El Fuerte (Spanish pronunciation: [el 'fwerte]) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The municipality reported 100,000 inhabitants in the 2000 census, with 30,000 in the city.
El Fuerte was named a "Pueblo Mágico" in 2009.
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The city was founded in 1563 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco de Ibarra, the first explorer of the lofty Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. In 1610 a fort was built to ward off the fierce Zuaque and Tehueco Native Americans, who constantly harassed the Spaniards. For years, El Fuerte served as the gateway to the vast frontiers of the northern native-held territories of Sonora, Arizona and California.
For three centuries it was the most important commercial and agricultural center of the vast northwestern region of Mexico. El Fuerte was a chief trading post for silver miners and gold seekers from the Urique and Batopilas mines in the nearby mountains.
In 1824, El Fuerte became the capital of Sonora y Sinaloa (reaching up into Arizona). It remained so for several years until the dissolution of this state.
Tourism remains a major industry in town, although it has been diminished in recent years by tourists wary of Mexican drug cartel violence in other parts of Sinaloa. Several hotels cater to hunters and fishermen, who hunt in the foothills or fish in the nearby Rio Fuerte river which runs on the northwest part of the town's commercial district. There are also local petroglyphs a short distance from the downtown. The city also serves as a gateway to the popular Barranca de Cobre (Copper Canyon) situated in the nearby state of Chihuahua. There are no easily navigable roads to the Copper Canyon from west of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Rather, visitors usually take the Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico railway, whose local station is a few mile south of town.
| Climate data for El Fuerte | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 27.7 (81.9) |
29.3 (84.7) |
31.6 (88.9) |
34.8 (94.6) |
38 (100) |
39.7 (103.5) |
37.7 (99.9) |
36.5 (97.7) |
36.5 (97.7) |
35.8 (96.4) |
32.0 (89.6) |
28.3 (82.9) |
33.97 (93.15) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 7.5 (45.5) |
7.9 (46.2) |
9.0 (48.2) |
11.6 (52.9) |
15.2 (59.4) |
21.9 (71.4) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.5 (74.3) |
23 (73) |
18.1 (64.6) |
11.6 (52.9) |
8.2 (46.8) |
15.11 (59.20) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 28 (1.1) |
13 (0.5) |
8 (0.3) |
3 (0.1) |
3 (0.1) |
28 (1.1) |
163 (6.4) |
170 (6.7) |
102 (4) |
38 (1.5) |
15 (0.6) |
30 (1.2) |
599 (23.6) |
| Source: Weatherbase [1] | |||||||||||||
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