Torreón

The city of Torreón and surrounding municipality is a city in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2005, the city's population was 548,723 with 577,477 in the municipality. The metropolitan population, including Matamoros, Coahuila, and Gómez Palacio and Lerdo in adjacent Durango, was 1,110,000. It is the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in the country and is one of Mexico's most important economic and industrial centers. Torreón is served by Francisco Sarabia International Airport, a small airport with flights to several cities in Mexico and the United States. Torreón is becoming rather Americanized, malls and amenities found in the United States are beginning to grow into everyday lifestyles like their neighbors to the North.

Geography

Torreón is near the southwest border of the state of Coahuila, within the Laguna region of the state (coord|25|33|N|103|28|W|). The border is delineated by the Nazas River that separates it from Gómez Palacio, Durango. The municipality covers convert|1947.7|km2|sqmi|1|abbr=on, including much of the rural area south of the city. Its elevation is over convert|1000|m|ft|-1|abbr=on, which is low for the Mexican interior. The climate is hot and dry; summer temperatures are near convert|43|°C|°F|0|abbr=on; winter temperatures drop below convert|0|°C|°F|0|abbr=on.

Despite its promising name of Laguna (Lagoon), [The name stems from two nearby, and now dry lagoons, the Lagoon of Mayran and the Lagoon of Viesca.] the region's climate is arid. Flora and fauna are those common to desert habitats.

The cities of Torreón, Gómez Palacio, and Lerdo compose the Comarca Lagunera, a basin within the Chihuahuan Desert, which has much economic activity.

The city is convert|56|km|mi|0|abbr=on south of historic San Pedro de las Colonias, where some of the Mexican Revolution fighting occurred.

Sports

Torreón has a soccer team in the Primera División de México, Santos Laguna. The team are the current Champions of the Mexican Primera Division, the top soccer division in Mexico. The team won championships in 1996, 2001, and most recently in June 2008 when it beat Cruz Azul in the Clausura 2008 tournament to get its third Championship in team history. Its most notable players throughout the years have been: Prolific, and world renowned head striker Jared Borgetti (all-time leading scorer for Mexico), Mauro Camoranesi (World Champion in 2006 with Italy), Rodrigo Ruiz, and prolific Mexican National team goalie Oswaldo Sanchez. The team was near a demotion to a lower league in June 2007 and now in only one year has come to the top of Mexican Soccer. The team is deemed as one of the most funnest to follow and are expected to move into a new Stadium in the near future to meet demands of the fan base. It Currently plays in Estadio Corona, and the new stadium will be called Nuevo Estadio Corona.

It also has a baseball team called Los Algodoneros.

Torreón's professional basketball team, Los Vaqueros de la Comarca, play in the Auditorio Municipal which seats approximately 3,000 people. They are members of the LNBP ( _es. Liga Nacional de Balconcesto Profesional) which is considered to be the top basketball league in Mexico. On October 2, 2004, in a game played against Durango, Issac Gildea set the all-time scoring record in the LNBP for a single game with 61 points.

Landmarks

Cristo de las Noas, at convert|21.80|m|ft|1|abbr=on, is the third highest work of this type in the Latin America, only smaller to the statue of Christ The Redeemer in Brazil and Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Situated on the top of a hill, this image of Jesus with extended arms symbolizes the Catholic faith and the iron will of the Torreonenses. The hilltop has a Catholic church and offers a view of the entire city. [cite web |url=http://www.torreon.gob.mx/english/the_city/turism/museos/cerrodelasnoas_english.php |title=Cristo de las Noas |accessdate=2007-09-17]

Notes

References

* [http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/sistemas/conteo2005/localidad/iter/ Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005] INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
* [http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_coahuila Coahuila] Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

* [http://www.torreon.gob.mx Ayuntamiento de Torreón] Official website
* [http://www.torreon.com.mx www.torreon.com.mx] Citizen website
* [http://www.investintorreon.com.mx Economic Development Laguna de Coahuila] Official website
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=torreon+mexico&ll=25.538724,-103.407612&spn=0.094467,0.205805&t=k&hl=en Google maps satellite photo of the city]