PIEDRAS NEGRAS, COAHUILA

It is a border city in northeastern Mexico, in the state of Coahuila, located across from Eagle Pass, Texas, United States, on the banks of the Rio Grande. The municipality is located in the Northern Region of Coahuila, has a population of 163,595 inhabitants, and covers an area of 914.2 km². It borders to the north with the municipality of Jiménez, to the south with the municipality of Nava, to the west with the municipality of Zaragoza, and to the east with the city of Eagle Pass.

In Piedras Negras, being a border city, dozens of maquiladora companies dedicated to the manufacture of auto parts and electronic items have been installed. The economically active population mostly engages in the production of metal products, machinery, industrial and automotive equipment, and to a lesser extent in the textile sector. The auto parts industry and automotive components are projected as the areas of greatest employment. According to data from INEGI, the secondary sector and services occupy almost the entirety of the employed population.

The maquiladora industry employs nearly 10,000 people in the municipality (around 25% of the Occupied Population), mainly engaged in the manufacture of automotive parts, electronic components, and textiles. Other important sources of employment in the region are the thermoelectric power plants Carbón I and Carbón 2, Minera Carbonífera Río Escondido (MICARE), the Coca-Cola plant, Grupo Modelo (all in the municipality of Nava, contiguous with the city of Piedras Negras), as well as transformation companies.