Lower Rio Grande Valley
The Lower Rio Grande Valley (Spanish: Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth.[1] The region includes the southernmost tip of South Texas and a portion of northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. It consists of the Brownsville, Harlingen, Weslaco, Pharr, McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, San Juan, and Rio Grande City metropolitan areas in the United States and the Matamoros, Río Bravo, and Reynosa metropolitan areas in Mexico.[2][3] The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish, with a fair amount of Spanglish[4] due to the region's diverse history and transborder agglomerations.[5] It is home to some of the poorest cities in the nation, as well as many unincorporated, persistent poverty communities called colonias.[6][7] A large seasonal influx occurs of "winter Texans" — people who come down from the north for the winter and then return north before summer arrives.[8]
"Rio Grande Valley" redirects here. For the river valley in New Mexico that is part of the same river, see Rio Grande Valley (New Mexico). For other uses, see Rio Grande Valley (disambiguation).
Lower Rio Grande Valley
- United States
- Mexico
- United States: Brownsville, Harlingen, Donna, Weslaco, Pharr, McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Rio Grande City, Raymondville
- Mexico: Matamoros, Río Bravo, Reynosa
12,620 km2 (4,872 sq mi)
2,671,028
1,291,798
1,379,230
Climate[edit]
The Lower Rio Grande Valley experiences a warm and fair climate that brings visitors from many surrounding areas.[8] Temperature extremes range from triple digits during the summer months to freezing during the winter.[60] While the Valley has seen severe cold events before, such as the 2004 Christmas snow storm and 2021 cold snap, the region rarely experiences temperatures at or below freezing, especially by the coast, which transitions into a Tropical climate.[60]
The region's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico makes it a target for hurricanes. Though not impacted as frequently as other areas of the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Valley has experienced major hurricanes in the past. Hurricanes that have made landfall in or near the area include: Hurricane Beulah (1967), Hurricane Allen (1980), Hurricane Gilbert, Hurricane Bret, Hurricane Dolly (2008), Hurricane Alex (2010), and Hurricane Hanna (2020). Having an especially flat terrain, the Valley usually experiences the catastrophic effects of tropical cyclones in the form of flooding.[47]
Historically, education has posed significant challenges to schools in the region. Schools in the early 1920s through the 1940s were racially segregated in the Rio Grande Valley. In 1940 a study showed the need for improvement in cultural differentiation of instruction.[90] The Texas Supreme Court in Del Rio ISD v. Salvatierra reinforced the racial segregation.[91] In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Bilingual Education Act, helping students whose second language was English. The Act gave financial assistance to local schools to create bilingual programs, enabling Mexican students to integrate white schools.[91] The area, like many others, had a hard time integrating.[92] Texas still has the bilingual program, while states like California, Arizona, and Massachusetts, have removed the bill and passed similar propositions stating that students would only be taught in English.[91] The bilingual program in the Rio Grande Valley is still in effect, especially with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students in the area.[91]
Colleges and universities located in the Rio Grande Valley include:
A list of notable people who were born, lived, or died in the Rio Grande Valley includes: