Northern Mexico

Northern Mexico (Spanish: el Norte de México), commonly referred as El Norte or Aridoamerica, is the cultural and geographical area that contains the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora and Tamaulipas.

In fact there is not a border that separates the northern states from the southern states in Mexico. For some authors, only states that have a border with the US are considered as northern Mexico, but this description would exclude Durango, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur. Other people consider that the north starts above the Tropic of Cancer, but this description would include some parts of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí that are not considered northern states.

It is not known exactly when the first settlers came to Aridoamérica. The bad weather in the region limited the practice of agriculture, so ancient cultures developed a nomadic lifestyle dedicated to hunting and gathering.

One of the most important native cultures at northern Mexico are the Tepehuanes in Durango, who are actually named the Odamis, meaning "people from the mountains". Something similar has happened with the Raramuris in Chihuahua; Raramuri means "people who run", but they are known as Tarahumaras. Other important cultures are Mayos and Yaquis in Sonora, and Laguneros in Coahuila. In Nuevo Leon, many nomads were exterminated for resisting the construction of Monterrey.

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