Mazatán is a municipality

Municipalities of Mexico

Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...

 and a municipal seat in the center of the Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 state of Sonora

Sonora

Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

.

Area and Population

The municipal area is 649.27 km² with a population of 4,187 registered in 2000. http://www.inegi.gob.mx/inegi/default.aspx The municipal seat had a population of 1,499 in 2000. It is located at an elevation of 450 meters.

Neighboring Municipalities

Neighboring municipalities are Ures

Ures

Ures is a small city and a municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora.-Area:It has an area of 2,618.56 square kilometers. This is 1.41% of the total area of the state, and 0.13 percent of the national area of Mexico...

, Villa Pesqueira

Villa Pesqueira

Villa Pesqueira is a town, and the surrounding municipality of the same name, in the central region of the Mexican state of Sonora.It was founded in 1629 by the missionary Martín de Azpilcueta as Mátapa...

, La Colorada

La Colorada

La Colorada is a small town and municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora. In 2005, the population of the municipality was 1,754, with 288 living in the municipal seat. Formerly known as Minas Prietas, La Colorada became a municipality on June 28, 1934. As an important mining camp in Mexico,...

, and Hermosillo

Hermosillo

Hermosillo is a city and municipality located centrally in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the capital and main economic center for the state and region. It contains almost all of the state's manufacturing and has thirty percent of its population...

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History

The settlement of Mazatán was founded in the seventeenth century by the Jesuit Juan Nentuig. Its name comes from the Opata language and means "place of deer". During the nineteenth century Mazatán belonged to the district of Ures

Ures

Ures is a small city and a municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora.-Area:It has an area of 2,618.56 square kilometers. This is 1.41% of the total area of the state, and 0.13 percent of the national area of Mexico...

. It became a municipality on 10 December 1907.
http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/sonora/municipios/26037a.htm

Geography

The region is part of the valleys of the center of the state. The average annual temperature is 21.7°C and the average annual rainfall is 508.8 mm. http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_sonora

The region is crossed by the Rio Mazatán, which has an extension of 160 kilometers and flows into the Punta de Agua reservoir near Guaymas

Guaymas

Guaymas is a city and municipality located in the southwest part of the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. The city is located 117 km south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and 242 miles from the U.S. border, and is the principal port for the state. The municipality is located in the...

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Economic Activity

Agriculture and cattle raising are the main economic activities.

Corn and beans are raised for subsistence while grasses (sorghum, alfalfa, rye grass) are grown for cattle fodder.

The cattle herd numbered 17,132 head in 2000 http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/sonora/municipios/26037a.htm making cattle raising the main economic activity in the municipality. There were 221 producers listed in the last census of 2000. http://www.sonoraturismo.gob.mx/mazatan-sonora.htm

External links

• Pueblos de Sonora article on Mazatán