colonias
Unincorporated residential areas
Colonias are unincorporated settlements along the U.S.-Mexico border, typically lacking basic infrastructure like paved roads, sewage systems, or reliable water supply.
These communities, found mainly in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, often house low-income residents, many of Mexican descent.
The word is Spanish for "neighborhoods" or "colonies." Federal programs have tried to bring running water to the colonias.
Not legally chartered
- underservedInsufficiently provided for
- povertySevere lack of resources
- infrastructureBasic physical systems
- TexasSecond-largest American state
New Mexico · Arizona · California · border · migrant · Latino · Hispanic · self-help
Below required quality
- affordableReasonably priced
- unpavedWithout permanent road covering
- sewageLiquid refuse in drains
- electricityEnergy from charged particles
water · sanitation · infrastructure · weatherization · rehabilitation · self-built · cinderblock · makeshift
Unity among allies
- kinshipState of being related
- communalShared by a community
- collectiveJointly organized group
- mutual aidCooperative community support
cooperation · neighborhood · fellowship · support · network · gathering · plaza · fiestas
Foreign territorial takeover
- empireDomain under unified control
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- dominionAuthority to rule
sovereignty · annexation · territory · expansion · settlement · exploitation · extraction · outpost
Agricultural terrain
- agricultureCultivation of land, livestock
- countrysideRural area beyond towns
- homesteadFamily farm and dwelling
- irrigationArtificial water supply for agriculture
cropland · ranch · pastoral · acreage · fields · livestock · harvest · campesino
unincorporated
Not legally chartered
- underservedInsufficiently provided for
- povertySevere lack of resources
- infrastructureBasic physical systems
Texas · New Mexico · Arizona · California · border · migrant · Latino · Hispanic · self-help · inequality
substandard
Below required quality
- affordableReasonably priced
- unpavedWithout permanent road covering
- sewageLiquid refuse in drains
electricity · water · sanitation · infrastructure · weatherization · rehabilitation · self-built · cinderblock · makeshift · overcrowded
solidarity
Unity among allies
- kinshipState of being related
- communalShared by a community
- collectiveJointly organized group
mutual aid · cooperation · neighborhood · fellowship · support · network · gathering · plaza · fiestas · church
colonization
Foreign territorial takeover
- empireDomain under unified control
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
dominion · sovereignty · annexation · territory · expansion · settlement · exploitation · extraction · outpost · garrison
farmland
Agricultural terrain
- agricultureCultivation of land, livestock
- countrysideRural area beyond towns
- homesteadFamily farm and dwelling
irrigation · cropland · ranch · pastoral · acreage · fields · livestock · harvest · campesino · agrarian
- comunidadesbarrios, pueblos, villas, areas, neighborhoods
- Mexico CityChapultepec, metro, Benito Juarez, Santa Fe, Alameda
- settlementsvillage, cities, hamlet, city, towns
- urban areascity, town, metropolis, district, districts
coloniasmaster-planned community
Prearranged residential district design
gated community · tract housing · housing development · urban development
- colonial war
- colonial powersNations that colonized others
- colonial ruleForeign power's territorial dominion
- colonial eraAge of overseas dominion
- colonial styleArchitecture from settlement periods
- colonial rootsOrigins from settler period
colonial, colonist, colonia, colonize, colonialism, colonizer, colonized, colonizing, colonials