Fronteras is the seat of
Fronteras Municipality in the northeastern part 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 ...
of
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 ...
. Frontera translates as Border. The elevation is 1,120 meters and neighboring municipalities are
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 ...
,
Nacozari and
Bacoachi. The area is 2839.62 km
2, which represents 1.53% of the state total.
Fronteras was founded by the Jesuits as a mission in 1645.
Geography
Fronteras is located in a mountainous area on the west side 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 average annual temperature is 16.9 °C. The rainy season is from July to August and the average annual rainfall is 427.5 millimeters.
Demographics
The municipal population was 7,081 (2.34 /km
2) in 2000, although in a second counting in 2005 this had increased to 7,470. The most important settlement and the municipal seat had 874 inhabitants in 2000.
Economy
Industry is the most important economic activity together with agriculture and
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
raising. There was one ''
maquiladora
A (), or (), is a factory that is largely duty (economics), duty free and tariff free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present thro ...
'' in 2000. The main agricultural crops were wheat, beans, corn and grasses for cattle fodder. The cattle herd was substantial with over 30,000 head counted in 2000. Almost all were for meat production.
History and landmarks
The Spanish explorer
Juan Bautista de Anza (1735-1788) led the first Spanish overland expedition to the
Las Californias Province of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
in 1769, previously only sighted and claimed for the Crown from the sea. He established the first Spanish settlement in present-day
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, the
Presidio of San Diego, and was the second European (after
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
) to see the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
.
Fronteras was originally founded as Santa Rosa de Corodeguachi, a Spanish .
Visitors can explore the Mission San Ignacio de Cuquiarachi 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 Marcos del Río. It is one of the
Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert. Two archaeological zones, of ancient
Pima Indigenous people of the Americas
In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...
settlement sites, are located near the village of Ojo de Agua.
Other points of interest are the Jacinto López reservoir, and the Cave of Presidio de Fronteras.
In the early 20th century, Fronteras gained fame as the home of
Plutarco Elias Calles, recognized as the architect of modern Mexico and the country's 40th president. Although born in the coastal town of
Guaymas, Sonora, Elias Calles became the prosperous owner of the Fronteras flour mill, and developed his political alliances in Fronteras.
In 2010, Fronteras again gained prominence with the discovery of a large deposit of dinosaur fossils, claimed by paleontologists as unique species previously unknown to science.
References
External links
Fronteras, Ayuntamiento Digital(official website of Fronteras, Sonora)
Gobierno de Sonora article on FronterasEnciclopedia de los Municipios de MexicoINEGI
Missions in Sonora
Populated places established in 1645
Jesuit history in North America
{{Sonora-geo-stub