Concept
El Paso–Juárez, also known as Juárez–El Paso, the Borderplex or Paso del Norte, is a transborder agglomeration, on the border between Mexico and the United States. The region is centered on two large cities: Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, U.S. Additionally, nearby Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S., is sometimes included as part of the region, referred to as El Paso–Juárez–Las Cruces or El Paso–Juárez–Southern New Mexico. With over 2.7 million people, this binational region is the 2nd largest conurbation (San Diego–Tijuana being the largest) on the United States–Mexico border. The El Paso–Juárez region is the largest bilingual, binational work force in the Western Hemisphere. This region is commonly subdivided into the Juárez Metropolitan Area (Zona Metropolitana de Juárez) in Chihuahua, Greater El Paso in Texas and Greater Las Cruces in New Mexico. These sub-regions are typically defined by state borders, even though some New Mexico towns in the region like Sunland Park are significantly closer to El Paso than to Las Cruces. Ciudad Juárez is the largest city in the region (population 1,321,004 as of 2010). El Paso is the next largest (682,669 as of 2018), and Las Cruces is the third largest (102,296 as of 2018). Major American suburbs are Fabens, Texas; San Elizario, Texas; Socorro, Texas; and Sunland Park, New Mexico. Smaller communities include Anthony, New Mexico; Anthony, Texas; Canutillo, Texas; Chaparral, New Mexico; Horizon City, Texas; Mesilla, New Mexico; Santa Teresa, New Mexico; University Park, New Mexico; Vado, New Mexico; and Westway, Texas. The population of El Paso has historically been dominated by both Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic white Americans; in recent decades the former group has come to dominate the population. In 1970 El Paso was 57.3% Hispanic and 40.4% non-Hispanic white; in 2010 it was 80.7% Hispanic and 14.2% non-Hispanic white. In the same year El Paso County was 82.2% Hispanic. The Franklin Mountains region has had human settlement for thousands of years, as evidenced by Folsom points from hunter-gatherers found at Hueco Tanks.
