Bacanora is a small town in Bacanora Municipality in the east of the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

. It is located at the geographical coordinates of .

Area and population

The area of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

(rural and urban) is 903.17 km². The population of the municipality was 759 inhabitants in 2020, with 598 residing in the municipal seat (2020 census).

History and origin of the name

Originally this territory was inhabited by the

Opata Opata may refer to: * Opata people, an ethnic group of Mexico * Opata language, their language * Aleš Opata, Czeck military officer * Zoltán Opata, Hungarian football player and manager See also

* {{Disambiguation ...

Joba Indians; in 1627 the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary Pedro Méndez established Mission San Ignacio Bacanora. Its name is derived from the Opata language, from the roots "baca", meaning reed, and "nora" meaning slope of reeds. Bacanora became a municipality in 1932.

Geography

Most of the region lies in the foothills 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 C ...

. The Bacanora River crosses the area from south to north and flows into the

Yaqui River The Yaqui River (Río Yaqui in Spanish) (Hiak Vatwe in the Yaqui or Yoreme language) is a river in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. It was formerly known as the Rio del Norte. Being the largest river system in the state of Sonora, th ...

, which flows across the northern region of the municipality. The town lies at an elevation of 1,030 meters above sea level. The fauna in the region is still relatively numerous with deer, puma, owls, coyote, jaguar, lynx, raccoons, skunks, eagles, to name a few, present. The region has been losing population due to immigration to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Since 1995 the population has decreased 3.39%.

Economy

The economy is heavily dependent on cattle raising. There were approximately 17,000 head in 2000. The percentage of the population living in poverty in one of the highest in the state, as a consequence of the land belonging to a few landowners and the majority of the workers working as day workers. Agriculture is modest with some production of corn, beans, and sorghum. Agave is planted to produce the regionally famous Aguardiente de Bacanora.

Communications

There is a tarmacked road linking Bacanora with the state capital

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

, which lies at a distance of 181 km.

Tourist attractions

In the village the main tourist attraction is the mission church of San Ignacio de Loyola, built in the seventeenth century.

Sources consulted

INEGIEnciclopedia de los Municipios de MexicoGobierno de Sonora: Bacanora
;Specific

External links

(broken link)The producers of the local drink *

Bacanora :''Other uses: the town of Bacanora, Sonora.'' Bacanora is an agave-derived liquor made in the Mexican state of Sonora. The distillation of Bacanora was illegal until 1992 despite being bootlegged by ''vinateros'' for many generations. Since ...

Wikipedia article about the drink *{{usurped,
(broken link)Article on the drink from Sonora Turismo
} *https://www.sunorabacanora.com/what-is-bacanora/ Missions in Sonora Populated places established in 1627 Jesuit history in North America