Imuris 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 north 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 1,710.3 km² with a population of 9,988 registered in 2000. http://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/default.aspx?s=inegi&e=26 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. http://www.imuris.gob.mx/socioeconomicos.php

Neighboring Municipalities

Neighboring municipalities are Nogales

Nogales, Sonora

Heroica Nogales , more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and its surrounding municipality on the northern border of the Mexican State of Sonora. The municipality covers an area of 1,675 km², and borders to the north the city of Nogales, Arizona, United States, across the U.S.-Mexico border...

, Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, Sonora

Santa Cruz is a town in Santa Cruz Municipality, in the northern region of the Mexican state of Sonora.- External links : ...

, Cananea

Cananea

-Economy:Mining is the main source of revenue for Cananea and will be for the foreseeable future. Eighty percent of the population is directly or indirectly supported by mining companies in Cananea. The first and most important mining company is Mexicana de Cananea, S.A. de C.V. owned by and...

, Arizpe

Arizpe

Arizpe is a small town in Arizpe Municipality in the north of the Mexican state of Sonora. It is located at 30°20'"N 110°09'"W. The area of the municipality is 2,806.78 sq.km. The population in 2005 was 2,959 of which 1,743 lived in the municipal seat as of the 2000 census.-History and origin...

, Cucurpe

Cucurpe

Cucurpe is a municipality, and the town that serves as its municipal seat, of the same name in the Mexican state of Sonora.-History:Originally the territory was occupied by the Opatas and the Pimas Altas...

, and Magdalena de Kino

Magdalena de Kino

Magdalena de Kino is a city and surrounding municipality located in the Mexican state of Sonora covering approximately 560 square miles . According to the 2005 census, the city's population was 23,101, and the municipality's population was 25,500. Magdalena de Kino is in the northern section of...

.

Location and Communications

Imuris is located along 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...

 - the long highway between Nogales at the USA/Mexico border and Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 - 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

Ciudad Juárez

Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...

 (across the Río Grande

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...

 from El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas

El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

).

History

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". http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_sonora

Geography

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. http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_sonora

The region is crossed by three small rivers, which later form the Rio Magdalena.

Economic Activity

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

Ejido

The ejido system is a process whereby the government promotes the use of communal land shared by the people of the community. This use of community land was a common practice during the time of Aztec rule in Mexico...

 on 673 hectares, making a total of 4,378.9 hectares. http://www.imuris.gob.mx/socioeconomicos.php

The cattle herd numbered 25,617 head in 2000, with this activity employing 638 people. http://www.imuris.gob.mx/socioeconomicos.php http://www.sonoraturismo.gob.mx/imuris-sonora.htm

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. http://www.imuris.gob.mx/socioeconomicos.php

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.

External links

• Ímuris, Ayuntamiento Digital (Official Website of Ímuris, Sonora)
• Article on Imuris
• San José de Ímuris