Nuevo Laredo is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from the U.S. city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Metropolitan Area with a population of 636,516. The municipality has an area of 1,334.02 km² (515.07 sq mi). Both the city and the municipality rank as the third largest in the state.The city is connected to Laredo, Texas by three international bridges and a rail bridge. The city is larger and younger than its U.S. counterpart. It is the largest inland port in Mexico, just as its counterpart across the border is the busiest inland port (bridge crossing) in the United States. As an indication of its economic importance, one of Mexico's banderas monumentales is in the city (these flags have been established in state capitals and cities of significance).HistoryNuevo Laredo was part of the territory of the original settlement of Laredo which was founded in 1755 by the Spaniard Don Tomás Sánchez in the northern part of the Rio Grande. The settlement's territory was granted to José de Escandón by the King of Spain, and the settlement's territory and population remained unified for ninety years, until the war of 1846-48, the Mexican–American War.
