Cuatro Ciénegas
| Cuatro Ciénegas de Carranza | |
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| City | |
Cuatrociénegas Valley
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 Cuatro Ciénegas de Carranza
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| Coordinates: 26°59′10″N 102°3′59″W / 26.98611°N 102.06639°WCoordinates: 26°59′10″N 102°3′59″W / 26.98611°N 102.06639°W | |
| Country |
 Mexico
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| State | Coahuila |
| Municipality | Cuatrociénegas |
Cuatro Ciénegas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkwatɾo ˈsjeneɣas]) is a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. It stands at 26°59′N 102°03′W / 26.983°N 102.050°W, at an average elevation of 740 metres (2,430 ft) above sea level. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name.
It is located in the state's desert region (Región Desierto). Cuatro Ciénegas is Spanish for "four marshes"; the name was chosen by the first settlers because of the natural springs in the vicinity that create extensive areas of wetland and lakes.
Several failed settlements were founded here prior to the successful establishment of a town by Antonio Cordero y Bustamante on 24 May 1800. The settlement's original name was Nuestra Señora de los Dolores y Cuatro Ciénegas, which was later changed to Villa Venustiano Carranza, before finally settling on its current name.
The city is formally known as Cuatro Ciénegas de Carranza, in honour of its most famous son: Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico from 1915 to 1920, who was born there in 1859.
The municipality reported 12,154 inhabitants in the year 2000 census.
Cuatro Ciénegas is an official Mexican biological reserve. The biological reserves are small ecosystems with unique fauna and flora that are highly protected by government authorities. Recently, NASA stated that the biological reserve of Cuatrociénegas could have strong links to discovering life on Mars, since the adaptability of bioforms in the region was unique in the world. There are some 150 different plants and animals endemic to the valley and its surrounding mountains (e.g., Fouquieria shrevei and Terrapene coahuila), including some 30 aquatic species in the Reserve, eight of which are fish (e.g., Herichthys minckleyi).
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Wikipedia