Arid region, western North America. Covering 120,000 sq mi (310,000 sq km), the Sonoran Desert is located in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, U.S., and northern Baja California and western Sonora state, Mex. The desert's subdivisions include the Colorado and Yuma deserts. Irrigation has produced many fertile agricultural areas, notably the Coachella and Imperial valleys. Warm winters in the Sonoran Desert attract tourists to resorts such as Palm Springs, Tucson, and Phoenix. Indian reservations (see Papago; Pima) are located there
State (pop., 2000: 2,216,969), northwestern Mexico. Bordering the U.S. and the Gulf of California, it covers 70,291 sq mi (182,052 sq km); its capital is Hermosillo. Explored by Spaniards in the 1530s, it became an important colonial mining district for copper, gold, and silver. It became a state in 1830, but the Yaqui Indian peoples were not finally subdued until the 20th century. It is generally arid and semiarid, and irrigation is used to grow winter vegetables, cereals, cotton, tobacco, and corn (maize)