Chihuahua, estado (state), northern Mexico. It is bounded to the north and northeast by the United States (New Mexico and Texas), to the east by the state of Coahuila, to the south by the state of Durango, and to the west by the states of Sinaloa and Sonora. Its capital is the city of Chihuahua. In precolonial times, Chihuahua was inhabited by nomadic and seminomadic indigenous peoples. With the advent of Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century, these Indian groups began a long string of rebellions against the colonists that lasted several centuries. The Spanish established silver mines in the