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

, 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 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. It is sometimes seasoned with chili powder and served cold. Tepache is usually sold as a chilled drink by ...

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 Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrativ ...

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 in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...

passing through

Ures Ures is a small city and a Municipalities of Sonora, municipality in the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Sonora. Population In the year 2000, the total population was 9,553 residents. New figures from 2005 reported 8,420, meaning a co ...

, and Mazocahui. From

Agua Prieta Agua Prieta ("dark water") is a town in the 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, Douglas, Arizona. The municipality c ...

on Federal Highway 17 the distance is 204 km passing through Fronteras, Esqueda, and Nacozari.

History

When the Spanish arrived the land was occupied by the Opata Indians. The settlement is believed to have been established by 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 Marcos del Río. San Miguel Arcángel de Oposura, a large burnt

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

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 that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is denser than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in English ma ...

Geography

The region is located in the river basin of the

Río Moctezuma The Moctezuma River (Río Moctezuma) is a river in Mexico that drains the eastern side of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (Sierra Nevada). It is a tributary of the Pánuco River and flows through the Mexican states of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, Que ...

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 C ...

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 bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, 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, ...

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'' ...

) are grown for cattle fodder. The cattle herd numbered 32,554 head in 2000 making cattle raising the main economic activity in the municipality. The former gold-mine ''La Bambolla'' is located near Moctezuma, one of the most famous geological deposits of elementary

tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element; it has 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 occasionally fou ...

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 Missions in Sonora Jesuit history in North America