Lower Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley | |
|---|---|
Region | |
| Lower Rio Grande Valley | |
Images, from top down, left to right: Skyline of South Padre Island; Interior of the Quinta Mazatlan; Entrance to McAllen Public Library;
Cameron County Courthouse (1914), Reynaldo G. Garza & Filemon B. Vela Courthouse, Cameron County Administrative Building, Port of Brownsville, La Plaza Multimodal Terminal, TSC Performing Arts Center, U.S. Post Office, Villa del Sol Apartments, Market Square, Resaca, Hotel El Jardin, Lone Star National Bank Tower | |
| Nicknames: The Valley, El Valle, RGV, The 956 | |
Map of the Lower Rio Grande Valley | |
| Coordinates: 26°13′N 98°07′W / 26.22°N 98.12°W | |
| Country |
|
| State | |
| Principal cities | |
| Largest city | Brownsville, Texas |
| Area | |
| • Land | 4,276 sq mi (11,070 km2) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 1,433,308 |
| Demonym | Valleyite |
| Area code | 956 |
The Lower Rio Grande Valley (Spanish: Valle del Río Grande), often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas, is a region located in the southernmost part of Texas. It is located along the border of Texas with Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The region includes the southernmost tip of South Texas. It consists of the Brownsville-Harlingen and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan areas, and the Rio Grande City-Roma and Raymondville micropolitan areas. The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish, with a fair amount of Spanglish due to the region's diverse history and transborder agglomerations. It is home to some of the poorest cities in the nation, as well as many unincorporated, persistent poverty communities called colonias. 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.