Rio Grande Valley - Definition and Overview

The Rio Grande Valley is the southernmost tip of Texas. It is along the northern bank of the Rio Grande river.

The Rio Grande Valley or "the valley" as it is affectionately called by those who live there is a region that is rapidly growing to become a thriving commercial center of the south. The Valley has a large Hispanic population ranging usually from 70 to around 97% in the case of its southernmost city Brownsville. It's many bridges bring in many Mexican nationals to shop, sell and make business in many border cities along the Rio Grande River. The Valley is also a tourist destination for Winter Texans, a group usually compromised of retired senior citizens that will arrive in mid to late fall and stay until early to mid spring. Coming from all parts of the United States, and even the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec in Canada. The Winter Texans, Mexican nationals along with College students that go to South Padre Island throughout March and April for Spring Break create the bulk of the Valley's tourism. The Rio Grande Valley has a deceptive name, because it is not a Valley it is a delta. Promoters of this region thought that that Valley would sound more catchy to tourists than delta.

The region is made up of four counties: Starr County, Hidalgo County, Willacy County, and Cameron County.

Major cities include Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen, Weslaco,and Mission

Texas
Regions: Arklatex | Central Texas | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex | East Texas | Edwards Plateau | Houston Metropolitan Area | North Texas | Northeast Texas | Piney Woods | Rio Grande Valley | Texas Hill Country | Texas Panhandle | Llano Estacado | Southeast Texas | South Texas | West Texas
Largest Metropolitan areas: Abilene | Amarillo | Austin- San Marcos | Beaumont- Port Arthur | Brownsville- Harlingen- San Benito | Bryan- College Station | Corpus Christi | Dallas-Fort Worth | El Paso | Houston-Galveston-Brazoria | Killeen- Temple | Laredo | Longview- Marshall | Lubbock | McAllen- Edinburg- Mission | Odessa-Midland | San Angelo | San Antonio | Sherman- Denison | Texarkana | Tyler | Victoria | Waco | Wichita Falls
See also: List of Texas counties