Bacadéhuachi () is a village in
Bacadéhuachi Municipality in the northeast 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 ent ...
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, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...
. It is 269 kilometers northeast of the state capital,
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 ...
.
Origin of the name and history
The name is derived from the
Opata language
Ópata (also Tegüima, Teguima, Tehuima, Tehui, Eudeve, Eudeva, Heve, Dohema, Jova, Joval, Tonichi, Sonori and Ure; opt, Teguima) is either of two closely related Uto-Aztecan languages, ''Teguima'' and ''Eudeve'', spoken by the Opata people of n ...
with the roots "Baca", reed, "degua", entrance, door, and "tzi", place; "In the place of the reed".
Previously this area was inhabited by Opata settlements. Bacadéhuachi was founded in 1645 by the
Jesuit missionary Cristóbal García as a Jesuit mission, named Mission San Luis Gonzága de Bacadéhuachi.
In 1930, the municipality of Bacadéhuachi was incorporated into the municipality of Bacerac, but in 1931, it was considered as a separate municipality, and the town of Bacadéhuachi was named as head municipal.
Geography
The region is semi-arid and 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 ...
. The main river is the
Bavispe. There are pine forests in the mountainous areas and wildlife is abundant. Mammals still present are deer, puma, lynx, coyote, jaguar,
mapache, and skunk. Some of the birds are the owl, nightingale, buzzard, and eagle.
Population decrease
The population has decreased since the last census in 1995 when there were 1,380 inhabitants. Scarce economic opportunities have caused many young people to emigrate. The population density is extremely low, with 0.88 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Economy
The economy is almost entirely based on agriculture and cattle raising, both of which are poorly developed due to the shortage of water. There were approximately 11,000 head of cows in 2005.
References
External links
Bacadéhuachi, Ayuntamiento Digital''(Official WebSite of Bacadéhuachi, Sonora)''
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de MexicoINEGIGobierno de Sonora
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacadehuachi
Populated places in Sonora