Кульякан: История и современность города в Синалоа

City in Sinaloa, Mexico

Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico, the capital and largest city of both Culiacán Municipality and the state of Sinaloa. The city was founded on 29 September 1531 by the Spanish conquerors Lázaro de Cebreros and Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán under the name "Villa de San Miguel", referring to its patron saint, Michael the Archangel. As of the 2020 INEGI census, Culiacán had an estimated population of 808,416, placing it as the 21st most populous city in Mexico, while its metropolitan area had a population of 1,003,530, being the 17th most populous metropolitan area in Mexico. The city is in a valley on the slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental, at the confluence of the Tamazula and Humaya Rivers, where both join to form the Culiacán River 55 m above sea level.

In ancient times, there was an indigenous settlement called Huey Colhuacan that dated back to Tecpatl, which corresponds to the year 628 CE. 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 Culiacáncito. The ancient settlers were called Culichis.

The city that we know today as Culiacán was co founded in 1531 by conquistadors Lázaro de Cebreros and Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán under the name "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. Other indigenous peoples that inhabited the original territory of Culiacán were the Tebacas, Pacaxes, Sabaibo and Achires. After their war of conquest, in 1531, de Cebreros and de Guzmán organized the territories acquired into three provinces. One of them was Culiacán, which was delimited to the South by the Elota River and to the North by the Mocorito River, depending on the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia. Organized in this way, the territory lasted until 1786, the year in which the administration system was implemented, with Sonora and Sinaloa forming the province of Arizpe and the older province of Culiacán remaining the same.

On 6 October 1821, independence was sworn in Culiacán. Culiacán was granted the category of city, on 21 July 1823, when the provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa separated by decree from Congress. In 1824, by the Constitutive Act of the Mexican Federation, Sinaloa and Sonora met again, forming the state of the West. On 13 October 1830, the provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa were definitively separated by decree, with the city of Culiacán designated capital of the state of Sinaloa. In 1861, during the conservative government of the French Intervention, 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, the capital of Sinaloa was moved from Culiacán to Mazatlán. In the Restored Republic, Governor Eustaquio Buelna confronted the merchants of the port. He returned to Culiacán and the Local Congress gave it the status of capital of the state.

In 1878, Culiacán had three City Halls, whose headwaters were Culiacán, Quilá and Badiraguato. It remained that way until 1880, when Badiraguato returned to being a district with the limits that previously corresponded to it. The year 1912 was when municipalities were established by law as a new form of internal government, but it was not until 1915 that this law came into force and political directories were suppressed, causing the districts to become free municipalities. Culiacán was established as a municipality by decree on 8 April 1915. Within its original limits was the current Municipality of Navolato, which was segregated from Culiacán on 27 August 1982, depriving the city of of valley agriculture. Sometime later, the State Congress approved the extension of the name of the capital city, giving it its current official name of Culiacán de Rosales. "Rosales" honors the great Mexican military man Antonio Rosales, who fought in the second French Intervention and the Reform War, along with serving as the governor of Sinaloa.

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 workable distribution infrastructure for the enterprising few families that would later come to dominate the international drug cartels along Mexico's Pacific Northwest. The Sinaloa Cartel made Culiacán its primary base. On 17 October 2019, after an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to arrest one of the cartel leaders, widespread gunfights broke out across the city, leading to multiple deaths, in what has been called the "Battle of Culiacán". One of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's relatives, Ovidio Guzmán, was arrested by police, but were forced to release him.

The coat of arms of the municipality and the city of Culiacán in Sinaloa, Mexico, has various elements that represent the history of the municipality yesterday and today. Rolando Arjona Amábilis was the artist behind the official coat of arms of the Municipality of Culiacán, which was made official through municipal decree number 13 May 26, 1960 and published in number 90 of the Official Newspaper of the State of Sinaloa on 30 July 1960. Its shape is square with rounded corners, ending in a point. The entire face of the shield is covered with a carmine color. In the center is a hieroglyph representing a hill with a human head inclined forward. This glyph alludes to Coltzin, "the crooked god", an authentic figure of Nahuatl mythology, who gave its name to the Nahuatlaca Colhua tribe and, in turn, to the town of its residence, Colhuacán or Teocolhuacán. Across the face of the shield, there are symbols of water referring to rivers. In the central part and towards the left side, a cross is followed by a path on which footprints can be observed that end in a small construction. These motifs symbolize the missionaries of San Miguel de Culiacán left for the North, and they are invoked as an obligatory tribute to the goodness and heroism of the missionaries. On the carmine border, the word "Culiacán" can be read in its upper part, and in its lower part the word "Colhuacán", which corresponds to the true name of the place in the Nahuatl language. In the upper part of the shield, there is a hill with a germinating seed and the figure of a golden sun, alluding both to the tropical climate of this region and to the fundamentally agricultural effort of its inhabitants.

The government of the municipality of Culiacán corresponds to its City Council, this is elected a universal, direct and secret vote for a period of three years that are not renewable for the immediate period but if not continuously and that begins to exercise its position on the day 1 January of the year following your election; The city council is integrated by the Municipal President into a Procurator Trustee and the body of councilors made up of 18 representatives, once they are elected by relative majority and seven by the principle of proportional representation.

For its internal regime, the municipality is subdivided into 17 receiverships, which in turn are divided into police stations, the 17 receiverships of the municipality are: El Salado, Higueras de Abuya, Baila, Aguaruto, Emiliano Zapata, Adolfo López Mateos (El Tamarindo), Jesús María, Las Tapias, Quilá, Sanalona, San Lorenzo, Tacuichamona, Tepuche, Imala, Costa Rica, Culiacáncito and Eldorado.

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

The relief of the municipality is well defined by a mountainous part and the coastal plain. The mountainous part corresponds to the physiographic region of the highlands, part of the Pacific slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range with elevations of 300 to 2,100 meters above sea level. The coastal plain lies to the West and is crossed by four regional rivers: the Humaya, Tamazula, Culiacán and San Lorenzo. The Humaya has its origin in the State of Durango, entering Sinaloa through Badiraguato; its waters are controlled by the Licenciado Adolfo López Mateos dam. The Tamazula River arises in the Sierra Madre Occidental near the Topia Valley; its waters are controlled by the Sanalona dam. The Humaya and Tamazula Rivers unite in front of the city of Culiacán to form the Culiacán River, which empties into the Gulf of California. The San Lorenzo is borne from the Sierra Madre Occidental within the State of Durango, enters Sinaloa through Cosalá and empties into the Gulf of California.

Culiacán has a hot semi arid climate (Köppen: BSh), despite receiving an annual rainfall over , due to its hot temperatures and high evaporation. Summers are very hot and humid, shade temperatures can reach 45 °C (113 °F) 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.

The total number of dwellings that exist in the city are 221,144 of which only 176,799 dwellings are occupied with an average of 3.81 inhabitants per inhabited dwelling. In general, cement roofs, walls and floors are used for the construction of the house, although homes or buildings do not cease to exist, most of them have sheet roofs and earth floors, this occurs mainly in the area peripheral to the south of the city, where the humble settlements of new inhabitants who arrive with the hope of obtaining a better quality of life proliferate. Of the 176,799 occupied dwellings, 173,704 have electricity; 171,614 have piped water; 171,489 have drainage and 169,550 have the 3 services simultaneously. The city has many buildings, among the most noteworthy are, Torre Tres Ríos, Torre Santa María, Torre Tres Afluencias, Mileto 4 Ríos, Estela Corporate Center, Ceiba, BioInnova Building, Tower 120 and Dafi, all located in one of the most important districts of the city, the Tres Ríos Urban Development.

Parque Las Riberas (in Spanish) is the area attached to the Tamazula and Humaya rivers. Different species of trees such as willows, poplars, guamúchiles, and eucalyptus, can be seen. The White Bimodal bridge, which connects the park with the city center, facilitates access for pedestrians and at night it becomes a light show that contrasts with the Black Bridge in Culiacán.

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 and the art installation Encounters by James Turrel. 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.

Orabá Island, as its name indicates, is an island between the confluence of the Tamazula River and the Humaya River, where the Culiacán River is born. It is part of a series of parks and gardens that have been built on the banks of the three rivers. From very early on, many people come to exercise, walk, run, ride a bicycle or simply take a walk among the large trees.

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 14 December 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 Emilio Aguerreverre, Municipal President of Culiacán.

The Tres Ríos Water Park is a recreational space that was built at the confluence of the Humaya and Tamazula rivers, precisely where the Culiacán River is born. This park is very close to Parque Las Riberas. It is the largest and most visited park in the northwest of the country. This park is very visited thanks to its views of the Black Bridge and the Culiacán River.

The dancing or dancing fountains of Culiacán are a spectacle of hundreds of independent fountains programmed to "dance" to the sound of typical Sinaloan music. This show is presented every day in an area of the 3 Ríos Project where the flagpole is located, more specifically, at the mere confluence of the Humaya and Tamazula rivers.

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

Located on Álvaro Obregón Avenue.

Located next to the Rosalina house, which has diverse vegetation, it is a space with colonial architecture.

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 Culiacán.

Newspapers El Debate and El Noroeste are published in Culiacán.

The Terminal de Autobuses de Culiacán or Central de Autobuses Culiacán Millenium is a bus terminal located west of the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. The station is built in front of the Country Club. This plant replaced the old plant that was to the south, in front of Blvd. Gabriel Leyva Solano.

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

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.

Culiacán uses the Central Internacional de Autobuses "Millennium" ("Millennium" International Buses Station) to travel across all Mexico (north, central, and south) and to the United States (Arizona and California). This replaced the old bus terminal in the southern city.

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 Culiacán, making the per capita number of cars one of the highest in the country considering the 745,000 inhabitants.