Agua Prieta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Agua Prieta, Sonora
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| Agua Prieta | ||
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 Agua Prieta, Sonora
Location in Sonora
Agua Prieta, Sonora
Location in Mexico
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| Country |  Mexico |
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| State | Sonora | |
| Municipality | Agua Prieta | |
| Settled | 1899 | |
| Founded | 1903 | |
| Incorporated | August 28, 1916 | |
| Ascension to town status | May 8, 1933 | |
| Ascension to city status | November 6, 1942 | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 3,631.65 km2 (1,402.2 sq mi) | |
| Population
(2020)
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91,029 | |
Agua Prieta is a town in Agua Prieta Municipality in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Sonora. It stands on the Mexico–U.S. border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona. The municipality covers an area of 3,631.65 km2 (1,402.2 sq mi). In the 2010 census the town had a population of 79,138 people, making it the seventh-largest community in the state, and a literacy rate of 96.3%.
The city's most important economic activities, in descending order, are industry, commerce and farming. 89% of the homes in the city have electricity, 94% have running water, and 86% are connected to the sewer system. The city is the location of the CFE Agua Prieta power plant. It is connected to the United States by the Douglas, Arizona Port of Entry, and is linked to the rest of Mexico by Federal Highways 2 and 17.
The town's name in Spanish literally means 'dark water', and it is known in the Opata language as Bachicuy.
History
Agua Prieta city began at the end of the 19th century as railroads were built between Douglas, Arizona, and Nacozari, Sonora, to transport minerals and goods. As a result, the first settlers of the city, then just a few blocks, were those employed by the U.S. mining company Phelps Dodge Corporation, which was based in Douglas, Arizona. One can say that the town was "founded" in 1899, but it was not until a "contract" was made in 1903 between officials and private citizens, to the name Camou, that area "pertaining" to those citizens was made a Commissary of Fronteras county. Agua Prieta city did not become an "independent head of municipality", with its current name and location, until August 28, 1916. Rodolfo L. Márquez was the new municipality's first president. It rose to the status of villa (town) on May 8, 1933, and it was "officially" placed in its current category of city relatively recently, on November 6, 1942.
Geography
Climate
The climate is cold semi-arid (Köppen: BSk). In a latitude over the geographic subtropics, located in a plateau and in the interior of the continent gives a cold winter but at the same time a climatic pattern often dry and with great thermal amplitude during the day. And on the other hand the summer is very hot due to the absence of cloud cover and the air dry with average in the afternoon well above 30 °C. Most of the time there is no precipitation, but a considerable amount of rain falls between July and August.
| Climate data for Agua Prieta (Infonavit 1), elevation: 1,210 metres (3,970 ft), 1951–2010 normals, extremes 1961–2016 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.0 (86.0) |
32.0 (89.6) |
35.0 (95.0) |
38.0 (100.4) |
42.0 (107.6) |
45.0 (113.0) |
44.0 (111.2) |
42.0 (107.6) |
41.0 (105.8) |
38.0 (100.4) |
36.0 (96.8) |
31.0 (87.8) |
45.0 (113.0) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 23.9 (75.0) |
24.2 (75.6) |
26.6 (79.9) |
31.1 (88.0) |
33.9 (93.0) |
39.0 (102.2) |
38.6 (101.5) |
36.5 (97.7) |
34.8 (94.6) |
33.2 (91.8) |
28.4 (83.1) |
24.3 (75.7) |
39.0 (102.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 16.6 (61.9) |
18.7 (65.7) |
22.0 (71.6) |
26.1 (79.0) |
30.8 (87.4) |
35.6 (96.1) |
35.1 (95.2) |
33.6 (92.5) |
31.8 (89.2) |
27.5 (81.5) |
21.6 (70.9) |
17.0 (62.6) |
26.4 (79.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.0 (46.4) |
9.8 (49.6) |
12.9 (55.2) |
16.6 (61.9) |
21.1 (70.0) |
25.9 (78.6) |
27.2 (81.0) |
26.1 (79.0) |
23.6 (74.5) |
18.2 (64.8) |
12.2 (54.0) |
8.2 (46.8) |
17.5 (63.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −0.7 (30.7) |
0.9 (33.6) |
3.7 (38.7) |
7.0 (44.6) |
11.5 (52.7) |
16.2 (61.2) |
19.4 (66.9) |
18.6 (65.5) |
15.6 (60.1) |
9.0 (48.2) |
2.9 (37.2) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
8.6 (47.5) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | −5.7 (21.7) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
0.4 (32.7) |
3.6 (38.5) |
7.7 (45.9) |
12.2 (54.0) |
17.3 (63.1) |
15.7 (60.3) |
12.9 (55.2) |
5.3 (41.5) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−5.7 (21.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −12.5 (9.5) |
−12.0 (10.4) |
−9.0 (15.8) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
2.1 (35.8) |
2.0 (35.6) |
10.0 (50.0) |
2.0 (35.6) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
−8.5 (16.7) |
−19.5 (−3.1) |
−19.5 (−3.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 19.9 (0.78) |
17.1 (0.67) |
10.6 (0.42) |
6.3 (0.25) |
5.2 (0.20) |
12.2 (0.48) |
90.4 (3.56) |
81.4 (3.20) |
41.6 (1.64) |
23.4 (0.92) |
19.0 (0.75) |
28.1 (1.11) |
355.2 (13.98) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 0.51 (0.2) |
0.25 (0.1) |
0.25 (0.1) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.25 (0.1) |
0.76 (0.3) |
2.02 (0.8) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 3.5 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 11.2 | 9.3 | 5.2 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 48.8 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Source 1: SMN | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (snow days) | |||||||||||||
Culture
Los Apson was one of the most successful musical bands during the second half of the 60s; all original members originated from (A)gua (P)rieta, (Son)ora, hence their name. They led the phenomenon known in Mexico as the "northern invasion". Along with the British influence, Los Apson was one of the main decisive elements that brought new nuances to the Mexican musical movement.
Sports
The main sport in Agua Prieta is baseball, closely followed by soccer and basketball. Agua Prieta's professional baseball team is the Toros de Agua Prieta. In 2012, Agua Prieta had its first ever Olympian when Luis Alberto Rivera represented Mexico in the long jump at the XXX Olympic Games in London, UK.
Economy
Agua Prieta II is the first integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) power plant in Mexico – one of the first power plants of its type in the world – and it is being equipped with the SPPA-E3000 low-voltage switchgear solution from Siemens Mexico Energy. Agua Prieta II is a combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) that has been extended with a solar field and parabolic trough collectors. In this type of power plant, the steam generated by the solar field is fed into the water-steam cycle of the CCPP to increase steam turbine output and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The power plant in Mexico will have an output of approximately 465 Megawatts (MW) with a contribution from the solar field of 12 MW, it will supply electricity to northwest Mexico. The end customer is the Mexican state power provider Comisión Federal de Electricidad, which already operates two plants of the same type in Morocco and Algeria.
Agua Prieta is home to several maquiladoras, including Levolor, Commercial Vehicle Group, Joyson Safety Systems, Velcro, Standex-Meder Electronics, and Alstyle Apparel & Activewear (Gildan).
Notable people
- Zarela Martinez, New York City-based Mexican restaurateur and cookbook author
- Los Apson, early 1960s rock band named for the town (Agua Prieta SONora)
See also
In Spanish: Agua Prieta para niños
