San Luis Río Colorado is a city and also the name of its surrounding municipality in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, 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 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. In the 2020 census, the city had a population of 176,685. The city is the fourth-largest community in the state, and the municipality is also the fourth-largest in terms of population. Lying in the northwestern corner of Sonora, the city marks the state border with

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. It also stands on the international border with the United States, adjacent to San Luis, Arizona. It is located about 75 km from

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...

. The municipality covers an area of 8,412.75 km² (3,248.2 sq mi) in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

History

Before Spanish colonization, the area now known as San Luis Río Colorado was inhabited by the indigenous people of Halywamai who lived in the San Luis Río Colorado region until the mid-19th century, merging with the Maricopa tribe. San Luis Río Colorado was once an important inland port for steamers traveling the

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

from the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

. Since the early 1900s the Colorado has been completely or nearly completely drained for irrigation. The once-formidable Colorado is usually dry or a small stream. Awarded city status in July 1958, San Luis Río Colorado serves as the administrative center for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city is located on a mesa, characterized by a flat and sandy terrain. On Easter Sunday 2010, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the region. The

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

department store (formerly Dorian's) and 5 schools were destroyed, affecting approximately 30,000 people in the region. San Luis Río Colorado is home to four regional medium-wave radio broadcast stations, among them 1350 XELBL-AM, all of which are popular long-distance reception targets for medium-wave DX radio enthusiasts. Josse, a Mexican Latin beat singer recorded a song called "San Luis Río Colorado" as a tribute to the river.

Geography

Climate

San Luis Río Colorado has a

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BWh''), with extremely hot summers and mild winters; it is one of the hottest and driest cities in Mexico. The record high temperature is , recorded on 15 June 1966. The record low temperature is , recorded on 2 January 1950.

Economy

Maquila factories in San Luis Río Colorado include TSE Brakes, Daewoo Electronics, Bose, Flextronics, Yazaki, SANA International, and Gaming Partners International.

Transportation

San Luis Río Colorado Airport used to be the

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

airport serving this city until it was demolished in the early 2020s. However, the nearest International airport to San Luis Río Colorado is Mexicali International Airport near

. San Luis Río Colorado has highway connections to other parts of Mexico (State highway 40 and Mexican Federal Highway 2). There is a border crossing with San Luis, Arizona. Several intercity bus companies (including TUFESA) stop at the San Luis Río Colorado bus station.

Notable people

* Alfredo Aceves, professional baseball player for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. * Paty Díaz, telenovela actress. * Efrain Escudero,

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

fighter for the UFC. * Jorge Páez, former WBO and IBF Champion. * Azriel Páez, undefeated

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

prospect and the son of former Champion Jorge Páez. * Carlos Palomino, former WBC

Champion and member of the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

. * Rogelio Medina, boxing

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

contender. * Ignacio Mondaca Romero, writer, author of ''Relatos de Ocio'' among other books. * Jesús Sánchez García, professional footballer for Club Deportivo Guadalajara.

References

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática

External links

*
La Cronica.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Luis Rio Colorado . Populated places in Sonora Populated places in the Sonoran Desert of Mexico Populated places on the Colorado River Mexico–United States border crossings