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Northern Mexico Norte de México (Spanish) | |
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Cultural region of Mexico | |
 .jpg) .jpg)      Left-right from top:Monterrey,Tijuana,Ciudad Juárez,Torreón,Chihuahua,Hermosillo,Durango andMazatlán. | |
| Etymology: La tierra al norte del trópico (in Spanish); The land above the tropic (in English). | |
| Nicknames: Aridoamerica, el Norti (local pronunciation) | |
 | |
| States | Baja California,Baja California Sur,Chihuahua,Coahuila,Durango,Nuevo León,Sinaloa,Sonora andTamaulipas |
| Largest city | Tijuana |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,054,549 km2 (407,164 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 27,056,627 |
| • Density | 25.65706/km2 (66.45148/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Norteño, norteña |
Northern Mexico (Spanish:el Norte de México,pronounced[elˈnoɾteðeˈmexiko]ⓘ), commonly referred asThe North (Spanish:El Norte), is an informal term for the northern cultural and geographical area inMexico. Depending on the source, it contains some or all of the states ofBaja California,Baja California Sur,Chihuahua,Coahuila,Durango,Nuevo León,Sinaloa,Sonora andTamaulipas.
There is no specific border that separates the northern states from the southern states in Mexico. For some authors, only states that have a border with theUnited States are considered as northern Mexico, i.e. Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora and Tamaulipas.[1] Others also includeDurango, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur.[2] Other people consider that the north starts above theTropic of Cancer,[3] but this description would include some parts ofZacatecas andSan Luis Potosí that are not considered northern states.
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It is not known precisely when the first settlers came to northern Mexico. The harsh climate in the region limited the practice of agriculture, so ancient cultures developed anomadic lifestyle dedicated tohunting and gathering.[4]
One of the most important native cultures in northern Mexico are theTepehuanes ofDurango, whoseautonym isOdami "people from the mountains".[5] Similarly, theRarámuri "people who run" ofChihuahua are called the Tarahumaras by outsiders. Other important cultures are theMayos in Sinaloa and Sonora, theYaquis in Sonora, and the Laguneros ofLaguna Pueblo inCoahuila. InNuevo León, many nomads were exterminated for resisting the construction ofMonterrey.[6]
The first city of the region wasDurango, founded in 1563 byFrancisco de Ibarra, aBasque explorer. During the colonial era, Durango, Chihuahua and some parts of Sinaloa and Coahuila were a Basque colony named theNueva Vizcaya. Now, most Duranguenses are Basque descendants.[7] Other important cities like Monterrey were founded almost 50 years later.
The Spanish rulers expanded the northern frontier of the colony through centuries of difficult conquest.[8] In the late 18th century, they established a punitive policy to defend against indigenous raids from the north.[9] During this period, they also established separate governance for the northern regions, which were thought of as "interior provinces" from the perspective of people in Mexico City.[10]
Northern Mexico's proximity to the United States became a major factor in the region's postcolonial history, as the northern half of Mexico wasannexed into the United States by the mid-19th century.[11] During thePorfiriato, the region's traditionally agricultural economy was disrupted as it became the focus of capital investments from the United States and the rest of Mexico.[12]
Mexico sometimes feared the loss ofBaja California, which had a particularly strong economic and geographic integration with the United States, due to its importance in protecting Pacific trade routes.[13]
| Baja California | Baja California Sur | Chihuahua |
 |  |  |
| Mexicali | La Paz | Chihuahua |
| Coahuila | Durango | Nuevo León |
 |  |  |
| Saltillo | Durango | Monterrey |
| Sinaloa | Sonora | Tamaulipas |
 |  |  |
| Culiacán | Hermosillo | Ciudad Victoria |
Northern Mexican culture is very different from the culture in south and central Mexico. Northern Mexican opinion tends to be more conservative on average on cultural topics likeabortion,gay marriage and legalization ofmarijuana,[14] but more liberal on topics like business or technology.[15]
In early 2014, the Strategic Communication Cabinet, a statistical consulting services company, published a report called "Social Intolerance In Mexico",[16] in which polls that covered several social issues were conducted in the 45 largest cities and municipalities of the country. Aside from liberalMexico City, the federal capital, the study found the strongest support forsame-sex marriage in northern cities such asTijuana andLa Paz; whereas it was the weakest inDurango,Ciudad Victoria,Chihuahua andMonterrey. As foradoption by same-sex couples, it was more widely accepted in the border cities of Tijuana andCiudad Juárez, while the least support was found in Chihuahua and Durango. Support for abortion upon request, cannabis legalisation andeuthanasia was the weakest in northern Mexico. Nonetheless, Coahuila became the first state tolegalise same-sex marriage in the country.[17]
Some important days in the north are July 8, the foundation ofDurango (the first city founded in the North) and the carnaval of Mazatlán, celebrated 6 days beforeAsh Wednesday.
As well as the Spanish and the Indigenous people, northern Mexico has receivedLebanese,Jewish,Portuguese,Chinese,Irish,German,Italian andSpanish immigrants. All this mixture of cultures has strongly influenced the cuisine from the north. Northern Mexican gastronomy is based on beef, goat and pig meat and flour tortillas,[18] which are remnants of Jewish and Lebanese heritage.[19] Because of the German influence cheese and dairy products are also important in the cuisine of the region.
Nachos,quesadillas andburritos are probably the three most famous dishes from the north. One of the most famous customs from northern Mexico is to reunite family and friends on weekends to preparebarbecue, namedCarne Asada by the Mexicans.[20] A variation of this tradition is to preparediscada, a mixture of grilled meats cooked on an agricultural plow disk harrow.
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Association football, or soccer, is one of the region's most popular sports,[23] as it hosts five out of the eighteen teams that currently play in theLiga MX, the country's top division of thedomestic football league system. Major cities are home to these teams such asMonterrey andTigres UANL, both based in Monterrey,Santos Laguna in Torreón,Tijuana in the border city of the same name andJuárez based on the homonymous border city of Juárez. Notably, Northern teams have dominated the Liga MX in the 2010s, winning a combined total ofnine titles and reaching more than half of the decade's finals.[24][25][26] Moreover, Northern teams that play in theAscenso MX, the second professional level of the domestic football system, includeDorados de Sinaloa from Culiacán,Cimarrones de Sonora in Hermosillo,Tampico Madero andCorrecaminos UAT, both based in the state of Tamaulipas.
Baseball is another popular sport in northern Mexico,[27] particularly in states such as Sinaloa and Sonora.[28][29] Seven of the sixteen teams of theTriple-AMexican League, the country's oldest running professional league, are based in the North:Sultanes de Monterrey,Saraperos de Saltillo,Acereros de Monclova,Algodoneros de Unión Laguna,Generales de Durango,Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos andToros de Tijuana. Of these, three (Saraperos, Acereros, and Algodoneros) are based in Coahuila, which is thus the only state to have more than one team in the league, and one of only three states or provinces to have three teams in Triple-A baseball (the others beingTexas andNew York). Sultanes de Monterrey has been the most successful Northern team in the Mexican League, winning ten championships (the third most of any team), but Tecolotes, Saraperos, and Algodoneros all have multiple titles to their names. In winter-league play, the independentMexican Pacific League (Liga Mexicana del Pacífico or LMP) is based in the North, with most of its eight teams playing in Northwestern Mexico. The league is considered competitive, as the winter schedule coincides with theMajor League Baseball offseason and MLB players can participate. Since the 1970s, the winner of the Mexican Pacific League has competed in the prestigiousCaribbean Series, won nine times by Mexican teams, primarily in the 21st century, such asYaquis de Obregón andNaranjeros de Hermosillo, based in the state of Sonora,Venados de Mazatlán andTomateros de Culiacán, both based in the state of Sinaloa.[30] Moreover, there are several minor state-wide baseball leagues in the region such asLiga Estatal de Béisbol de Chihuahua,Liga Mayor de Béisbol de La Laguna andLiga Norte de México.
Another popular sport isbasketball, played at the professional level throughout the entire year between theNational Basketball League, founded in 2000, and thePacific Coast Circuit, which exclusively involves teams based in Northwestern Mexico. TheLiga de Básquetbol Estatal de Chihuahua is a minor league played primarily by local teams in the border state of Chihuahua. Remarkably, Chihuahua-bornEduardo Nájera became the second Mexican to play in theNational Basketball Association (NBA), after Sinaloa-bornHoracio Llamas. As forAmerican football,National Football League (NFL) following is popular in several northern cities, particularly amongst the middle and upper classes.[31][32] Notably, Torreón-born kickerRaúl Allegre played for several NFL teams throughout his career in the 1980s.Boxing is one of the most popular sports in the country and northern Mexico has long been a source of world-famous boxers such asJulio César Chávez, his sonJulio, Jr.,Jorge Arce andJorge Paez.
Northern Mexican Spanish distinguishes itself from other varieties of Spanish spoken in the country for its strong intonation. Due to its proximity to the United States, it receives a great deal of influence from English. For example, English words such as troca (truck), lonche (lunch) and bai (bye) are of common usage.
In addition to Spanish, there are also many Indigenous languages, withTepehuan,Mayo, andTarahumara being among the largest and most prominent. However, another important difference between the North and South-Central Spanish is that northern Mexico Spanish has not received as much Native American influence as Central and South Mexico Spanish, this is because northern Mexico has the lowest concentration of Indigenous communities of all regions in the country and there is not a single Indigenous language that surpasses 100,000 speakers.
Curiously, in Spanish dubs from English language films or TV series, it is a cliche to associate the Northern Mexican accent with people fromAustralia orSouthern USA, so a lot of Hispanics wrongly associate Northern Mexican Spanish withAustralian English andSouthern American English.
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