Quiriego is a small town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 and 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...

 in the southeast of the Mexican 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 2,705.72 km². The municipal population counted in 2005 was 3,335. The population of the main settlement and municipal seat was 994 in 2000. The municipal population has been decreasing steadily since 1980 when it was 4,474. http://www.sonora.gob.mx/portal/RunScript.asp?page=218&p=ASP\Pg218.asp The main settlement is located at an elevation of 822 meters.

Neighboring municipalities

Neighboring municipalities are Rosario to the north, Álamos

Álamos

The town and municipality of Álamos in the Mexican state of Sonora was founded in the late 17th century following discoveries of silver in the region. It was named by the conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, and became the capital of the surrounding region...

 to the east, Navojoa

Navojoa

Navojoa is the fifth-largest city in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and is situated in the southern part of Sonora, south of the state's border with the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the administrative seat of a large municipality, located in the Mayo River Valley.-History:The city name...

 and the state of Chihuahua to the south and Cajeme

Cajeme

Cajeme is one of the municipalities of the northwestern state of Sonora, Mexico. Its capital is Ciudad Obregón. It is named after Cajemé, a Yaqui leader...

 to the west.

Quiriego is located east of Ciudad Obregón

Ciudad Obregón

Ciudad Obregon is the second largest city in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and is situated south of the state's northern border with the U.S. state of Arizona. It is also the municipal seat of Cajeme municipality, located in the Yaqui Valley.- History :...

 and is connected by dirt road with the main Federal Highway 15

Mexican Federal Highway 15

Federal Highway 15 is a primary north-south highway in Mexico. The highway begins in the north at the United States-Mexico border at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora, and terminates to the south in Mexico City...

 at the village of Funcición. Sonora Map

History

The name Quiriego comes from the Latin words in the liturgy of the mass "kirie" lord and "ego" I.
Located in this region are the ruins of the ancient Real de Minas y Villa de Baroyeca, which was one of the most important settlements in Sonora during the colonial period and beginning of the post-independence era.

Ruins of the former missions of Batacosa and Tepahui, founded in the eighteenth century, can also be seen.

The municipal seat, Quiriego, was originally a ranch belonging to Francisco Javier Valenzuela in the last years of the eighteenth century. Quiriego became a municipality in 1932.

Economic activity

Agriculture and cattle raising are the main economic activities. Main crops are watermelon, sorghum, corn, beans, and grasses for cattle raising. There were 34,096 head of cattle in 2000. Gobierno de Sonora

External links

• Quiriego, Ayuntamiento Digital (Official Website of Quiriego, Sonora)