Hermosillo travel guides

Hermosillo is the capital of the state of Sonora, México. It is centrally located within the state at 29°5′N 110°57′W and is within several hundred miles of several other major Mexican cities, such as Tijuana and Mexicali, and U.S. cities such as Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. The city's estimated 2004 population was 689,902. The city is served by Ignacio L. Pesqueira International Airport (airport code HMO).

Industry is an important part of the city's economy. 114 companies have plants in the city, employing thousands of workers. Ford Motor Company has a plant there, assembling the Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ, and the Mercury Milan. Expansion of this plant is rumored, since it can now only build a maximum of about 300,000 of these cars per year, and some predict that demand will exceed that. This plant had formerly built the Ford Escort, Mercury Tracer, Ford Contour, Mercury Mystique, and other models. It has consistently been rated as one of Ford's highest quality plants. Continuing this tradition, the Ford Fusion was recently named top of its class in quality and has been described as 'the best built Ford sedan ever'.

History

Centered on the Plaza Zaragoza, Hermosillo's origin traces back to 1700, when several villages were founded on lands previously inhabited by Native Americans. It came to be named the Villa de Pitic, but on September 5, 1828, it was renamed Hermosillo in honor of general José María González de Hermosillo who in 1810 fought for the independence of México in the state of Sinaloa. On April 26, 1879, the city was named the capital of Sonora, and that declaration was confirmed in article 28 of the state constitution, written on September 15, 1917.

The latter half of the 1800s were turbulent years for the city – on October 14, 1852, Gastón Rousset Boulbón led anti-government fighters to victory against the national army, but soon left the city. On May 4, 1866, republican troops under Ángel Martínez took the city from imperial forces under Jose María Tranquilino Almada. Just a few hours later, however, the imperialists retook the city. Later that year, a similar taking and retaking of the city occurred. Even during this time, the city continued developing – on November 4, 1881, a rail line between Hermosillo and the city of Guaymas went into operation, and by the end of the 19th Century, the city had a population of 14,000 and thriving commerce and agriculture.

During the Mexican revolution, Hermosillo was the capital of Mexico for five months, as it was the location of the meeting of Venustiano Carranza's war cabinet. Later, on November 18, 1915, the city was attacked by Francisco Villa, another Mexican revolutionary, but he was defeated.

Demographics

As of the census of 2004, there were 689,902 people living in the city of Hermosillo.

The racial makeup of the city was 70% White/European, 28% Mestizo and Amerindian, 1% Chinese. There are also many Americans, Canadians, Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese and Pacific Islanders.

Universities

Sport

The city's baseball team is the Naranjeros. The city had an American Basketball Association team, the Hermosillo Seris.On January 26,2007 the Naranjeros won their 14th title in history being the team with more titles in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP).

Sister cities

Hermosillo has two sister cities:^[1]

• Phoenix, Arizona, USA
• Irvine, California, USA

References