Moctezuma is a ''municipio'' (municipality) 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 en ...

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 ...

, located in the state's central region. It is also the name of its largest settlement and '' cabecera municipal'' (municipal seat).

Area and population

The municipal area is 1,763.39 km², with a population of 4,187 registered in 2000

The municipal seat had a population of 3,798 in 2000. It is located at an elevation of 677 meters.

Neighboring municipalities

Neighboring municipalities are

Cumpas Cumpas is the municipal seat of Cumpas Municipality of the Mexican state 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, com ...

in the north, Huásabas, Granados and Divisaderos in the east,

Tepache Tepache is a fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples, and is sweetened either with ''piloncillo'' or brown sugar, seasoned with powdered cinnamon, and served cold. Though tepache is fermented for several days, the result ...

San Pedro de la Cueva San Pedro de la Cueva is a town in San Pedro de la Cueva Municipality, in the Mexican state of Sonora. It is located in the center of the state at an elevation of 500 meters. The main economic activities are fishing (in El Novillo lake), cat ...

Villa Pesqueira, and Baviácora in the west.

Road connections

Moctezuma is 140 kilometers on Federal Highway 14 from

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the ...

passing through

Ures Ures is a small city and a municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora. Area It has an area of 2,618.56 square kilometers. This is 1.41% of the total area of the state, and 0.13 percent of the national area of Mexico. Besides the seat, the most i ...

, and Mazocahui. From

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. The mu ...

on Federal Highway 17 the distance is 204 km passing through

Fronteras Fronteras is the seat of Fronteras Municipality in the northeastern part of the Mexican state of Sonora. Frontera translates as Border. The elevation is 1,120 meters and neighboring municipalities are Agua Prieta, Nacozari and Bacoachi. The ar ...

, Esqueda, and Nacozari. See maps a

o

History

When the Spanish arrived the land was occupied by the Opata Indians. The settlement is believed to have been established by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary

Marcos del Río Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugu ...

. San Miguel Arcángel de Oposura, a large burnt

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

church with vaulted ceiling, side bays, and an octagonal chapel with a wooden roof, was built by unidentified maestros brought to the site at great expense by Father Daniel Janusque sometime before his death in 1724. It continued under two of his successors until it was finished in February 1738. The town was renamed Moctezuma in 1828, while before the name had been San Miguel Arcángel de Oposura, and later “Oposura”. Etymologically, Oposura means place of a lot of

ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in ...

Geography

The region is located in the river basin of the

Río Moctezuma Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

between two extensions 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 ...

mountains. The climate is dry with an average annual temperature of 12.2°C.

Economic activity

Agriculture and cattle raising are the main economic activities. Corn and beans are raised for subsistence while grasses (

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many other ...

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as ...

ryegrass ''Lolium'' is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera. They are characterized by bunch-like growth habits. ''Lolium'' i ...

) are grown for cattle fodder. The cattle herd numbered 32,554 head in 200

making cattle raising the main economic activity in the municipality. The former gold-mine La Bambolla (gold mine), ''La Bambolla'' is located near Moctezuma, one of the most famous geological deposits of elementary

tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element with the symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionall ...

and its minerals.Moctezuma Mine (Bambolla Mine)
Municipality of Moctezuma, Sonora state, Mexico (info fro
www.mindat.org
received 2013-02-12)

References

External links

Gobierno Municipal de Moctezuma

(English)
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de Mexico

INEGI
{{Sonora Municipalities of Sonora Geological type localities