Editing Coahuila (section)

==History==
The name Coahuila derives from native terms for the region, and has been known by variations such as Cuagüila and Cuauila. Some historians believe that this means "flying serpent", "place of many trees", or "place where serpents creep". The official name of the state is Coahuila de Zaragoza, in honor of General [[Ignacio Zaragoza]].

The Spanish explored the north of Mexico some decades after their victory in [[Tenochtitlan]], the capital of the Aztecs. Such exploration was delayed because the northern climate was harsher and there was no gold. The first Spanish settlement in the region now called Coahuila was at [[Minas de la Trinidad]] in 1577. Saltillo was settled in 1586, to form part of the province of [[Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain|Nueva Vizcaya]] of the Vice-royalty of [[New Spain]]. Later it became one of the first provinces of [[Nueva Extremadura]] to be explored by Europeans.  Among the 16th century settlers of Saltillo and other communities in Nueva Vizcaya were [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcalans]], who founded an independent community bordering Saltillo, called [[San Esteban de Nueva Tlaxcala]]. 
 
[[Coahuila y Tejas]] was one of the constituent states of the newly independent [[United Mexican States]] under their [[1824 Constitution of Mexico|1824 Constitution]], and included [[Texas]], Coahuila and [[Nuevo León]]. Later in the same year Nuevo León was detached, but Texas remained a part of the state until 1836, when it seceded to form the [[Republic of Texas]]. Monclova was the capital of the state from 1833 to 1835.

In 1840, Coahuila briefly became a member of the short lived [[Republic of the Rio Grande]]. In the mid-19th century, the [[Sánchez Navarro latifundio|Sánchez Navarro]] family owned a ranch of {{cvt|16500000|acre|ha|disp=flip}} mostly in Coahuila. It was the largest privately-owned property in the Americas.
<ref name="DeLay">{{cite book |last1=DeLay |first1=Brian |title=War of a Thousand Deserts |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=9780300119329 |pages=52–53}}</ref>

In the 1840s and 1850s, Coahuila was the target of frequent [[Comanche–Mexico Wars|Comanche raids]].

On February 19, 1856, [[Santiago Vidaurri]] annexed Coahuila to his state, [[Nuevo León]], but it regained its separate status in 1868.

During the [[Mexican Revolution]], [[Francisco Villa]] attacked the city of [[Torreón]].

On April 4, 2004, the border city of Piedras Negras was flooded. More than 30 people died and more than 4,000 lost their homes.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boudreaux |first1=Richard |title=Flooding Leaves 31 Dead. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-apr-06-fg-flood6-story.html |newspaper=LA Times|date=6 April 2004 }}</ref>

In 2007 Coahuila became the first state in Mexico to offer [[civil union]]s (Pacto Civil de Solidaridad) to same-sex couples.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2007%2F01%2F12%2F1 |title="Mexican state moves to allow same-sex unions", ''Advocate News'', Gay.com, January 11, 2007 |access-date=January 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114050558/http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2007%2F01%2F12%2F1 |archive-date=January 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>