The municipal area is 4,121.15 km2. The municipal population counted in 2015 was 16,931.[1] The population of Sonoyta, the main settlement and municipal seat was 12,849. It is located at an elevation of 406 meters. Most of the population lives in the north, as the south is an inhospitable desert. The only other locality with a population of over 1,000 inhabitants is called Desierto de Sonora, just east-southeast of Sonoyta. Its population was 1,188 in the 2010 census.
The north of the municipality is semi-desert with some hills. The south is part of the Gran Desierto de Altar, one of the driest and most inhospitable places in the Western Hemisphere.
Economy
Agriculture is mainly irrigated by pumping from wells. Main crops are garden vegetables, alfalfa, beans, corn, cotton, and the production of fodder for the cattle industry, which is also important. [1]
Industry consists of plants transforming cotton and packing houses for vegetables. There is also a small cheese factory. [2]