Pitiquito is both a small town and its surrounding municipal area

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...

 in the northwest 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....

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Area and population

The municipal area is 11,979.96 km² which makes up 6.46% of the state total. The municipal population counted in 2000 was 9,160. http://www.sonora.gob.mx/portal/Runscript.asp?p=ASP\pg216.asp The population of the main settlement and municipal seat was 4,862 in 2000. It is located at an elevation of 305 meters.

Neighboring municipalities

Neighboring municipalities are Altar

Altar, Sonora

Altar is small city in Altar Municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora. It is located in the northwest region of the state at . Surrounding municipalities are Sáric, Tubutama, Atil, Trincheras, Pitiquito, Caborca and Oquitoa. The northern boundary is with Pima County in the U.S...

 to the northwest, 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...

 to the south, Trincheras

Trincheras

Trincheras is a town, and the surrounding municipality of the same name, in the north-west of the Mexican state of Sonora. It was founded in 1775 by Bernardo de Urrea. The municipal area is 3,764.26 sq. km. and the population in 2000 was 1,788...

 to the east, and Caborca

Caborca

Caborca is both a municipality and a municipal seat in the Mexican state of Sonora. The area of the municipality is 10,721.84 km², which is 5.78 percent of the state total. The municipal population was 81,308 of whom 59,922 lived in the municipal seat...

 and the Gulf of California

Gulf of California

The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...

 to the west. The town of Pitiquito is located in the north of the municipality on Federal Highway 2

Mexican Federal Highway

Mexican Federal Highways, are roads maintained and built by the federal government of Mexico, through the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation ....

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Climate

In this region the climate is hot and dry with rainfall between 75 and 200 mm a year. Between December and February nighttime temperatures can drop to 8.5°C below zero while from June to August they can reach 49.5°C.

History

When the Spanish arrived the area was populated by various sedentary tribes settled along the banks of the Altar and Magdalena rivers. It was founded by Fr. Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1694 with the name of Natividad del Señor de Pitiquin. In 1768 the Franciscans took over the churches and the name was changed to San Antonio de Pitiquito. According to local tradition the town took the name of an Indian chief called "Piti or Pitic". It became a municipality in 1914.

Economic activity

Agriculture covered 6,901 hectares (2000), most of which were irrigated by pumping from wells. Main crops are alfalfa, beans, corn, grapes, sorghum, and the production of fodder for the cattle industry. http://www.sonoraturismo.gob.mx/pitiquito-sonora.htm

Cattle raising is also important with over 30,000 head counted in (2000).

Since this municipality has approximately 170 kilometers of coastline there is also fishing, especially in the settlements of Puerto Libertad and Desemboque. The Mexican power generation parastatal CFE has a large electric plant at Puerto Libertad. A Mexican alternative energy company Biofields is constructing an algae to ethanol system covering several square miles which will process the exhaust from the electric plant.

Tourist sights

Of touristic importance is the San Diego del Pitiquito mission, which sits in the center of town. http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/missions/Pitiquito.html. It is the oldest church with surviving indigenous art in Sonora. The drawings are rough, bold, black lines on a white background. They were discovered after being hidden under whitewash for ages.
http://www.ourmexico.com/story.php?storyID=41

The small beach communities along the Gulf of California are also of interest and are yet to be developed. Puerto de la Libertad is the most important and is situated on a paved highway from Hermosillo.
It has an attractive bay with fine sand beaches and gentle waves, which invite visitors for practicing aquatic sports such as swimming, sailing and angling. Nearby are the only boojum

Boojum tree

Fouquieria columnaris, the Boojum tree or cirio is a tree in the family Fouquieriaceae, whose other members include the ocotillos. It is nearly endemic to the Baja California Peninsula, with only a small population in the Sierra Bacha of Sonora, Mexico...

 (Spanish cirio) forests outside Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

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The beach town of El Desemboque

El Desemboque

El Desemboque, known as "Haxöl Iihom" in the Seri language, is a town located 376 km from Hermosillo on the shore of Gulf of California in the Mexican state of Sonora; coordinates N 29° 30' 13", W 112° 23' 43". It is one of two major villages on the Seri Indian communal property, the other being...

 is a Seri Indian town on the Seri communal property which is partially in the municipality of Pitiquito. http://www.sonoraturismo.gob.mx/seris-de-sonora.htm

External links

• Pitiquito, Ayuntamiento Digital (Official Website of Pitiquito, Sonora)
• Mission San Diego del Pitiquito