Bacadéhuachi () is a village in Bacadéhuachi Municipality in the northeast 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 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 in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...

Origin of the name and history

The name is derived from the Opata language 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 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 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 C ...

. 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 Missions in Sonora Jesuit history in North America