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Sonora

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Sonora
 
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State (pop., 2000: 2,216,969), northwestern Mexico. Bordering the U.S. and the Gulf of California, it covers 70,291 sq mi (182,052 sq km); its capital is Hermosillo. Explored by Spaniards in the 1530s, it became an important colonial mining district for copper, gold, and silver. It became a state in 1830, but the Yaqui Indian peoples were not finally subdued until the 20th century. It is generally arid and semiarid, and irrigation is used to grow winter vegetables, cereals, cotton, tobacco, and corn (maize).

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Columbia Encyclopedia: Sonora
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Sonora (sōnō'rä) , state (1990 pop. 1,823,606), 70,484 sq mi (182,554 sq km), NW Mexico, on the Gulf of California, S of Arizona. Hermosillo is the capital. Sonora is mostly mountainous, with vast desert stretches; along the gulf are low, broad coastlands. Reclamation projects on the Yaqui, Sonora, Mayo, and other rivers have opened large areas to agriculture. The most extensively irrigated of all Mexican states, Sonora is a leading national producer of cotton and wheat; other cereals and vegetables are also grown. Agriculture is highly mechanized. Cattle raising and fishing are important, and large quantities of shrimp are exported to the United States. Gold, silver, copper, and other metals are mined in Sonora. Power plants at Hermosillo and Guaymas have aided Sonora's rapid industrialization. Food processing and textile manufacture are major industries, and numerous maquiladoras, low-cost foreign-owned plants which finish products for export to the United States, exist throughout the region. Nogales is the chief point of entry from the United States. Systematic Spanish exploration of Sonora, principally by Cristóbal de Oñate, began after Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's expedition in 1540. Spanish missionaries, notably Eusebio Francisco Kino, were active in colonizing the territory during the 17th cent. Originally part of Nueva Viscaya, which also included the present-day states of Chihuahua and Durango, Sonora was later united with Sinaloa; they became separate states in 1830. Sonora played a key role in the Mexican revolution against Porfirio Díaz that began in 1910.

 
WordNet: Sonora
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: ground snakes
  Synonym: genus Sonora

 
Wikipedia: Sonora
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State of Sonora
Flag of State of Sonora
Flag
Location within Mexico
Location within Mexico
Country  Mexico
Capital Hermosillo
Municipalities 72
Government
 - Governor Eduardo Bours Castelo (PRI)
 - Federal Deputies PAN: 5
PRI: 2
 - Federal Senators PAN: 2
PRI: 1
Area
Ranked 2nd
 - Total 182,052 km2 (70,290.7 sq mi)
Population (2005)
 - Total 2,394,861 (Ranked 19th)
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
HDI (2004) 0.8163 - high
Ranked 10th
ISO 3166-2 MX-SON
Postal abbr. Son.
Website Sonora State Government
For other uses, see Sonora (disambiguation).

Sonora is one of the 31 federal states of Mexico and is located in the northwest of the country.

Contents

Geography

Valley of Sonora

Sonora's western shores are washed by the Sea of Cortez (or Gulf of California, as it is also known), which is connected to the Pacific Ocean further south. Sonora is thus linked to the so-called "Pacific Rim," which offers ample opportunities through the port of Guaymas for economic development as well as many challenges and opportunities for sustainable use of its natural resources. The Sonoran coastline is 1,208 km long.

Typical Sonoran village scene.

Sonora borders the state of Chihuahua to the east, Sinaloa to the south and Baja California to the northwest; to the north it shares an extensive border with the U.S. state of Arizona and a shorter one with New Mexico. To its west lies the Gulf of California; the state of Baja California Sur also shares a maritime boundary with Sonora.

The border with Chihuahua is 592 km, and the border with Sinaloa is 117 km. Sonora's border with Arizona is 568 km long, and its border with New Mexico is 20 km long; these borders allow for multiple economic, cultural, and political ties with the United States. The state's total perimeter is 2,505 km. Sonora is the second largest state in Mexico (184,934 km²), representing 9.2% of the nation's total area.

Sonora consists of four physiographic regions: The Sierra Madre Occidental, Parallel Mountains and Valleys, the Sonoran Desert, and the Coast of the Gulf of California. Sonora is located in a climactic strip in the northern hemisphere that has formed various deserts around the globe. The state is located at the same latitude as the deserts of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and other regions. Extreme high temperatures, upwards of 49C or higher occur in summer in desert areas while winters although short, are cool compared with most of Mexico, snow covering the peaks of the Sierra Madra Occidental.

An extensive network of roads, the backbone of which is a four-lane highway that crosses the state from south to north, joins Sonora with the rest of Mexico and with the United States.

Population

In 2000, Sonora had 2,216,969 inhabitants, of whom 50.1% were men and 49.9% were women; this represented 2.3% of Mexico's total population. Population growth has been steady, with an increase of over 700,000 people between 1980 and 2000. As of 2000, there were 271,277 children under 5 years of age, 474,481 children aged between 5 and 14 years, 422,588 between 15 and 24 years 740,930 between 25 and 49 years, and 307,693 adults 50 years and older.

According to the last official national census that counted the racial component (1921), 48.84% of the population was white, 40.38% was mestizo, and 11.78% was indigenous.

The most populous cities in Sonora are:

Population map of the state of Sonora, Mexico

Government

The government of Sonora is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

The executive branch consists of a governor elected by direct vote every six years without the possibility of re-election. The current governor of Sonora is José Eduardo Robinson-Bours Castelo of the PRI and PVEM.

The legislative branch consists of a unicameral legislature composed of 21 deputies elected directly and 12 deputies selected by proportional representation for a period of three years with no possibility of re-election.

The judicial branch of the state of Sonora is composed of seven judges. Currently Lic. Max Gutiérrez Cohen is the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the State.

Smaller Sonora towns usually have a Social Security medical clinic, such as this one in Miguel Aleman, 30 minutes west of Hermosillo.

Institutions of higher education

For decades the main institutions of higher education have been the private and prestigious Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey or 'Tech de Monterrey' (with campus Ciudad Obregón and Hermosillo) and the state run University of Sonora or UNISON, whose main campus is located in Hermosillo, with satellite campuses in Navojoa, Caborca, Santa Ana, and Nogales. UNISON is currently one of the biggest public institutions of higher education in Mexico.

In recent years a number of new public and private universities have opened.

LIST OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SONORA

Political divisions

Municipalities of the State of Sonora
Main article: Municipalities of Sonora

Sonora is subdivided into 72 municipalities (Spanish: municipios), each headed by a municipal president.

Economy

As of 2005, Sonora’s economy represents 2.8% of Mexico’s total gross domestic product or 18,284 million USD.[1] Sonora's economy has a strong focus on export oriented manufacturing (i.e. maquiladora / INMEX). As of 2005, 181,277 people are employed in the manufacturing sector.[2] There are a more than 213 companies operating under the federal INMEX or Prosec program in Sonora. The average wage for an employee in Sonora is approximately 174 pesos per day.[3]

With a GDP per capita of US$10,534, Sonora ranks 9th among Mexican states.

Transportation

Highways

See: List of highways in Sonora

Intercity Bus

Several companies offer low, mid and luxury class bus services between virtually all towns and cities in Sonora and to the rest of Mexico, also international destinations such as Tucson, Phoenix and Los Angeles in the United States.

A bus on the ‘la Costa’ route from Hermosillo to Kino Bay, stopped inn Miguel Aleman.

Airports

Sonora has six international airports; however, one of them, Álamos International Airport (XAL) in the colonial town of Álamos, lacks of commercial flights. Airports with regular commercial flights include:

General Ignacio Pesqueira Garcia International Airport (HMO) in Hermosillo

Ciudad Obregón International Airport (CEN) in Ciudad Obregón

General José María Yáñez International Airport (GYM) in Guaymas

Nogales International Airport (NOG) in Nogales

Puerto Peñasco International Airport (PPE) in Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point)

Also, most towns have paved or dirt runways for private planes. (See Navojoa Airport)

Tourism

Sonora is a premier tourist destination, especially for visitors from neighboring Arizona.

Recently, Sonora has experienced a boom in tourism, especially in the city of Puerto Peñasco, due to its being the nearest beach to many population centers in Arizona.

View of Mexico’s largest island, Tiburon, from New Kino Bay, west of Hermosillo.

People

In Fiction

Notes

  1. ^ Industrial Costs in Mexico - A Guide for Foreign Investors 2007. Mexico City: Bancomext. 2007. pp. 100. 
  2. ^ Industrial Costs in Mexico - A Guide for Foreign Investors 2007. Mexico City: Bancomext. 2007. pp. 100. 
  3. ^ "Sonora Regional Investment Guide". UnderstandMexico. http://www.understandmexico.com/mexico/states/sonora. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 

External links

v • d • e
Political divisions of Mexico

Coordinates: 29°38′46″N 110°52′08″W / 29.64611°N 110.86889°W / 29.64611; -110.86889


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sonora".  Read more

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