Mostpeopleagreethat the name''Culiacán''apparentlycomes from the word ''colhuacan'', which can mean "palace of snakes", but traditionally the most accepted translation would be "place of those who adore the crooked god [[Coltzin]]".
The most accepted translation would be Colhuacan "place of those who adore the crooked god [[Coltzin]]". Other translation may be that come from the word ''coahuacan'', which can mean "palace of snakes".
Before the [[Spaniards]] arrived from Europe, this site had been a small Indian settlement since 628 when
Before the [[Spaniards]] arrived from Europe, this site had been a small Indian settlement since 628 when [[Amerindians]] had first founded it.
Culiacán (kuljaˈkanⓘ) is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city (census of 2010), and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa. The municipality has a total area of 4,758 km2 (1,837 sq mi), the city itself is dense, at only 65 km2 (25 sq mi).
The city is located in a valley at the confluence of the Tamazula and Humaya Rivers, where the two meet to form the Culiacán River, and is located 55 meters above sea level. It is located in the center of the state with almost equal distance to the other urban centers of the state: Los Mochis to the north, and Mazatlán to the south.
History
Pre-colonial period
The most accepted translation would be Colhuacan "place of those who adore the crooked god Coltzin". Other translation may be that come from the word coahuacan, which can mean "palace of snakes".
Before the Spaniards arrived from Europe, this site had been a small Indian settlement since 628 when Amerindians had first founded it.
Foundation
The city existing today was founded in 1531 by the Spanish captain Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán and named San Miguel de Culiacán. In the same decade, it was the terminus of the long journey of Cabeza de Vaca and company among natives. Explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado set out from Culiacán to explore what is now the southwestern United States. Settlers from Europe came to Culiacán, and in the following centuries, Culiacán continued to be a quiet town. It was only after the federal government built dams in the adjacent areas in the 1950s that agriculture exploded and the city began to grow exponentially. Some of Mexico's largest agricultural conglomerates operate in the vast and fertile coastal plains. The agro-industrial economy continues to be the single largest contributor to the region's legal economy. While the vast majority of technical and skilled labor is educated locally, the once-seasonal field labor pool now experiences a yearly shortage of workers. International patterns of migration now draw laborers from deep within Mexico's south to the northern border states and into the United States.
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.
Climate
Culiacán has a semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh), despite receiving an annual rainfall of over 600 millimetres (24 in), due to its hot temperatures and high evaporation. Summers are very hot and humid, shade temperatures can reach 45 °C (113 °F) and high humidy can produce heat indexes of h 50 to 55 °C (122 to 131 °F), 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 cool nights. Puro Culiacán Sinaloa Compas
Source 2: Colegio de Postgraduados (humidity and sun)[2]
Economy
Culiacán's economy is mainly agricultural and commerce, being a trade center for produce, meat and fish. Among other industries, Culiacán represents 32% of the state economy.
There are companies of national importance headquartered in Culiacán like Coppel, Casa Ley, Homex, among others.
The Sinaloa Cartel, a drug-trafficking and organized crime syndicate, is based in Culiacán.[3]
Demographics
The total population of the city is 675,773. Immigration to Culiacán comes from all parts of the world, but especially from southern Mexico, Japan, China, and Europe (Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Greece).
At present, Culiacán has just over 68 urban transport routes, which serves approximately 1 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 at north with Guaymas.
Bus station
Culiacán uses the Central Internacional de Autobuses "Millennium" ("Millennium" International Buses Station) to travel across all Mexico (North, Center and South) and to the United States (Arizona and California). This replaced the old bus terminal in the southern city.
Roads and expressways
Though there are several high speed roads, most of the city's streets are rather narrow and traffic jams are common at rush hours.
Main roads
Culiacán has several roads (avenues, boulevards, streets, etc.) but some of these are the main quick connection to another points to the city.
Álvaro Obregón Ave
Francisco I. Madero Blvd.
Paseo Niños Heroes
El Dorado Ave
Aeropuerto
Emiliano Zapata Blvd.
Benjamín Hill Ave
Calzada de las Torres
México 68
Plan Mar de Cortes
Heroico Colegio Militar
Revolución Ave
Sanalona Way
Rolando Arjona Amabilis Blvd.
Universitarios
José Limón Blvd.
Las Américas
Diego Valadez Ríos
Manuel J. Clouthier
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
José Vasconcelos
Gabriel Leyva Solano Blvd.
Xicoténcatl
Josefa Ortíz de Domínguez
Enrique Sanchez Alonso Blvd.
De los Insurgentes
Pedro Infante Blvd.
Rotarismo Road
Ciudades Hermanas
Patria Ave
Constituyentes Emiliano García
Nicolás Bravo
21 de Marzo Ave
Las Minas
Bridges and tunnels
The city has a total of thirteen bridges: six across the Tamazula River, two spanning the Humaya River and the longest one with others four crossing 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 forty km/h speed limit in most parts of the city worsens the situation.
It was recently published that there are 300,000 cars in Culiacán making the per capita number of cars one of the highest in the country considering the 745,000 inhabitants.
On Feb. 17, 2014, investigators from Mexico and the United States learned Joaquín Guzmán Loera, or El Chapo, was utilizing underground sewage tunnels in Culiacán by constructing hatches connecting to the drainage network in the bathtubs of his city "stash houses."[4]
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.[4]
Musalá Bridge (Tamazula River)
Musalá-Universitaria Bridge (Tamazula River)
Benito Juárez Bridge (Tamazula River)
Morelos Bridge (Tamazula River)
Miguel Hidalgo Bridge (Tamazula River)
Juan de Dios Bátiz-Tres Ríos Brige (Tamazula River)
Josefa Ortíz de Domínguez Bridge (Humaya River)
Rafael Buelna Bridge (Humaya River)
Jorge Almada Bridge (Culiacán River)
Black Rail Brige (Culiacán River)
Rolando Arjona Amabilis-UDO (Culiacán River)
USE-Valle Alto (Culiacán River)
Libramiento Recursos (Rosales Channel)
Eje Federalismo Bridges (Rosales Channel)
Chavez Castro Bridge (Rosales Channel)
Emiliano Zapata Pass Bridge (Rosales Channel)
Also, Culiacán has bridges in streets conforming High Transit Systems in places where is common the Rush Hour.
Mexico 15 (Plan Mar de Cortes-Mexican Federal Highway 15)
Primavera (Plan Mar de Cortes-La Primavera)
Eje El Trébol (Plan Mar de Cortes-Blvd. Jesús Kumate)
Eje Federalismo Tunnels (Gabriel Leyva Solano/Francisco I. Madero-Federalismo)
UdO (Blvd. Rolando Arjona-Blvd. Lola Beltrán) Under construction
Gasolinera del Valle (Blvd. Jesús Kumate-Blvd. Emiliano Zapata) Under construction
Japac Country (Blvd. Pedro Infante-Blvd. Rolando Arjona) Spring 2013
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 north with Los Mochis and to 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.
Freeway 15D (South: Mazatlán)
Freeway 280-30 (West: Navolato-Altata)
Freeway 3-225 (North: Melchor Ocampo-Guamuchil)
Freeway 5-325 (South: Costa Rica-El Dorado)
Tamazula Interstate Freeway (Northeast: Sanalona-Tamazula de Victoria)
Cathedral in CuliacánLas Riveras Park on Old Waterfront
Imala's hot springs, which are about a 30 minute ride from the city and close to several dams and reservoirs where you can fish large mouth bass all year round.
Altata beach located 30 minutes from Culiacán, where there has been extensive development over the last couple of years. It has a "sister" beach called Isla Cortés (Cortes Island) or Nuevo Altata (New Altata) where this project of travel destination, has begun with some restaurants, and private areas. It is famous for its blue sea, white sand, modern restaurants and bars, nightclubs, and high sea waves.
The Cathedral, a 19th-century church which began construction in the 1830s.
Plazuela Alvaro Obregón, which was the place for social gatherings in the 1800s.
La Lomita or Templo de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is the tallest church in Culiacán, situated on a hill with a view of the entire city.
The Centro Cultural Genaro Estrada, known by the locals as "Difocur", encompasses a theater, movie theater, a cafe and a group of museums specialized in local culture. DIFOCUR is also the home of the Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de las Artes. The OSSLA performs a 42-week season (September to June) of symphony, pops, opera, ballet, and chamber music, and features musicians from more than fifteen different countries, including Mexico, the United States, England, Scotland, Canada, Romania, Argentina, and others. Working under the auspicies of the government of Sinaloa, the OSSLA also performs many outreach and educational programs around the state of Sinaloa, as well as throughout Mexico.
Regional History Museum in the "Parque Constitución", a large art museum downtown and a number of small art galleries owned by several of the local universities.
Botanical Garden and Centro de Ciencias de Sinaloa, a science museum that holds the fifth largest meteorite on earth.
A baseball stadium, the "Estadio Angel Flores" home of Los Tomateros de Culiacán, a bigger football arena called "Estadio Banorte" (Former Estadio Carlos González) home of Los Dorados de Sinaloa, Mexican Football Team, and several university stadiums.
In Downtown, the best preserved old street is the "calle Rosales", between Rosales square and the Cathedral.
Attractions
FORUM Culiacán Mall - Largest mall in Culiacán. It offers stores like Liverpool, Sears, Steve Madden, Pull and Bear, Zara, C&A, Lacoste, Nine West, Victoria's Secret, MacStore, Starbucks, Sanborns, Tous, Cinemex movie theater, MixUp, boutiques, kiosks, food area, and a HSBC.
Plaza Galerias San Miguel - Second largest mall. It offers Sears, Citi Cinemas movie theater, and mainly shoe stores.
Plaza Cinépolis - A modern plaza/little mall in western city, and it is the only place in Culiacán where anyone can find the Cinépolis movie theater. It offers many boutiques, some famous restaurants of the city, including Sushi Factory and Italianni's, the Antártica Ice Rink and Royal Yak casino right after the parking area, and the school supplies store Office Depot.
Plaza Fiesta - A plaza located on the center. It offers Coppel, a Ley Plaza (Super Market), restaurants, little boutiques and shoe stores.
Plaza La Campiña - A plaza/little mall in eastern city, very near the Culiacán river. It offers Pavi, Coppel, a Mega Plaza/Comercial Mexicana (Super Market), many boutiques, jewelers, and seasonally a Go Karts track.
Movie theaters: Cinépolis (1), Cinemex (2), & Citi Cinemas (2).
Gambling and casinos: Caliente (3), Royal Yak, Ermitage, Las Palmas (Nuevo León franchise), Lomas Play and Play City (2008).
Nightclubs: Catalina, Barezzito, Ópera etc.
Antártica Ice Rink
Parks:
Ernesto Millán Escalante Park (previously known as Culiacán '87): It has many pools, attractions, an artificial lake, gardens, sports courts, the longest water slide in northern Mexico, an open air Hellenic theatre, etc.
Revolución Park
Constitución Civic Center: Culiacán's civic center located in eastern city at the Malecón Viejo (Old Waterfront), facing the Tamazula river. It has the Culiacán Library, the Culiacán Zoo, the second Dancing Fountains in city where people go when it is hot, sports courts, a big run track and a Hellenic theater.
Las Riveras Park (The Riversides Park): A park located around the Tamazula river, between Forum Culiacán Complex, the Isla de Orabá park (Orab Island park) the Malecón Viejo (Old Waterfront) and the Malecón Nuevo (New Waterfront). It has only pedal boats and a tyrolean across the river. Also a bike path, including recreational games. Here is celebrated Mother's Day, Father's Day, Children's Day and the Holy Week.
Water parks: Splash Club! is one of the largest water parks in the state of Sinaloa.
Nearby towns and villages:
La Primavera (The Spring) is a small and private urbanized zone in the south of city. Contains many houses, two schools, a little mall next to a full of ducks channel, a sport club and a channels group connected to the biggest lake in Culiacán, where anyone can fish and go camping.
El Conchal and other small villages with a population of 500 or less are located 8 kilometers from El Dorado. There people live on fishing and tourism. People charge 350 pesos to give boat group tours.
Sports
The city is home to two 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 soccer with Dorados de Sinaloa, who play at the Estadio Banorte (Estadio Carlos González). Duck, dove and goose hunting season goes from early November through March. Culiacán also holds a yearly international marathon.
PRI
