It was originally founded by Alberto del Canto, although frequent raids by Chichimecas, the natives of the north, prevented the establishment of almost any permanent settlements. Subsequent to the failure of del Canto to populate Nuevo León, Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, at the head of Portuguese and Spanish settlers, requested permision from the Spanish King to attempt to repopulate the area.

In the 19th century, Nuevo León was in a growth spurt and the bargain land deals attracted immigrants of German, Slavic, French, Italian, Jewish and Anglo-American origin. According to Mexican demographers, a great deal of American Indian tribes from the United States (Texas) and a large number of African-Americans evacuated to Nuevo León.

The capital city of Nuevo León is Monterrey, the third largest city in Mexico with over 3 million residents. Monterrey is considerably a modern and affluent city, although Nuevo León has not been completely industrialized. The state, like most of Northern Mexico, has a vaquero culture and many of these cowboys had temporarily worked for the U.S.' cattle industry.

Economy
Highly industralized, Nuevo León ranks above all Latin American countries at the Human Development Index developed by the UN comparable that of prosperous Latin American lands like Chile and Argentina, and with a standard of living above many European nations including the Czech Republic and Poland or of Asian nations like Malaysia or Thailand.

One of its municipalities, San Pedro Garza García, has the second highest income per capita in Mexico, after Delegación Benito Juárez. It is one of the largest cities in the nation and home of powerful conglomerates, such as Cemex (world's second largest cement company), Bimbo (bakery and pastry), Maseca (food and grains), Banorte (the only high-street bank in Mexico wholly owned by Mexicans), Grupo Alfa (Sigma, Alestra, Nemak, Alpek and Hylsa (recenlty bought by Ternium), i-service (HelpDesk), Vitro (glass), FEMSA (Coca-Cola in Latin America), and Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma (brewers of Sol, Tecate, XX, Bohemia, Indio and Nochebuena).

Nuevo Leon also boasts a rich agricultural core, called the "orange belt", which comprises the municipalities of Allende, Montemorelos, Hualahuises, General Teran and Linares. Small but productive investments have been transforming traditional harvests (mainly based on orange and cereals)into agroindustrial developments that are producing increasing revenues for the local economy.

In contrast with the relative wealth of industrial Nuevo Leon and the orange belt, the Southern part of the state (municipalities of Galeana, Arramberri, Zaragoza, Doctor Arroyo and Mier y Noriega) remains rural and poor. Most of The South of the state is at the mercy of a very dry weather that represents a major hurdle for agriculture and livestock.

Geography
Nuevo León has an extreme climate, and there is very little rainfall throughout the year. The territory covers 64,924 km², and can be divided into three regions: a hot, dry region in the north, a temperate region in the mountains, and a semi-arid region in the south. The Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range affects in an important way the lay of the land forming the Galeana and Doctor Arroyo plateaus, the Iguana, Picachos, Papagayos, and Santa Clara mountain ranges, and the Pilón, Ascensión, and Río Blanco valleys. As for hydrography, the San Juan River supplies the El Cuchillo dam, which provides water for Monterrey and the metropolitan area. There are also the Cerro Prieto, La Boca, Vaquerías, Nogalitos, and Agualeguas dams. Laguna de Labradores is a major lake in Nuevo León, and Pozo del Gavilán is a natural well. Both are located in the Galeana municipality. The flora of the region includes brush and pastures in the low regions, and pine and oak trees in the mountains. The fauna includes black bears, mountain lions, javelinas, foxes, coyotes, and white-tailed deer, along with smaller species.