| Imuris | |
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Imuris
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Mexico |
| State | Sonora |
| Elevation | 835 m (2,742 ft) |
| Population (2001 est.) | |
| • Total | 9,921 |
Imuris is a municipality and a municipal seat in the north of the Mexican state of Sonora.
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The municipal area is 1,710.3 km² with a population of 9,988 registered in 2000. [1] Most of the inhabitants live in the municipal seat, which had a population of 5,767 in 2000. The municipal population has increased greatly with the installation of maquiladoras and is now estimated to be around 14,000. [2]
Neighboring municipalities are Nogales, Santa Cruz, Cananea, Arizpe, Cucurpe, and Magdalena de Kino.
Imuris is located along Federal Highway 15 - the long highway between Nogales at the USA/Mexico border and Mexico City - and the railroad line connecting Nogales and the USA into the Mexican railroad network. It is also the intersection with the eastbound section of Federal Highway 2, which heads to the state of Chihuahua and the city of Ciudad Juárez (across the Río Grande from El Paso, Texas).
The land was once occupied by the Pimas Altos. In 1687 the Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino established the town of "San José de Imuris". The toponym of Imuris is Pima and a possible meaning is "Plateau between rivers" or "hills shaped like flint". [3]
The land is mountainous in the east and north and the main settlement lies at an elevation of 826 meters. The average annual temperature is 18.7°C and the average annual rainfall is 413.1 mm. [4]
The region is crossed by three small rivers, which later form the Rio Magdalena.
Agriculture, cattle raising, and industry are the main economic activities.
Corn and beans are raised for subsistence while grasses (sorghum, alfalfa, rye grass) are grown for cattle fodder. There were 353 small land owners in 2000 cultivating a surface of 3,706 hectares, and 937 ejidatarios on 673 hectares, making a total of 4,378.9 hectares. [5]
The cattle herd numbered 25,617 head in 2000, with this activity employing 638 people. [6] [7]
The industrial sector is varied because there are two maquiladoras owned by international companies, as well as several small factories producing construction materials. Almost 1000 jobs are generated by the industrial sector making it the most important economic activity of the municipality. The final products of the maquiladoras are automobile belts, automobile electronic panels, transformers, plastic packaging, and smelting of aluminum. [8]
The main tourist attraction is the Iglesia de San José de Ímuris, as well as the traditional plaza, and the typical restaurants, locally known for fine quesadillas.