SINALOA, se-na-ltli'a, Mexico, a state bounded on the north by Sonora and Chihuahua, on the east by Chihuahua and Durango, on the south by the territory of Tepic and the Pacific Ocean and on the west by the Gulf of Cali fornia. Area, 33,671 square miles. From the Gulf, the land rises gradually to the Sierra Madre Mountains, the principal range in the state. There are numerous rivers, some of which are navigable. An excellent natural har bor is that of Topolobampo, an important rail way termination. The district of mines (gold, silver, copper, iron and lead) is in the east and the deposits of metals there are regarded as perhaps the most valuable in Mexico; there, also, the climate is cool, frosts occur frequently and the rainfall is excessive. The low and hot western belt is devoted to agriculture, the chief products being cereals, cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, coffee and fruits. These crops in normal times yield about $8,000,000 annually, and the cattle industry about $9,000,000 (value of Mexi can *dollar,* 0.50). The development of Sinaloa and the west coast of Mexico generally, which, before the revolution broke out in 1911 had been rapid and solid, has been, since then, retarded by the unsettled state of the Mexican west and northwest coast country. However, a steady
improvement toward stability and progress was noticeable in 1918. The three chief ports are Topolobampo, Altata and Mazatlan. Interior communication is furnished by the Sinaloa and Durango Railway, and the Kansas City, Mexican and Orient, and by good wagon roads ; communi cation with other coast states and foreign coun tries, by the Pacific Mail Mexican International, and other steamship lines. The capital of the state is Culiacan, a town of 22,000 inhabitants, connected by rail with the port of Altata. It has a government palace, cathedral, cotton mills and other manufactures. The largest city in the state, and the chief Pacific port of the republic, is Mazatlan (pop. 27,000), which was built on a small peninsula opposite Olas Atlas Bay. Total population of the state, 317,000.