Yet another etymology from Héctor R. Olea combinsa Cahia sina with the locative "ro" from the Purépecha language and "a" from Aztec atl ('water'), thus "place of pithayas in the water.

From the Fuerte River to the north is the region known as Aridoamerica, which includes the deserts and arid places of northern Mexico and southwestern United States.

Before European contact, the territory of Sinaloa was inhabited by groups such as the Cahitas, the Tahues, the Acaxees, the Xiximes, the Totorames, the Achires and the Guasaves.

The Spanish eventually managed to reassert authority in the Sierra Madre Occidental region and executed 48 Acaxee leaders.

[13] After the Mexican War of Independence, Sinaloa was joined with Sonora as Estado de Occidente, but became a separate, sovereign state in 1830.

After the Mexican Revolution, infrastructure projects and land reform consolidated the agrarian sector, which led to the state being named "the granary of Mexico".

[17] According to the 2020 census, Sinaloa is home to 3,026,943 inhabitants, 60% of whom reside in the capital city of Culiacán and the municipalities of Mazatlán and Ahome.

[19] In ethnic composition, Sinaloa has received large historic waves of immigration from Europe (mainly Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Russia) and Asia (namely China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Armenia, Lebanon, and Syria).

In recent years, retirees from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and South America have arrived and made Sinaloa their home.

Agriculture produce aside from tomatoes include cotton, beans, corn, wheat, sorghum, potatoes, soybeans, mangos, sugarcane, peanuts and squash.

Famous entertainers from the state include actor Pedro Infante, born in Mazatlán; singer Ana Gabriel, born in Guamúchil; singer and actress Lola Beltrán from Rosario; Cruz Lizárraga, the founder of Banda el Recodo; baseball player Jorge Orta, from Mazatlán; actress/comedian/singer Sheyla Tadeo, born in Culiacán; actress Sabine Moussier; actress/singer Lorena Herrera, from Mazatlán; and singer-songwriter Chalino Sánchez, from Las Flechas, Culiacán.

[30] Banda was established in the early 1920s, influenced by the organological style of the European fanfare, and incorporating traditional sones, ranchera, corrido, polka, waltz, mazurka and schottische predominate, as well as more contemporary genres such as cumbia.

[31] The first bandas were formed by members of military and municipal bands who settled in the Sierra Madre Occidental during the Mexican Revolution, and were influenced by traditional Yoreme music.

The ritual ballgame was central in the society, religion and cosmology of all the great Mesoamerican cultures including the Mixtecs, Aztecs, and Maya.

[41] The cartel is reportedly the largest drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime syndicate in the Americas; it is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa.