Quiriego



Quiriego is a small town and the county seat of the Municipality of Quiriego, located in the southeast of the Mexican state of Sonora.

Geography
The Quiriego Municipality area is 2,705.72 km2. The town is located at an elevation of 822 meters.

Quiriego is located east of Ciudad Obregón and is connected by dirt road with the main Federal Highway 15 at the village of Fundición.

Neighboring municipalities
Neighboring municipalities are Rosario to the north, Álamos to the east, Navojoa and the state of Chihuahua to the south and Cajeme to the west.

Population
The Quiriego Municipality population count was 3,335 in 2005. The population of the town of Quiriego, its main settlement and municipal seat, was 994 in 2000. The municipal population has been decreasing steadily since 1980 when it was 4,474.

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.

Economy
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.