Bachíniva is a town and county in the
Mexican state
The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...
of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
. The town serves as the county seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It was founded by
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
missionaries on September 8, 1660, as Santa María de Nativitas Bachiniva. Bachiniva is a Rarámuri native Indian word which means the place of the wild pumpkin flower. With the arrival of the Franciscan missionaries to the area, most natives left their settlement rejecting the evangelization process of the catholic church. Some of the natives however were converted to the new religion and the mission of Santa Maria de Nativitas Bachíniva was founded with a church that still stands today. Later on, Spanish immigrants and Mexican from the south of Mexico settled in the area along the fertile lands of the Santa Maria River. The Spanish missionaries found the area ideal for the growing and production of apples and they planted the first apple trees in the late 1600s and ever since the people of this municipality have been growing great apple crop along with other fruits and agricultural products. The apple production though is the main economic activity of the Bachiniva municipality.
As of 2020, the town of Bachíniva had a population of 5,807.
References
* Bachiniva, Antigua Mision Franciscana, Mons, Carlos Francisco Enriquez Merino, 1986.
Populated places in Chihuahua (state)
Populated places established in 1660
1660 establishments in New Spain
1660s establishments in Mexico
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