Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

in Northwest

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

that is divided into 39

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. According to the 2020 Mexican

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Durango is the 25th most populous state with inhabitants, but the 4th largest by land area spanning . Durango has a population density of , making it Mexico's second-lowest dense state, after

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

. Municipalities in Durango are administratively autonomous of the state according to the 115th article of the 1917

Constitution of Mexico The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

. Every three years, citizens elect a

municipal president A ''presidente municipal'' (English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines under the Spanish and American colonization; it is comparable to a mayor of the town or city ...

(Spanish: ''presidente municipal'') by a

plurality voting Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate, or candidates, who poll more than any other counterpart (that is, receive a plurality), are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per ...

system who heads a concurrently elected municipal council (''ayuntamiento'') responsible for providing all the public services for their constituents. The municipal council consists of a variable number of trustees and councillors (''regidores y síndicos''). Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, and the maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries. They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1984, they have had the power to collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own income. The largest municipality by population is the state capital

, with 688,697 residents or approximately of the state population. The smallest municipality by population is

San Pedro del Gallo San Pedro del Gallo is a town and seat of the municipality of San Pedro del Gallo, in the state of Durango, north-western Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of Nor ...

with 1,633 residents. The largest municipality by land area is also Durango which spans , and the smallest is

Vicente Guerrero Vicente Ramón Guerrero (; baptized August 10, 1782 – February 14, 1831) was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence. He fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and later served as ...

which spans . Most municipalities were incorporated upon the division of the state of Durango into municipal units by the ''Constitución Política del Estado Libre de Durango'' on September 1, 1825, shortly after the state was admitted to the Union of Mexico. The most recent municipality to incorporate is

Nuevo Ideal Nuevo Ideal is a city in the state of Durango, Mexico. In the 1920s, a population of Mennonite immigrants, originating from Canada, settled in the area. As of 2020, Nuevo Ideal had a population of 12,850. The city is located on the eastern slopes ...

, on January 1, 1989.

Municipalities

File:Panoramica plaza de armas Durango.jpg, alt=Downtown Durango,

, capital and largest municipality in the state. File:Uadlaguna.JPG, alt=Dawn at Gomez Palacio,

Gómez Palacio Gómez (frequently anglicized as Gomez) is a common Spanish patronymic surname meaning "son of Gome". The Portuguese and Old Galician version is Gomes, while the Catalan form is Gomis. The given name ''Gome'' is derived from the Visigothic word ...

, second largest municipality. File:Plaza_de_armas_de_lerdo.JPG, alt=Plaza de Armas, Lerdo, Lerdo, third largest municipality.

Notes

References

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