Naco is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''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 ...

in northwestern

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 ...

The municipality

As municipal seat, the town of Naco is the governing authority for 128 other localities, most of which have only one or two residents and only two – Cuauhtémoc Ejido (189), and San Pedro (108) have more than eight residents according to the 2010 census. The total municipal population is 6,401 (as of 2010) of whom 6,064 or 94.7% live in the town proper. The municipality has a territory of 651.8 square kilometers and it borders the municipalities of Fronteras, Agua Prieta and Cananea. The United States border is on the north. The area of 1,085 hectares in the municipality is dedicated to agriculture, growing mostly

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, ...

, beans, corn and animal feed. Farming depends on irrigation from about 25 wells and two small dams. Most livestock here is cattle, which are raised on 162,000 hectares, and whose water needs are met by an additional 36 wells and natural springs. There are facilities that raise calves for export to the United States as well. Industry is based on four

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 ...

s which employ about 700 workers and produce electronics, textiles and rugs, and workshops that produce wood, iron and metal furniture. There is also mining of lime and copper. The most rugged part of the municipality is in the south, in which is the San José mountain range. Other areas are semi flat, with low mountains and mesas. At the western edge is Magallanes mountain range. The main river here is called the Punta de Agua, which begins in the United States and continues on into Agua Prieta. The area has a relatively dry climate with high temperatures averaging 39 °C in the summer and 9 °C in the winter. The rainy season is in the summer with an annual rainfall of about 466.0 millimeters. There are three types of vegetation here. Most of the municipality is arid grassland, with forests at the highest elevations. In some other areas, vegetation is mixed. Wildlife mostly consists of reptiles and amphibians such as the turtle, and the rattlesnake and small mammals such as the bat, the

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

and

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

. There are bird species and some deer as well. Naco is located on the border with Arizona. There are plans to reactivate shipping through this port via the rail line between here and

Benson, Arizona Benson is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 5,355. It was founded as a rail terminal for the area, and is located approxim ...

. This project only requires that eight km of rail line be rehabilitated. The goal is to open a new rail port of entry that will connect with

Guaymas Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the List of states of Mexico, state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the Mexico – United States border, U.S. ...

. In the last election for municipal president, the two principal candidates were tied with 1,274 votes each, prompting an official recount by federal officials.

Adjacent municipalities and counties

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 ...

– east *

Fronteras Fronteras is the seat of Fronteras Municipality in the northeastern part of the Mexican state of Sonora. Frontera translates as Border. The elevation is 1,120 meters and neighboring municipalities are Agua Prieta, Nacozari and Bacoachi. The ar ...

– southeast *

Cananea Cananea is a city in the Mexican state of Sonora, Northwestern Mexico. It is the seat of the Municipality of Cananea, in the vicinity of the U.S−Mexico border. The population of the city was 31,560 as recorded by the 2010 census. The po ...

– southwest and west *

Cochise County, Arizona Cochise County ( ) is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache who was a key war leader during the Apache Wars. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The count ...

– north

References

Municipalities of Sonora {{commonscat