Arizpe (municipality) is a municipality in Sonora in north-western Mexico. The Municipality of Arizpe is one of the 72 municipalities of the Mexican state of Sonora, located in the north-central region of the state in the Sierra Madre Occidental area. It has 72 localities within the municipality, its municipal seat and the most populated locality is the homonymous town of Arizpe, while other important ones are: Sinoquipe, Bacanuchi and Chinapa. It was named for the first time as a municipality in 1813 and according to the 14th Population and Housing Census carried out in 2020 by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) the municipality has a total population of 2,788 inhabitants. This municipality has an area of 1,186.56 square miles (3,073.17 km²). Its Gross Domestic Product per capita is USD 11,012, and its Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.8292. Like most of the municipalities of Sonora, the name was given by that of its municipal seat. The region was inhabited by the Opata people. The name Arizpe is derived from the roots of the Opata language Arit, "brave ant" and Pa, "in"; that is, "Place of brave ants or red ants". History as a municipality The region that today comprises this municipality was inhabited by the Opata people, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. It was in 1646 when the Jesuit missionaries Jerónimo de la Canal and Ignacio Molarja founded the town of Arizpe with the category of "Mission Town" while evangelizing the above-mentioned ethnic group. Clause VI of the "Royal Order of 22 August 1776", issued by King Charles III of Spain established that the town of Arizpe was the capital of the Western Internal Provinces, with jurisdiction over the Intendency of Arizona, The Californias, Sonora and Sinaloa, Nueva Vizcaya (nowadays Durango), and Chihuahua. The town was also the seat of the Intendency of Arizpe. In 1648 the mission of San José de Chinapa was founded, first functioning as a town to be visited by missionaries heading from Arizpe. On 19 March 1812, when the Spanish Constitution of 1812 came into force, the first municipalities of the Western State were established, and it was a year later, in 1813, when Arizpe was promulgated as an independent municipality along with 15 other municipalities. The following year, 1814, King Ferdinand VII of Spain dissolved these municipalities. In September 1824, after the Independence of Mexico and the authorities of