Fronteras

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Fronteras is a municipality and its municipal seat in the northeast of the Mexican state of Sonora. The elevation is 1,120 meters and neighboring municipalities are Agua Prieta, Nacozari and Bacoachi. The area is 2839.62 km², which represents 1.53% of the state total.

Fronteras is located in a mountainous area on the west side of the Sierra Madre Occidental. 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. [1]

The municipal population was 7,081 inhabitants (2.34 inhab/km²) in 2000, although in a second counting in 2005 this number had increased to 7,470 inhabitants. The most important settlement and the municipal seat had 874 inhabitants in 2000. [2] [3]

Industry is the most important economic activity together with agriculture and cattle raising. There was one maquiladora 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 of them were for meat production.

Visitors can see the old Misión de Cuquiárachi founded in 1645 by the Jesuit missionary Marcos del Río.

The Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza (1735-1788), who opened the overland route into Alta California and established the first settlement at San Francisco, was born in Fronteras.

Other points of interest are the Jacinto López reservoir, the cave of Presidio de Fronteras and two archaeological zones located near Ojo de Agua.