''Ambos Nogales'' (Spanish for "both Nogales") refers to the two

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Nogales, Arizona,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and

Nogales, Sonora Heroica Nogales (), more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and the county seat of the Municipality of Nogales. It is located on the northern border of the Mexican state of Sonora. The city is abutted on its north by the city of Nogales, Arizo ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. They lie 60 miles directly south of

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, divided by the

Mexico–United States barrier The Mexico–United States barrier ( es, barrera Estados Unidos–México), also known as the border wall, is a series of vertical barriers along the Mexico–United States border intended to reduce illegal immigration to the United States ...

. Though divided by the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between their respective

nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...

s, the two

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

have historically shared a sense of

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

alluded to in their description as "Ambos Nogales," as well as other sayings and phrases alluding to this camaraderie. The

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

of Nogales, Sonora, is ''Juntos por amor a Nogales'', meaning "United by the love of Nogales". Ambos Nogales has become a subject of

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

and archaeological research due to the ways in which the material presence of the border wall has impacted the lives of those living in these cities. Investigation of community,

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

(both legal and illegal), drug trafficking, gang violence, and all of the activities associated with these has occurred at Ambos Nogales due to its unique identity and geographic position.

Material Changes at the Border

The barrier dividing Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora has undergone a handful of material changes from the 19th century up to the present. It was not until 1898 that a material division other than stone cairns and

obelisks An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

marked the division between the United States and Mexico, a line of

telephone pole A utility pole is a column or post typically made out of wood used to support overhead power lines and various other public utilities, such as electrical cable, fiber optic cable, and related equipment such as transformers and street lights. It ...

s were installed along the border cut through Ambos Nogales and guard posts were implemented at the

crossing gates A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

between the two settlements. Additional material was added to the border by the United States in response to the Mexican Revolution (1911–1918) with the addition of a barbed wire fence. The next addition, also by the United States, was a six-foot-high

chain link A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or linear low-density polyethylene-coated ste ...

fence including electric lights and new gatehouses on both the United States and Mexican sides of the border.Arreola, Daniel D.:''The Fence and Gates of Ambos Nogales: A Postcard Landscape Exploration'' In ''On the Border: Society and Culture between the United States and Mexico.'' Andrew Grant Wood, ed. pp. 43–79. Lanham, MD: SR Books. 2004. This chain-link fence constituted the barrier separating Ambos Nogales for the next 65 years and became a symbol of the relationship established between the two cities (see "Changes in Public Perception of the Border").

Sources

{{authority control Populated places in Sonora Micropolitan areas of Arizona Twin cities Mexico–United States border crossings Populated places in the Sonoran Desert