Agua Prieta

Agua Prieta is a town in Agua Prieta Municipality in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Sonora. It stands on the U.S.–Mexico border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona, USA. The municipality covers an area of 3,631.65 km² . 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%. 89% of the homes in the city have electricity, 94% have running water, and 86% are connected to the sewer system. The city's most important economic activities, in descending order, are industry, commerce and farming. The city is the location of the CFE Agua Prieta power plant.HistoryAgua 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 became 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 11, 1942.