Heroica Nogales, Border municipality in Sonora, Mexico.
Heroica Nogales is a municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora that sits directly next to its namesake city in Arizona, forming one built-up area across an international line. The streets and neighborhoods run along a valley, where houses and commercial buildings extend right up to the boundary fence on the Mexican side.
The settlement began in the late 19th century as a trading post near the newly drawn border between Mexico and the United States. A conflict in 1918 prompted both nations to build permanent fencing that has divided the shared urban space ever since.
The name comes from a Spanish word for walnut trees that once grew in the area. Visitors today see shops and markets along the border streets, where locals and travelers from both countries buy goods and Spanish and English are both heard in conversation.
Visitors should carry identification documents because checkpoints are located nearby. The main streets are well marked, but travelers can orient themselves by the boundary fence that always runs to the north.
Many pedestrians cross the boundary daily in both directions to go to work or shop, so long waiting lines often form at the crossings. Some houses on the Mexican side have windows that look directly at the wall and stand only a few meters away from it.
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