Mexico, Durango, Civil Registration, 1861-1995

What is in This Collection?

This collection of civil records for Durango Mexico covers the inclusive years of 1861 to 1995. The Mexican civil registration was created to record the vital events of birth, marriage, death, and other civil events which would determine and prove the civil status, existence, and condition of the population. The records are organized by state and then by municipality/city. Earlier records were handwritten in narrative style later records were handwritten in formatted registers.

Civil records in Mexico cover about 90 to 95 percent of the population. Beginning in 1859, the Mexican government began requiring births, marriages, and deaths to be recorded by civil authorities on a municipality/district level. Although these records are a great source of genealogical information, they are not complete as civil registration was not strictly enforced in Mexico until 1867 and people did not always comply. For this reason, church registers may be used alongside the civil records. The civil records of Mexico have been preserved relatively well. Only some of the older registers may have some physical damage.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Computer Aided Indexing (CAI)

Some or all of the indexed records for this collection were created using Computer Aided Indexing (CAI) from records digitized by FamilySearch or its partners. For more information on CAI see FamilySearch Computer Aided Indexing.

Reading These Records

These records are written in Spanish. For help reading them see:

• Spanish Genealogical Word List
• BYU Spanish Script Tutorial

FamilySearch Learning Center videos:

• Reading Spanish Handwriting

If you speak Spanish, the following free online lesson may be helpful to learn how to use the information in these records:

• Registros Civiles y Parroquiales – Spanish

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Collection Content

For additional details about these records and help using them see Mexico Civil Registration Records - FamilySearch Historical Records.

Sample Images

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  1902 Birth Record

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  1947 Marriage Record

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  1938 Death Record