Fronteras is the seat of
Fronteras Municipality in the northeastern part of the
Mexican state
The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate ent ...
of
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...
. Frontera translates as Border. The elevation is 1,120 meters and neighboring municipalities are
Agua Prieta
Agua Prieta ( English: ''Dark Water'', Opata: ''Bachicuy'') is a town in Agua Prieta Municipality in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Sonora. It stands on the Mexico–U.S. border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona. Th ...
,
Nacozari and
Bacoachi. The area is 2839.62 km
2, which represents 1.53% of the state total.
Fronteras was founded by the Jesuits as a mission in 1645.
Geography
Fronteras is located in a mountainous area on the west side of the
Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...
. The average annual temperature is 16.9 °C. The rainy season is from July to August and the average annual rainfall is 427.5 millimeters.
Demographics and industry
The municipal population was 7,081 (2.34 /km
2) in 2000, although in a second counting in 2005 this had increased to 7,470. The most important settlement and the municipal seat had 874 inhabitants in 2000.
Industry is the most important economic activity together with agriculture and
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...
raising. There was one ''
maquiladora'' in 2000. The main agricultural crops were wheat, beans, corn and grasses for cattle fodder. The cattle herd was substantial with over 30,000 head counted in 2000. Almost all were for meat production.
History and landmarks
The Spanish explorer
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding ...
(1735-1788) led the first Spanish overland expedition to the
Las Californias Province of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
in 1769, previously only sighted and claimed for the Crown from the sea. He established the first Spanish settlement in present-day
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
, the
Presidio of San Diego, and was the second European (after
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...
) to see the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, California, San Jose, and Oakland, Ca ...
.
Visitors can explore the Misión de Cuquiárachi founded in 1645 by the
Jesuit missionary Marcos del Río. It is one of the
Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert. Two archaeological zones, of ancient
Pima
Pima or PIMA may refer to:
People
* Pima people, the Akimel O'odham, Indigenous peoples in Arizona (U.S.) and Sonora (Mexico)
Places
* Pima, Arizona, a town in Graham County
* Pima County, Arizona
* Pima Canyon, in the Santa Catalina Mountains
...
Indigenous people of the Americas
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
settlement sites, are located near the village of Ojo de Agua.
Other points of interest are the Jacinto López reservoir, and the Cave of Presidio de Fronteras.
In the early 20th century, Fronteras gained fame as the home of
Plutarco Elias Calles, recognized as the architect of modern Mexico and the country's 40th president. Although born in the coastal town of
Guaymas, Sonora
Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the U.S. border. The municipality is located on the Gulf of Cal ...
, Elias Calles became the prosperous owner of the Fronteras flour mill, and developed his political alliances in Fronteras.
In 2010, Fronteras again gained prominence with the discovery of a large deposit of dinosaur fossils, claimed by paleontologists as unique species previously unknown to science.
References
External links
Fronteras, Ayuntamiento Digital(official website of Fronteras, Sonora)
Gobierno de Sonora article on FronterasEnciclopedia de los Municipios de MexicoINEGI
Populated places in Sonora
Populated places established in 1645
{{Sonora-geo-stub