Culiacán, Mexico
Relationship established 1983

Population
793,730

Geographic Information
Culiacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 605,304 inhabitants in the city (census of 2005), and 793,703 in the municipality, it is one of the largest cities in the country. The municipality includes such outlying communities as Costa Rica and El Dorado and has a total area of 1,837 square miles.
The city is located in a valley where the Tamazula River and Humaya River rivers meet to form the Culiacán River and is located fifty-five meters above sea level. It is located in the center of the state with almost equal distance to the other urban centers of the state: Los Mochis to the north and Mazatlán to the south.

Downtown Culiacán

Sinaloa's Museum of Art

The city existing today was founded in 1531 by the Spanish captain Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán and named San Miguel de Culiacán. In the same decade, it was the terminus of the long journey of Cabeza de Vaca and company among natives. Explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado set out from Culiacán to explore what is now southwestern United States. Settlers from Europe came to Culiacán, and in the following centuries, Culiacán continued to be a quiet town. It was only after the federal government built dams in the adjacent areas in the 1950s that agriculture exploded and the city began to grow exponentially. Some of Mexico's largest agricultural conglomerates operate in the vast and fertile coastal plains. The agro-industrial economy continues to be the single largest contributor to the region's legal economy. While the vast majority of technical and skilled labor is educated locally, the once-seasonal field labor pool now experiences a yearly shortage of workers. International patterns of migration now draw laborers from deep within Mexico's south to the northern border states and into the United States.

Sister City Structure/History
St. Paul’s interaction with Culiacán began on July 21, 1983, when the two cities started a business exchange. In 1985, the business exchange expanded to a student exchange that was started with the help of St. Paul City Councilmember Bob Long.

Since 1983, Culiacán, Mexico has been a part of the Sister Cities program and has participated in teacher exchange programs thanks to Councilmember Bob Long.

Emmanuel Baptist Church in Culiacán works with North Haven Church from North St. Paul; they have been interchanging missionary work over the years. This Sister City has no active committee at this time.