Culiacán

Culiacán Rosales Culiacán
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): La Perla del Humaya (The Pearl of the Humaya)
Location of Culiacán within Sinaloa
Location of Sinaloa within Mexico
Coordinates: 24°48′17.46″N 107°23′07.79″W / 24.8048500°N 107.3854972°W / 24.8048500; -107.3854972
Country	Mexico
State	Sinaloa
Foundation	1531
Government
• Mayor	Sergio Torres Felix  PRI
Area
• City	65 km2 (25 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• City	675,773
• Density	10,396/km2 (26,930/sq mi)
• Urban	675,773
• Demonym	Culichi, Culiacanense
Time zone	MST (UTC−7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC−6)
Waterways	Tamazula River, Humaya River, Culiacán River
Airports	Federal de Bachigualato International Airport
Public transit	RedPlus
Railroads	Ferromex Culiacán Station
Website	www.culiacan.gob.mx

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

Most people agree that the name Culiacán apparently comes 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". 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.

Post World War II era

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 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.

Climate data for Culiacán (1951–2010)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	41.0 (105.8)	42.0 (107.6)	39.0 (102.2)	41.5 (106.7)	41.5 (106.7)	45.5 (113.9)	42.5 (108.5)	46.0 (114.8)	41.5 (106.7)	41.5 (106.7)	42.5 (108.5)	37.0 (98.6)	46.0 (114.8)
Average high °C (°F)	27.8 (82)	28.9 (84)	30.5 (86.9)	32.8 (91)	34.9 (94.8)	35.9 (96.6)	35.5 (95.9)	34.8 (94.6)	34.4 (93.9)	34.2 (93.6)	31.5 (88.7)	28.2 (82.8)	32.5 (90.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	19.4 (66.9)	20.1 (68.2)	21.3 (70.3)	23.6 (74.5)	26.4 (79.5)	29.5 (85.1)	29.8 (85.6)	29.3 (84.7)	29.0 (84.2)	27.5 (81.5)	23.5 (74.3)	20.2 (68.4)	25.0 (77)
Average low °C (°F)	10.9 (51.6)	11.3 (52.3)	12.1 (53.8)	14.5 (58.1)	18.0 (64.4)	23.2 (73.8)	24.1 (75.4)	23.8 (74.8)	23.6 (74.5)	20.7 (69.3)	15.6 (60.1)	12.2 (54)	17.5 (63.51)
Record low °C (°F)	2.0 (35.6)	2.0 (35.6)	3.0 (37.4)	3.0 (37.4)	9.0 (48.2)	12.0 (53.6)	13.0 (55.4)	16.0 (60.8)	17.0 (62.6)	11.0 (51.8)	5.0 (41)	3.0 (37.4)	2.0 (35.6)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	18.4 (0.724)	11.7 (0.461)	2.8 (0.11)	2.4 (0.094)	1.1 (0.043)	19.7 (0.776)	162.8 (6.409)	209.2 (8.236)	141.6 (5.575)	50.0 (1.969)	21.3 (0.839)	26.3 (1.035)	667.3 (26.271)
Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm)	2.2	1.4	0.6	0.4	0.2	2.4	13.8	14.8	10.8	2.9	1.6	2.2	53.3
Average relative humidity (%)	68	63	59	56	57	62	70	74	74	70	66	68	66
Mean monthly sunshine hours	196.4	201.6	236.2	225.7	262.1	229.4	198.8	199.2	200.2	231.9	224.6	193.8	2,599.9
Source #1: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional[1]
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).

Administrative divisions

Culiacán is divided into 27 sectors (sectores), which are groups of several quarters (colonias):

Media

The newspaper El Debate is published in Culiacán.

Education

Universities

• Centro de Estudios Universitarios Superiores (CEUS)
• Escuela Libre de Derecho de Sinaloa
• Instituto Tecnológico de Culiacán
• Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) - Campus Sinaloa
• Universidad Asia-Pacifico
• Universidad Autónoma de Durango-Campus Culiacán
• Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa
• Universidad Casa Blanca
• Universidad Católica de Culiacán
• Universidad Golfo de México - Campus Culiacán
• Universidad México Internacional
• Universidad de Occidente - Campus Culiacán
• Universidad de San Miguel (USM)
• Universidad TecMilenio - Campus Culiacán
• Universidad Tecnológica de Sinaloa
• Universidad Valle del Bravo - Campus Culiacán
• Universidad de Veracruz - Campus Culiacán
• Universidad Tecnológica de Culiacán

Transportation

Transit system

Urban transport

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.

• Zapata (Blvd. Emiliano Zapata)
• 280-Aeropuerto (Blvd. Aeropuerto)
• Eje Aeropuerto (Blvd. Aeropuerto-Emiliano Carranza street)
• 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.

• Mexican Federal Highway 15 (North: Los Mochis/South: Mazatlán)
• Sanalona Free Highway (Southeast: Sanalona (exit)/Cosalá)

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)

Airport

Culiacán is served by Federal de Bachigualato International Airport (IATA: CUL, ICAO: MMCL), the most important domestic gateway in the state of Sinaloa, and the second on international operations after Mazatlán International Airport. It is located south of downtown. And it is also the 10th Mexican Air Force base.

Entertainment

Tourism

• 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, Zara, C&A, 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.

Notable people from Culiacán

Entertainment

• Yolanda Andrade, TV host
• Paul Rodriguez, Hollywood actor and talk show host
• Chalino Sánchez, Corridos
• Luis Campos, Drummer (Collinz Room, Noelia)
• Sheyla Tadeo, actress, comedienne and singer
• Cesar Millan, Dog trainer

Sports

• Julio César Chávez, boxer with six world championships in three weight divisions^[5]
• Julio César Chávez, Jr., former Middleweight Champion^[6]
• Omar Chávez, Welterweight contender Prospect^[7]
• Óliver Pérez, Major League Baseball player
• Alberto Medina, footballer
• Jared Borgetti, footballer
• Jorge Iván Estrada, footballer
• Héctor Moreno, footballer

Modeling

• Paulina Flores Arias, Miss Mexico 2000, supermodel
• Rosa María Ojeda Cuen, Miss Mexico 2006
• Laura Elena Zuniga Huizar, Miss Mexico 2008, Miss Latinoamericana 2008, supermodel
• Perla Judith Beltrán Acosta, Miss Mexico 2009, 2009 Miss World, Miss World top model

Arts

• José Limón, pioneering modern dancer and choreographer

Other

• Ismael Zambada García, also known as El Mayo Zambada, is a Mexican drug lord and successor of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, Known as "El Chapo Guzmán".
• El Chino Ántrax, imprisoned Mexican professional hitman and high-ranking leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
• Vicente Zambada Niebla, also known as "El Vicentillo", is a imprisoned drug trafficker of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel and son of Ismael Zambada García
• Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, convicted Mexican drug lord who formed the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s, arrested for the murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena

Gallery

• 

  Cathedral in Culiacán

• 

  Culiacán's downtown

• 

  Culiacán street

• 

  Culiacán River by Sinaloa Blvd

• 

  "La Plazuela Rosales"

See also

• Aguaruto, Sinaloa
• Culiacancito

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Culiacán.

• (Spanish) H. Ayuntamiento de Culiacán — Official website
• (Spanish) Culiacán Travel Guide - Official website

State of Sinaloa Culiacán (capital) Municipalities and (municipal seats) Ahome (Los Mochis) Angostura (Angostura) Badiraguato (Badiraguato) Choix (Choix) Concordia (Concordia) Cosalá (Cosalá) Culiacán (Culiacán) El Fuerte (El Fuerte) Elota (La Cruz) Escuinapa (Escuinapa de Hidalgo) Guasave (Guasave) Mazatlán (Mazatlán) Mocorito (Mocorito) Navolato (Navolato) Rosario (El Rosario) Salvador Alvarado (Guamúchil) San Ignacio (San Ignacio) Sinaloa (Sinaloa de Leyva)

Mexican state capitals Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes) Mexicali (Baja California) La Paz (Baja California Sur) Campeche (Campeche) Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Chiapas) Chihuahua (Chihuahua) Saltillo (Coahuila) Colima (Colima) Mexico City Durango (Durango) Guanajuato (Guanajuato) Chilpancingo (Guerrero) Pachuca (Hidalgo) Guadalajara (Jalisco) Toluca (State of Mexico) Morelia (Michoacán) Cuernavaca (Morelos) Tepic (Nayarit) Monterrey (Nuevo León) Oaxaca (Oaxaca) Puebla (Puebla) Querétaro (Querétaro) Chetumal (Quintana Roo) San Luis Potosí (San Luis Potosí) Culiacán (Sinaloa) Hermosillo (Sonora) Villahermosa (Tabasco) Ciudad Victoria (Tamaulipas) Tlaxcala (Tlaxcala) Xalapa (Veracruz) Mérida (Yucatán) Zacatecas (Zacatecas)

Coordinates: 24°48′N 107°23′W / 24.800°N 107.383°W / 24.800; -107.383