Nueva Vizcaya

Nueva Vizcaya was the first province explored and founded in the north of New Spain. The explorer Francisco de Ibarra organized it from 1562 and named it after his homeland, Biscay, in Spain. Its capital was Durango.

It covered mainly today’s states of Chihuahua and Durango, plus parts of Sinaloa, Sonora and Coahuila. Its silver mines drove the settlement of the north. It should not be confused with Nueva Galicia, centered on Guadalajara.