The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:[2] The territory now occupied by the municipality was originally a rancheria inhabited by the Pima Indians, who had been pacified by the Spanish in the seventeenth century.

In the middle of the nineteenth century Cananea became part of the province of Sonora, becoming a "real de minas".

This municipio borders Cochise County, Arizona, in the United States to the north, and the municipalities of Arizpe (south), Naco and Bacoachi (east) and Ímuris and Santa Cruz (west).

In addition to the municipal seat there are several small communities: ejido Morelos, Emiliano Zapata, Zaragoza and Vicente.

In the municipal seat there are manufacturing companies that operate under the system called maquila, assembling products for re-export to the United States.

The current mayor of Cananea is Jesus Reginaldo Moreno Garcia, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and his term expires in 2012.