Navojoa

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**NAVOJOA**
Coat of arms
Motto: La Perla del Mayo ("The Pearl of the Mayo")
Foundation date	1825
Population	182,000 (Municipality)
Altitude	33 meters (108 ft)
Latitude	27° 03' North
Longitude	109° 25' West
Extension	4,380 km² (1,691 mi²)
UTC	–7 GMT (Mountain Time)
Telephone area code	+52 (Country) 642 (City)
Mayor (alcalde)	Onésimo Mariscales Delgadillo (2006-2009)
_{Sources: Navojoa}

Navojoa is the third largest city in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and is situated 360 miles south of the state's border with the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the administrative seat of Navojoa municipality, located in the Mayo Valley.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Economy
4 Transportation
5 Education
6 Tourism
7 Sister Cities
8 Sports
9 Other Famous Natives
10 External links

[edit] History

The city name derives from the native Mayo language meaning "Cactus House" ("Navo"= Cactus, "Jova"= House). The valley has been continuously inhabited since pre-Hispanic times by the Indian Mayo tribe.

In September 1536, Diego de Guzmán, was the first known European (Spaniard) to reach the valley and the first Jesuit missionaries started settling in the region in 1614. Today, several geoglyphs from the ancient Mayo tribe can be found along the Mayo River.

Due to the city's distant location from Mexico City, the difficult times of Mexico's independence in the early 1800's were largely absent from the region. However, the city played an important part in the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Navojoa is the birthplace of Mexican Revolutionary Álvaro Obregón. Álvaro Obregón became president of Mexico after the revolt and initiated an agricultural revolution in the Mayo/Yaqui Valley, introducing modern agricultural techniques and making this valley one of the most prosperous agricultural regions in Mexico.

[edit] Demographics

Navojoa is the third largest city in Sonora (after state capital Hermosillo and nearby Ciudad Obregón) with a population of 182,000.

[edit] Economy

Navojoa is part of the vast economic center known as the Mayo Valley, which together with Ciudad Obregón and the Yaqui Valley, form one of the most productive agricultural regions in Mexico.

Although agriculture remains the main source of income, the Navojoa region is increasingly dependent on industrial foreign investment and aquaculture (especially shrimp farming).

There are two large pork producer companies [1] [2]that export mainly to USA, Germany and Japan, and one brewery of group FEMSA are among the main industries in Navojoa.

Geographically speaking, the city gains importance in its diversity with its coastal, desert, and southwest mountainous areas and its close proximity to the United States and the neighboring state of Sinaloa. Navojoa is 40 miles south of Ciudad Obregón connected primarily by a toll highway (Interstate 15) that crosses the state of Sonora until it reaches the Arizona border.

[edit] Transportation

Ciudad Obregón International Airport is the nearest commercial airport, 30 miles north of Navojoa. It receives flights from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Durango, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, La Paz, Loreto, Los Mochis, Los Cabos, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, Tijuana, and, internationally, from Los Angeles, Tucson, Phoenix and Houston in the United States.

Navojoa also has a local airport next to the industrial sector, which is suitable for lighter, private planes. It is about 5 miles south of the city center.

[edit] Education

The following institutions of higher education are based in Navojoa:

Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (ITSON)
Centro de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Sonora (CESUES)
Universidad de Sonora - Unidad Navojoa
Universidad de Navojoa - Also known as Colegio del Pacifico
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) - Campus Obregón/Unidad Navojoa
Atelier Sonorense

[edit] Tourism

The city is only minutes away from the Gulf of California and offers a variety of mostly virgin sand beaches. The surrounding outdoors are also a popular spot for Americans looking to hunt duck, dove and deer.[3]

The Adolfo Ruiz Cortines dam serves as a usual fishing spot and it is also responsible for irrigating the valley via the Mayo River, which some people visit for kayaking, geoglyph-viewing and other leisure activities.

Navojoa also acts as a hub for anyone visiting the colonial town of Alamos, which is 30 miles inland toward the mountains of the Sierra Madre.

[edit] Sister Cities

Santa Fe Springs, California, USA

[edit] Sports

Mayos Logo

The city of Navojoa has its own baseball team called Mayos de Navojoa which is a member of the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico.

Well-known native baseball players:

Gabriel "Gabe" Alvarez, player for the Detroit Tigers.
Luis Alfonso "Cochito" Cruz, San Diego Padres.
Francisco "Paquín" Estrada, former player for the New York Mets.
Alfonso "Houston" Jiménez, Cleveland Indians.
Isidro Márquez, Chicago White Sox.
Fernando Valenzuela, LA Dodgers.

[edit] Other Famous Natives

Rubén Aguilar Valenzuela, President Vicente Fox spokesman.
Javier Alatorre, journalist and anchor for Hechos, a news show for TV Azteca.
Ramón "Yori Boy" Campas, boxer, former IBF world Jr. Middleweight champion.
Beatriz Adriana, Folk music singer
Arturo Chacón Cruz, Tenor
Rafael Moreno, Catolic Singer
Rodolfo Coronel, Popular Folk music Singer
Juan Manuel González Flores, vice-president of the International University Sports Federation.
Álvaro Obregón, President of México 1920-1924.