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South of the Border
At 111 million people, Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.
The United Mexican States are a federation of thirty-one free and sovereign states which form a Union that exercises jurisdiction over the Federal District and other territories. 
Each state has its own constitution and congress, as well as a judiciary, and its citizens elect by direct voting, a governor (gobernador) for a six-year term, as well as representatives (diputados locales) to their respective state congresses, for three-year terms.
The 31 states and the Federal District are collectively called "federal entities", and all are equally represented in the Congress of the Union.
Mexican states are also divided into municipalities (municipios), the smallest official political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or "municipal president" (presidente municipal), elected by its residents by plurality. Municipalities can be further subdivided into non-autonomous boroughs or in semi-autonomous auxiliary presidencies.
Constitutionally, Mexico City, as the capital of the federation and seat of the powers of the Union, is the Federal District, a special political division in Mexico that belongs to the federation as a whole and not to a particular state, and as such, has more limited local rule than the nation's states.
Nonetheless, since 1987 it has progressively gained a greater degree of autonomy, and residents now elect a head of government (Jefe de Gobierno) and representatives of a Legislative Assembly directly. Unlike the states, the Federal District does not have a constitution but a statute of government. Mexico City is conterminous and coextensive with the Federal District.
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Piedras Negras
Current city population is over more than 200,000 habitants.
Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras area are connected by the Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras International Bridge, Camino Real International Bridge, and the Eagle Pass Union Pacific International Railroad Bridge.
The city was founded in 1849. It was renamed Ciudad 
Porfirio Díaz in 1888, in homage to President Porfirio Díaz, but reverted to its original name following the Mexican Revolution.
In Spanish Piedras Negras translates to "black rocks" – a reference to the coal deposits that exist in the area. Across the river, coal was formerly mined on the US side at Dolchburg, near Eagle Pass. This mine closed around 1905, after a fire.
In the Northern Region of Coahuila there are approximately 300,000 inhabitants. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), in 2005 the population of the municipio of Piedras Negras was of 143,915 inhabitants; this is equal to 5.77% of the population of Coahuila. 17% of the population of Piedras Negras came from other states, 3% are foreigners, and the rest are native-born in Coahuila.
Piedras Negras has a high population growth due in part by its status as a border city fueled by US bound exports from several factories and also by illegal immigrants who hope to cross the border.
It is estimated that in a couple of years it will become the third most populated city of the state of Coahuila, surpassing Monclova.
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