Geography
Coahuila covers 151,563 km², third among the states after Chihuahua and Sonora, and most of it is Chihuahuan Desert: creosote and yucca plains between north–south ranges, with rainfall under 300 mm a year across the centre of the state. The land tilts from about 2,000 m in the south-eastern sierras to 220 m on the Río Bravo, which forms the whole northern boundary with Texas for about 510 km.
The south-east corner is the exception. There the Sierra Madre Oriental crosses the state and lifts Saltillo to 1,600 m and Arteaga higher still; Cerro San Rafael, about 3,700 m, is the highest summit in north-eastern Mexico and holds one of the country's few conifer forests at that latitude. West of the sierra lies Parras, an oasis of vineyards where wine has been made since 1597, the oldest winery in the Americas.
Two other landscapes stand out. The Comarca Lagunera in the south-west, shared with Durango, is an irrigated cotton and dairy basin fed by the Nazas river and centred on Torreón. Cuatro Ciénegas, in the middle of the desert, is a valley of more than 200 spring-fed pools whose stromatolites and endemic fish and turtles have made it a protected area and a long-running subject of astrobiology research. North of it is the Bolsón de Mapimí, the closed basin often called the Zona del Silencio.
Two other things sit under the desert. The Sabinas basin in the north-east is the only worked coal field in Mexico and has supplied the Monclova steel works since the 1900s. And the Cretaceous rocks around Rincón Colorado, west of Saltillo, hold one of the best dinosaur fossil records in Latin America, including the hadrosaur Velafrons coahuilensis; the site is open as a paleontological park and the finds are shown at the Museo del Desierto in Saltillo.
Main cities
Municipal populations, INEGI census of 2020. Coahuila is unusually decentralised: no single city holds a third of the state, and its people are split between three separate metropolitan areas — Saltillo in the south-east, the Laguna in the south-west and the Monclova–Frontera corridor in the middle.
| City | Population (2020) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Saltillo | 879,958 | Capital; car and truck assembly |
| Torreón | 720,848 | Laguna metro with Gómez Palacio and Lerdo |
| Monclova | 237,951 | Steel, Altos Hornos de México |
| Piedras Negras | 173,959 | Crossing to Eagle Pass, Texas |
| Ciudad Acuña | 163,178 | Crossing to Del Rio, Texas |
| Matamoros | about 121,000 | Laguna district, not the Tamaulipas city |
| San Pedro | about 99,000 | Cotton and dairy, Laguna |
| Frontera | about 83,000 | Adjoins Monclova |
| Sabinas | about 63,000 | Coal basin |
| Parras de la Fuente | about 45,000 | Wine town, Pueblo Mágico |
Neighbouring states
Coahuila meets five states. Chihuahua lies west across the desert, Durango south-west in the Laguna, Zacatecas south around Concepción del Oro, San Luis Potosí at the south-eastern corner and Nuevo León east, the two capitals only 85 km apart. The northern edge is the US border with Texas, second only to Chihuahua in length among Mexican states.
Getting there
Plan de Guadalupe International (SLW) at Ramos Arizpe serves Saltillo, Francisco Sarabia (TRC) serves Torreón and the Laguna, and there are smaller airports at Monclova (LOV), Piedras Negras (PDS) and Ciudad Acuña (ACN). Most long-haul visitors use Monterrey (MTY), an hour from Saltillo. The airports map lists the codes.
Federal Highway 57 is the main north–south route, running from Piedras Negras through Monclova and Saltillo to San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and Mexico City; it carries most of the truck traffic between Texas and central Mexico. Highway 40 and its toll road 40D cross the state east to west, linking Monterrey with Saltillo, Torreón and Durango. Highway 30 connects Monclova with Torreón, and Highway 2 runs beside the Río Bravo. Saltillo is about 850 km from Mexico City, nine to ten hours by 57D; Torreón is about 1,000 km, eleven hours. The road map shows the federal numbers.
Within the state the driving distances are long: Saltillo to Piedras Negras is about 430 km on Highway 57, Saltillo to Ciudad Acuña about 470 km, and Saltillo to Torreón about 260 km on 40D. There is no passenger rail service, but Coahuila is one of the busiest freight rail corridors in Mexico, with the Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuña bridges carrying trains into Texas. Long-distance buses connect all the main cities and run hourly between Saltillo and Monterrey.
Questions about Coahuila
Where is Coahuila on the map of Mexico?
In the north-east, between Chihuahua and Nuevo León, with about 510 km of Texas border along the Río Bravo. Its full name is Coahuila de Zaragoza and it is the third-largest state by area.
What is Coahuila known for?
Steel and coal — the Monclova mills and the Sabinas coal basin, the only one worked in Mexico — plus car and truck plants around Saltillo, the desert springs of Cuatro Ciénegas, the wine of Parras and one of the richest dinosaur fossil records in Latin America.
How far is Saltillo from Monterrey?
About 85 km east on Highway 40D, roughly one hour. Saltillo is the state capital but Monterrey is the larger city and the region's air gateway; the two form a single industrial corridor.
Where do you cross into Texas from Coahuila?
Piedras Negras into Eagle Pass and Ciudad Acuña into Del Rio are the two main crossings, with a smaller one at Ciudad Acuña's Lake Amistad end. Highway 57 runs south from Piedras Negras to Saltillo and on to Mexico City.
Is Coahuila safe to visit?
Saltillo, Parras, Cuatro Ciénegas and Torreón are visited routinely and Coahuila has for several years carried one of the lower US State Department advisory levels among the northern border states, though warnings remain for specific areas. Check the current advisory before travelling.