheat, corn, alfalfa, beans, sorghum and other vegetables.
Francisco de Ibarra, the first to colonize Durango, settled this part of the vast northern province of Nueva Vizcaya in 1563, when he founded the capital city and named it Durango for his native town in Biscay, Spain; the foundation was just one in his larger program of initiating settlements through the province. This was a late colonization for the Spanish, mostly due to heavy resistance to Spanish occupation by the indigenous population living there, from first contact to modern times, in attempts to gain some autonomy, address grievances, or maintain traditional land ownership. Spanish colonists became highly attracted to the Durango area for its mining and grazing capabilities. In 1823, shortly after the Mexican revolutionary victory over Spain, Durango earned the right to be a separate state.

Contents

Municipalities

Major communities

References in Popular Culture

Famous Duranguenses

External links

Municipalities

Durango is divided into 39 municipalities ''(municipios)''.
See municipalities of Durango.

Major communities

★ Durango (Victoria de Durango)

★ El Salto

★ Gómez Palacio

★ Lerdo (Ciudad Lerdo)

★ Santiago Papasquiaro

References in Popular Culture

★ Bob Dylan co-wrote a song called Romance in Durango with Jacques Levy for his 1976 classic, Desire (album).

★ The sports car driven by Alexander deLarge and his droogies is called a "Durango 95" [1] [2] in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange".

★ Punk rock band The Ramones often opened their live act with a song called "Durango 95".

★ Actor John Candy suffered a fatal heart attack here while filming his final motion picture, "Wagons East".

Famous Duranguenses

★ Francisco "Pancho" Villa

★ Patty Gurrola

★ Dolores Del Rio

★ Fanny Anitua

★ Ricardo Castro

★ Maria de los angeles Mendoza (Martinez)

★ Guadalupe Victoria

External links

★ Durango State Government

★ Towns, cities, and postal codes in Durango

★ John P. Schmal, "The history of indigenous Durango" detailing the series of revolts

★ Music history and Durango small harp

★ Night Life at Durango

★ Messages, Photographs, Local Towns