Mexico City

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Ciudad de México
Image:Logos.jpg
Latitude 19° 24′-19° 03′ N
Longitude 98° 57′-99° 22′ W
Head of Government
(of the D.F.)		 Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez
Surface (km²) 1,547 km² (D.F.)
4,986 km² (Greater Mexico City)
Population
(2000 census)		 8,605,239 ([1]) (D.F.)
17,308,562 ([2]) (Greater Mexico City)
Density (hab/km²) 5,563/km² (D.F.)
Time zone (UTC) -6 UTC CST
Postal code DF
ISO 3166-2 code MX-DIF
Calling codes Country +52 / Area 55

Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México) is the name of a megacity located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus (altiplano) at the center of Mexico, about 2,240 meters (7,349 feet) above sea-level, surrounded on most sides by volcanoes towering at 4,000 to 5,500 meters (13,000 to 18,000 feet) above sea-level.

Mexico City, as a municipality, was founded in 1521 by Cortés in the middle of the now drained Lake Texcoco on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, and of its lesser-known twin city Tlatelolco. The municipality was abolished in 1928, and the name "Mexico City" can now refer to two things.

Officially, the name Ciudad de México is used by the Distrito Federal (D.F.). The D.F. is a federal district serving as the capital of Mexico and which is administered by the Mexican Federal Government. The D.F. encompasses the historical center of Mexico City, but is much larger than the historical municipality of Mexico City abolished in 1928. The urbanized area of Mexico City covers only the north of the D.F., while the south of the D.F. is made up of rural areas and mountains. Although the D.F. is not a municipality, the name Ciudad de México is used by Mexican authorities as a synonym for Distrito Federal (such as in Article 44 of the Mexican Constitution).

In a broader meaning, "Mexico City" refers to the whole metropolitan area of Greater Mexico City. The metropolitan area extends beyond the limits of the D.F. and encompasses tens of independent municipalities located in the State of México (Estado de México), to the north, east, and west of the D.F., extending as far north as the State of Hidalgo. The metropolitan area of Greater Mexico City had 17,308,562 inhabitants at the 2000 Mexican census ([3]). This means Mexico City is the third or fourth most populated metropolitan area in the world (behind Tokyo, New York, and possibly Seoul, depending on sources).

Mexico City, with its distinct mestizo culture, blending native Indian (Nahuatl) and Spanish heritages, has in recent decades become one of the great financial, economic, educational, cultural, and tourist centers of the world.

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History

Image:Mexico Zocalo.jpg

For the Pre-Columbian detailed history of the city, see: Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco.

The original Aztec city was established in 1325 as Tenochtitlan, and immediately became the center of a growing Empire. Located on a small island on the middle of Lake Texcoco, the layout of the city forced the Aztecs to build artificial islands and create a series of canals to allow the growth of the metropolis. In fact, although the lake was salty, dams built by the Aztecs kept the city surrounded by clear water from the rivers that fed the lake. Two double aqueducts provided the city with fresh water; this was intended mainly for cleaning and washing.

After centuries of pre-Columbian civilization, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés first arrived in the area in 1519. He did not succeed in conquering the city until August 13, 1521, after a 79-day siege that destroyed most of the old Aztec city.

In 1525 the rebuilt city served as the capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain and the political and cultural center of Mexico. The importance of the city was such that the Captaincy General of Guatemala, Cuba, Florida, and the Philippines were administered from it. This colonial period culminated with the construction of the baroque Metropolitan Cathedral and the Basilica of Guadalupe.

The outbreak of the War of Independence in 1810, and the eventual independence of the country in 1821 were unable to hamper the influence of the city. The capital became host of the first ruler of the Mexican Empire, Agustin de Iturbide, as well of the republic that replaced it in 1823.

In 1824, the Mexican Federal District was established by the new government. Before such decision, Mexico City served at the same time as seat of government for both, the Estado de Mexico and the nation.

The war with the United States and the civil unrest of the XIX century had little effect upon the city, although it became the capital of one government after another. One of such governments was established in 1864 as a second Mexican Empire. The short lived monarchy, led by Maximilian of Habsburg left its mark on the reconstruction of Chapultepec castle and other urban planning.

A three decade long dictatorship under Porfirio Diaz left a French style influence upon Mexico City. The Angel of Independence was built under his administration to celebrate the first centenary of the beginning of the War of Independence. Other urban highlights built at the time were the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the expansion of Paseo de la Reforma a la Champs-Élysées.

The post-revolutionary government of Mexico following the Mexican Revolution of 1910 reinforced the importance of the city which saw an important influx of immigrants during the rest of the 20th century. Most of the growth of Mexico City in population occurred in the late 20th century. In 1950 the city had about 3 million inhabitants. By 2000 the estimated population for the metropolitan area was around 18 million.

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Recent history

Image:Torre Latinoamericana 1.jpg In 1968 the city was host of the Olympic Games, but it was also stained with the massacre of students by federal troops during the Tlatelolco Massacre. Another sport event carried in part by the city was the FIFA World Cup of 1970 that the country hosted, and which had its grand finale in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca.

At 07:17 on September 19, 1985, the city was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale which resulted in the deaths of between 5,000 (government estimate) to 20,000 people and rendered 50,000-90,000 people homeless. One hundred thousand housing units were destroyed, together with many government buildings. Up to USD $4 billion of damage was caused in three minutes. There was an additional magnitude 7.5 aftershock 36 hours later. USGS Earthquake Report Ironically, many of the old historical buildings resisted the earthquake unlike the newer ones.

The recovery of the city was seen on the evidence that it hosted its second FIFA World Cup final match in 1986, in May 1983 when Mexico had to host the event at short notice.

During the 1990s Mexico City continued its growth as an economic and cultural center of importance not only in Latin America , but also in the rest of the world. The construction of new skyscrapers (Torre Mayor), and the never ending influx of immigrants have made such development possible.

Mexico City, as a municipality, had mayors (alcaldes, later known as presidentes municipales) until 1928 when the municipality (officially known as municipalidad de México) was abolished and its ayuntamiento (city hall corporation) disbanded. The municipality has never been recreated but in 1987 and 1993 local powers were devolved by the federal government of Mexico to the inhabitants of the Mexican Federal District (Distrito Federal or D.F., within which lies the former municipality of Mexico City), and in 1997 the inhabitants of the D.F. were allowed for the first time to elect a Head of Government of the Federal District (Jefe de Gobierno del D.F.), who was previously appointed by the president of Mexico. Leftist leader Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas was the first elected Head of Government of the D.F. in 1997. The current (and fourth) Head of Government of the D.F. is Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez. The Head of Government of the D.F. is often presented to people outside of Mexico as the "mayor of Mexico City".

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Colonias (neighborhoods)

In general, colonias are a recurrent feature in Mexican cities and larger towns. They are the basic geographical unit in Mexico city and in contrast to the delegaciones (the boroughs of the Mexican Federal District) they are always included in a persons address. However colonias do not have any administrative attributions, and as with most of the city's organization, there is no standard for the size, population or basic infrastructure to qualify as a colonia.

Some notable colonias are:

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Attractions

Image:National Museum of Anthropology and History.jpg Famous landmarks in Mexico City include the Zócalo, the main central square with its time clashing Spanish-era Cathedral, modern-times Palacio Nacional, and ancient Aztec temple ruins. (The Templo Mayor was found in the early 1900s while digging to place underground electric cables.) The trademark golden Angel of Independence found on the wide, elegant avenue Paseo de la Reforma, modeled by the order of the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico after the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The Avenida de los Insurgentes, locally said to be the longest street in the world, goes 28.8 km (18 miles) from end to end of the city.

The Chapultepec park houses the Chapultepec Palace museum on a hill that overlooks the park and its numerous museums, monuments and the national zoo; the National Museum of Anthropology (which houses the Aztec Calendar Stone), the Bellas Artes Fine Arts Palace which is a stunning white marble theater/museum whose weight is such that it has gradually been sinking into the soft ground below, the Plaza of the Three Cultures in the Tlatelolco neighborhood, and the shrine and Basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In addition, the city has around 160 museums, over 100 art galleries, and some 30 concert halls. In many locales (The Palacio Nacional and the Instituto Nacional de Cardiología to name a few), there are murals by Diego Rivera. He and his wife Frida Kahlo lived in the southern suburb of Coyoacán, where several of their homes, studios, and collections are open to the public. Nearby is the house of Leon Trotsky, where he was murdered in 1940.

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Sports

Image:Estadio Azteca.jpg "Fútbol" (soccer) is Mexico's most popular sport and has a wide following in Mexico City. Three very well known teams, Club America, Cruz Azul and Pumas, are based in Mexico City. The Aztec Stadium (Estadio Azteca), home of Club America is one of the world's largest stadiums with capacity to seat approximately 110,000 fans. Mexico City also has an Olympic Stadium in Ciudad Universitaria, which is home of the Pumas soccer team.

Mexico hosted the Football World Cup in 1970 and 1986. The Estadio Azteca was witness to spectacular games colored with full-capacity attendance and the excitement of Mexican fans.

Baseball is also another popular sport with a growing fan base. Mexico City is home to the Diablos Rojos de Mexico (Red Devils)of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol where they play at the Foro Sol Stadium. They used to share the stadium with the Tigres until they moved to nearby Puebla.

Mexico City hosted the 1968 Olympic Games, winning the bids against Buenos Aires, Lyon and Detroit.

Mexico City hosted the 1955 Pan American Games and then the 1975 Pan American Games after Santiago and São Paulo withdrew.

NASCAR holds annual Busch Series races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez starting with the 2005 event held there.

Also in late 2005, Mexico City became the first city to host a NFL regular season game outside of the United States.

Other sports facilities in Mexico City are the Palacio de los Deportes indoor arena and Francisco Márquez Olympic Swiming Pool.

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Transportation

See also articles in the category Transportation in Mexico City

Image:Metro DF 2.jpg Mexico City is served by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro, an extensive metro system (207 km), the largest in Latin America, the first portions of which were opened in 1969. One of the busiest in the world, the metro transports more than 4 million people every day, surpassed only by Moscow's (7.5 million), Tokyo's (5.9 million) and Seoul's (4.4 million). It is heavily subsidized, and it is the cheapest in the world, each trip currently costing MXN $2 (around EUR 0.13 or USD 0.19). A number of stations display Pre-Columbian artifacts and architecture that was discovered during the metro's construction. However, the Metro reaches only a fraction of the total inhabited area of the city, and therefore an extensive network of bus routes has been implemented. These are mostly managed by private companies which are allowed to operate buses as long as they adhere to certain minimal service quality standards.

The city government also operates a network of large buses, in contrast with the privately operated microbuses, with fares barely exceeding that of the Metro. Electric transport other than the metro also exists, in the form of trolleybuses and the Xochimilco Light Rail line. The city's first bus rapid transit line, the Metrobús, began operation in June 2005 on Avenida Insurgentes. As the microbuses were removed from its route, it was hoped that the Metrobús could reduce pollution and decrease transit time for passengers.

There are plenty of lime-green colored taxi cabs, which, while occasionally unsafe if taken randomly from the street instead of designated locales, are undeniably economical. Since late 2002, they have been joined by red and white taxis as part of a program to replace older vehicles with new ones. The freeway system is so dense that there is an ongoing project to construct a second level to the main ringroad that is currently already partially operational.

Mexico City is served by Mexico City International Airport (IATA Airport Code: MEX). It has four major bus stations (North, South, Observatorio, TAPO), with bus service to cities across the country, and one train station, used for commercial purposes (intercity passenger trains are now virtually non-existent in Mexico). Though recently, the Tren Suburbano (suburban rail) will be built to serve metropolitan area. There are also several toll expressways which connect it with several other major cities. The city does not have an expressway network that connects points within the city; all cross-city trips must be done on arterial roads. This is one reason why the city's streets are so congested.

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Demographics

Mexico City is home to a large community of immigrants - especially Spaniards (2.5 million), Jews (50,000), East Asian (600,000), Americans (500,000), Central American and Caribbean (1 million), South Americans (800,000), especially Argentines (470,000).

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Urban Problems

As one of the largest urban areas in the world, Mexico City suffers from no shortage of the problems common to many large cities, including traffic, poverty, and pollution. This is perhaps exacerbated by Mexico's developing country status. This city has a high number of street children; some estimate as many as 50,000. The mountains and volcanoes surrounding the city trap polluted air in the city and contribute to the city's serious problem with poor air quality, although major strides have been made to improve the pollution situation in the past 20 years.

Violent crime is also a major concern; in 2003 Mexico had the second-highest number of kidnappings in the world, with some 3,000 reported cases. In taxis, a particular problem has arisen; individuals are sometimes kidnapped by unauthorized taxi drivers, in order to empty their bank accounts at ATMs. Victims are sometimes kept overnight in order to bypass daily withdrawal limits. Inside other transportation, mostly microbuses, pickpocketing is still a common activity, and Mexico City inhabitants take various levels of precaution to avoid being victims of this.

Police reform has also been a focus of the government for the past decade; there is a general sense of distrust against the authorities, as conventional wisdom holds that all Mexico's police forces are corrupt one way or another. This issue came to a head in November 2004, when an angry crowd in Tláhuac were whipped up into a frenzy and burned two undercover federal police officers alive [4] and seriously injured another, on rumors that they were child kidnappers.

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Education

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Universities

Image:UNAM library.jpg Mexico City is the location of National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the most important public university in Mexico, and one of the most important of Latin America. UNAM is North America's oldest university (established in 1551) and for many years was the source of many presidents of the country. According to The Times Higher Education Supplement 2005 edition, it is the best university of the Spanish speaking world.

Other recognized universities in the city include the National Polytechnical Institute, ITAM, ITESM (3 campuses), Universidad Anáhuac and Universidad Iberoamericana. Furthermore, the Mexico City campus of Alliant International University serves the city with internationally recognized undergraduate and graduate programs.

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Public schools

Mexico City's public schools are managed by the federal level Secretariat of Public Education.

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Politics

Due to its special situation as the home of the federal government, the local government of Mexico City has gone through several incarnations. Since independence, the city sometimes had an independent local government and other times (the greater part of the 20th century) was administered directly by the President of the Republic, who delegated his authority to a "Head of the Federal District Department", known more tersely as the regent.

This kind of political organization caused much resentment among the inhabitants of the city because for many years they were deprived of a government that properly represented them. The most serious situation arose in 1988 when, despite having clearly voted for opposition candidates, the people of Mexico City were governed for six years by the party that won the federal presidency.

Under these circumstances, political reform became inevitable. First a local legislative assembly was established, and people were able to elect their Head of Government (jefe de gobierno) for the first time (both institutions still had limited powers dependent on the federal congress and president).

The first elected head of government was Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a former presidential candidate (who was, according to many, cheated out of victory in the closely fought 1988 presidential election). Cárdenas resigned later to compete in the 2000 presidential campaign and left in his place Rosario Robles, who became the first woman to govern Mexico City.

A measure of the democratic development in Mexico is that the current (2000-06) chief of government in the Federal District is Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PRD, which has a left-leaning ideology (and even has some former members of the Communist Party among its numbers), while at the same time, the federal government has a conservative president, Vicente Fox Quesada.

López Obrador was deprived of his constitutional immunity as Head of Government in the Federal District on April 7, 2005. With 360 votes (489 total) from the Chamber of Deputies, he was impeached because he failed to obey a judge's order to stop a road from being built. This event is popularly called the "desafuero". This issue created a political crisis, which was resolved by the judiciary's ultimate decision to refrain from prosecuting López Obrador.

On July 29, 2005 López Obrador resigned and left office to be able to run for the Presidency in 2006. Alejandro Encinas was appointed López Obrador's substitute as Head of Government.

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Nickname

Mexico City was traditionally known as la Ciudad de los Palacios ("the City of Palaces"). Since 2000, however, the democratically elected local administrations of the PRD have introduced a new nickname: la Ciudad de la Esperanza, or "The City of Hope". Acceptance or rejection of this new sobriquet is largely determined by one's political preferences.

The city is colloquially known as Chilangolandia after the locals' nickname (the chilangos). Some natives of Mexico City dislike that nickname although it has been fully adopted by the hippest young urban classes. Some argue that the term "chilango" refers to campesinos who have come to Mexico City looking for employment. The "Distrito Federal" has also been abbreviated "D.F." Its inhabitants have thus been called, by themselves and others, "defeños". There is even a magazine with that name (Chilango = equivalent to Time Out) which deals only with the numerous entertainment possibilities of the megalopolis.

"Pesero" or "Microbús"

Metrobús

Diana Fountain in Paseo de la Reforma.

Taxis in Mexico City

Turibus, a double deck bus for tourists that goes from Chapultepec to the Historic Center.

National Palace

Mexican Stock Exchange

Ángel de la Independencia, located in Paseo de la Reforma

View along Paseo de la Reforma from Chapultepec Castle

Mexico City At Night

Santa Fe new business and residential neighborhood

Bellas Artes Palace

Lake at Chapultepec Park

The National Museum of Art.

Plaza México bullfight ring and Estadio Azul

Olympic Stadium in Ciudad Universitaria

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External links

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