Chínipas de Almada is a town in the south-western portion of the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

of Chihuahua, in the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

. It serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Chínipas. The name honours Francisco R. Almada, a historian and two-time

governor of Chihuahua According to the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, Executive Power in that Mexican state resides with a single individual, the Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, who is chose ...

born in the town; the "de Almada" suffix was added by the State Congress on 17 June 1976, when Chínipas served as the

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals *List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population *List of national capitals by area *List of ...

for one day.

Demography

As of 2010, Chínipas de Almada had a population of 1,934, up from 1,398 as of 2005.

History

Chínipas was founded as a mission town by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Pedro Juan Castini and Julio Pascual on 31 December 1626. They were both killed, and the mission destroyed, during a Native war against the Spaniards, on 1 February 1632. The mission was rebuilt, slightly downstream, in 1676. Gold was found locally in 1798, which led to the town's rapid expansion with European settlers in the late 19th century. Well known local family names include Piero, Sarracino the Santinis from Italy, Balderrama from Spain, the Schultzes from Germany, the Russos from Sicily, the O'Leary's from Ireland (now spelled Alire), the Bridge's from England (now spelled Breach) and the Willis' from England (now spelled Villis). The largest mine was called the Palmarejo and was British-owned. The equipment was manufactured in England, shipped to

Guaymas Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the List of states of Mexico, state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the Mexico – United States border, U.S. ...

on the

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

coast, transported by mule or donkey to San Bernardo, Sonora and then over the mountains on people's backs. Richard Grant. ''God's Middle Finger''. 2008. Pages 170-73.

Geography

Climate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinipas De Almada Populated places in Chihuahua (state) Populated places established in 1626 1620s establishments in Mexico 1626 establishments in New Spain