Sinaloa

Sinaloa is a state on the Pacific coast of northwestern Mexico, a leading agricultural producer and home to the beach resort of Mazatlan. Its capital is Culiacan. Fertile and coastal, it is often called the breadbasket of Mexico for its vast farm output.

Sinaloa stretches along a Pacific coastline of beaches and estuaries, backed by fertile irrigated plains and the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The climate is hot and largely semi-arid to tropical.

Sinaloan culture is known for banda music, which originated here, lively festivals, and a rich seafood cuisine. Mazatlan hosts one of Mexico's biggest Carnival celebrations.

Inhabited by Indigenous peoples and colonised by the Spanish for mining and farming, Sinaloa became a state in 1830. Large-scale irrigation turned it into an agricultural powerhouse in the 20th century.