Sonora in the context of "Chihuahua (state)"

The international boundary separating Mexico and United States extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the most frequently crossed border in the world, with approximately 350 million documented crossings annually. Illegal crossing of the border to enter the United States has caused the Mexico–United States border crisis. It is one of two international borders that the United States has, the other being the northern Canada–United States border; Mexico has two other borders: with Belize and with Guatemala.

Four American Sun Belt states border Mexico: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. One definition of Northern Mexico includes only the six Mexican states that border the U.S.: Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora and Tamaulipas. The total length of the continental border is 3,145 kilometers (1,954 miles). From the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the course of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte) to the border crossing at Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas. Westward from El Paso–Juárez, it crosses vast tracts of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts to the Colorado River Delta and San Diego–Tijuana, before reaching the Pacific Ocean.

The Cananea strike, also known as the Cananea riot, or the Cananea massacre, took place on June 1, 1906 in the mining town of Cananea in Sonora, Mexico. Workers initiated the strike in response to poor working conditions and unequal pay between Mexican and American workers. Despite attempting to change conditions through an organized labor strike, the workers were ultimately forced to return to work without their demands being met. The strike resulted in the deaths of approximately 33 workers, with an additional 22 injured, and 50 more arrested. The strike proved to be emblematic of the growing unrest emerging under President Porfirio Díaz before the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution.

Arizona is a landlocked state in the Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the northwest and California to the west, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, which is the most populous state capital and fifth-most populous city in the United States. Arizona is divided into 15 counties.

Arizona is the sixth-largest state by area and the 14th-most-populous of the 50 states. It is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Historically part of the territory of Alta California and Nuevo México in New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848, where the area became part of the New Mexico Territory. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.

New Mexico is a landlocked state in the Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also borders the state of Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. New Mexico's largest city is Albuquerque, and its state capital is Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the U.S.—founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain—and the highest in elevation, at 6,998 feet (2,133 m).

New Mexico is the fifth-largest of the fifty states by area, but with just over 2.1 million residents, ranks 36th in population and 45th in population density. Its climate and geography are highly varied, ranging from forested mountains to sparse deserts; the northern and eastern regions exhibit a colder alpine climate, while the west and south are warmer and more arid. The Rio Grande and its fertile valley runs from north-to-south, creating a riparian biome through the center of the state that supports a bosque habitat and distinct Albuquerque Basin climate. One–third of New Mexico's land is federally owned, including many protected wilderness areas, 15 national parks and monuments, and three UNESCO World Heritage Sites wholly contained within the state—the most of any U.S. state.

Sinaloa (Spanish pronunciation: [sinaˈloa] ), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa (English: Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 20 municipalities, and its capital and largest city is Culiacán Rosales. Other large cities include Mazatlán, Los Mochis, Guamúchil, and Guasave.

Sinaloa is located in northwest Mexico and is bordered by the states of Sonora to the northwest, Chihuahua to the north, Durango to the east, and Nayarit to the southeast. To the west, Sinaloa faces Baja California Sur, across the Gulf of California. Its natural geography is divided by the Sierra Madre Occidental, fertile river valleys, and a broad coastal plain along the Gulf of California. The state covers an area of 58,328 square kilometers (22,521 sq mi) and includes the islands of Palmito Verde, Palmito de la Virgen, Altamura, Santa María, Saliaca, Macapule, and San Ignacio.

The Gulf of California (Spanish: Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (Mar de Cortés) or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (Mar Vermejo), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from the Mexican mainland. It is bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa with a coastline of approximately 4,000 km (2,500 mi). Rivers that flow into the Gulf of California include the Colorado, Fuerte, Mayo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and the Yaqui. The surface of the gulf is about 160,000 km (62,000 sq mi). Maximum depths exceed 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) because of the complex geology, linked to plate tectonics.

The gulf is thought to be one of the most diverse seas on Earth and is home to more than 5,000 species of micro-invertebrates. Parts of the Gulf of California are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Northern Mexico (Spanish: el Norte de México, pronounced [el ˈnoɾte ðe ˈmexiko] ), commonly referred as The North (Spanish: El Norte), is an informal term for the northern cultural and geographical area in Mexico. Depending on the source, it contains some or all of the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora and Tamaulipas.

There is no specific border that separates the northern states from the southern states in Mexico. For some authors, only states that have a border with the United States are considered as northern Mexico, i.e. Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora and Tamaulipas. Others also include Durango, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur. Other people consider that the north starts above the Tropic of Cancer, but this description would include some parts of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí that are not considered northern states.

The Sonoran Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Sonora) is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It is the hottest desert in Mexico. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 sq mi).

In phytogeography, the Sonoran Desert is within the Sonoran floristic province of the Madrean region of southwestern North America, part of the Holarctic realm of the northern Western Hemisphere. The desert contains a variety of unique endemic plants and animals, notably, the saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi).

The Colorado River (Spanish: Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The 1,450-mile-long (2,330 km) river, the 5th longest in the United States, drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. The name Colorado derives from the Spanish language for "colored reddish" due to its heavy silt load. Starting in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado, it flows generally southwest across the Colorado Plateau and through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona–Nevada border, where it turns south toward the international border. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora.

Known for its dramatic canyons, whitewater rapids, and eleven U.S. National Parks, the Colorado River and its tributaries are a vital source of water for 40 million people. An extensive system of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts divert almost its entire flow for agricultural irrigation and urban water supply. Its large flow and steep gradient are used to generate hydroelectricity, meeting peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Intensive water consumption has dried up the lower 100 miles (160 km) of the river, which has rarely reached the sea since the 1960s.