Rio Grande Valley

The Rio Grande Valley, sometimes called the Lower Rio Grande Valley or RGV, is a metropolitan region in the southernmost part of Texas, occupying a floodplain near the mouth of the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. It comprises the Brownsville-Harlingen and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan areas along with the Rio Grande City-Roma and Raymondville micropolitan areas. The valley is largely bilingual in English and Spanish, with considerable use of Spanglish, reflecting its cross-border cultural ties, and it includes both some of the poorest cities in the United States and many unincorporated communities known as colonias that experience persistent poverty. Each winter the region also draws a large seasonal population of northerners, known locally as winter Texans, who return home in warmer months.