TORREN

city, southwestern Coahuila estado (state), northeastern Mexico. It lies along the Nazas River at an elevation of 3,674 feet (1,120 m) above sea level. It lies northwest of Mexico City and is southeast of Ciudad Jurez and El Paso on the Mexican-U.S. border. The settlement, founded in 1893, did not prosper until President Lzaro Crdenas began Laguna District, one of the largest state-operated agricultural cooperatives in Mexico, in 1936. Torren is the metropolis of a vast cotton- and wheat-growing district that also supports dairying and livestock raising; the city is also an important centre for livestock-breeding by artificial insemination. Its industries, including cotton and flour mills and ironworks and steelworks, make it one of the most important manufacturing centres in northern Mexico. Torren is also a mining centre for silver, zinc, copper, lead, and arsenic deposits located in the vicinity. The city is accessible by railroad, highway, and air. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 459,809.