Mexico City

Mexico City Ciudad de México
Skyline of Mexico City at night Skyline of Mexico City at night
Official seal of Mexico City Seal
Nickname:  Ciudad de los Palacios (City of Palaces) (given by Alexander von Humboldt)
Motto:  Capital en movimiento (Capital On The Move)
Location of Mexico City in south central Mexico
Country	Mexico
Federal entity	Federal District
Boroughs	The 16 delegaciones
Founded	c.March 18, 1325 (as Tenochtitlan)
Municipality	Built 1325/founded 1524 (as México Tenochtitlán)
Federal District	1824
Government
• Type	Republic
• Head of Government	Marcelo Ebrard ( PRD)
Area 1
• City	1,479 km2 (571 sq mi)
Elevation	2,240 m (7,349 ft)
Population  (2006)
• City	8,720,916
• Density	5,741/km2 (14,870/sq mi)
• Metro	19,231,829
• Demonym	Defeño Chilango Capitalino
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (Central Daylight Time)
Website	http://www.df.gob.mx
1 Area of the Federal District that includes non-urban areas at the south.

Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México, D.F., or simply México; in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries Méjico) is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city with 8,720,916 inhabitants in 2006. Greater Mexico City (Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México) incorporates 58 adjacent municipalities of Mexico State and 1 municipality of the state of Hidalgo, according to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments. In 2006 Greater Mexico City had a population of 28.5 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the second largest in the world. In 2005, it ranked as the eighth richest urban agglomeration GDP in the world.

Mexico City is also the Federal District (Distrito Federal in Spanish, and hence the abbreviation D.F. that officially follows the name of the city). The Federal District is coextensive with Mexico City: both are governed by a single institution and are constitutionally considered to be the same entity. This has not always been the case. The Federal District, created in 1824, was integrated by several municipalities, one of which was the municipality of Mexico City. As the city began to grow, it engulfed all other municipalities into one large urban area. In 1928 all municipalities within the Federal District were abolished, an action that left a vacuum in the legal status of Mexico City vis-à-vis the Federal District, even though for most practical purposes they were traditionally considered to be the same entity. In 1993, to end the sterile discussions about whether one concept had engulfed the other, or if any of the two entities had any existence in lieu of the other, the 44th Article of the Constitution of Mexico was reformed to clearly state that Mexico City is the Federal District, seat of the Powers of the Union and capital of the United Mexican States.

Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico, also called the Valley of Anáhuac, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,349 feet). It was originally built by the Aztecs in 1325 on an island of Lake Texcoco. The city was almost completely destroyed in the siege of 1521, and was redesigned and rebuilt in the following years following the Spanish urban standards. In 1524 the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, and as of 1585 it is officially known as Ciudad de México.

History

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

Mexico City in 1628.

Prehispanic era and Spanish colonial period

Mexico City was founded as Mexico-Tenochtitlan in March 18, 1325 by the Nahua Aztec or Mexican tribe, which rapidly became the capital of a sophisticated growing empire. Located on a small island on the middle of Lake Texcoco, the layout of the city forced the Aztecs to build an artificial island and create a series of canals to allow the growth of the metropolis. A number of causeways were also constructed from the shoreline to the central island. These causeways are the foundation of the various calzadas which are today principal avenues in Mexico City. 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-Colombian civilization, the 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 1524 the rebuilt city served as the capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain and the political and cultural centre of Mexico. The importance of the city was such that the Captaincy General of Guatemala, Yucatán, Cuba, Florida, and the Philippines were administered from it. This colonial period culminated with the construction of the baroque Metropolitan Cathedral and the Basílica of Guadalupe.

Independence

Palace of Fine Arts, built in the early 20th century

Torre Latinoamericana, Mexico City's first skyscraper

The outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810, and the eventual independence of the country in 1821 were unable to hamper the influence of the city even though it shook internal politics. The capital became host of the first ruler of the Mexican Empire, Agustin de Iturbide, who abdicated a year later in 1823. The nation became a federal republic in October 1824.

In 1824, the Mexican Federal District was established by the new government and by the signing of their new constitution, where the concept of a federal district was adapted from the American constitution. Before this designation, Mexico City had served as the seat of government for both the State of Mexico and the nation as a whole. Texcoco and then Toluca became the capital of the state of Mexico.

The war with the United States led to an invasion into Mexico City by U.S. General Winfield Scott on September 14, 1847, and obligated Mexico to cede the provinces of Nuevo Mexico and Alta California, what are today the States of California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and parts of Utah and Wyoming to the U.S. and recognize Texas as independent. This was formally recognized in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which was signed in what is now the suburb of the city of the same name. The invasion culminated at Chapultepec Castle, the military center of the country where, according to the legend 13 young Mexican cadets (see Niños Héroes) fought helpless and outnumbered to keep the Americans from taking the symbolic castle. This event is remembered by a series of monolithic columns that bear their names at the base of the Castle. A short lived monarchy in 1864-1867, under Emperor Maximilian I, left its mark on the reconstruction of Chapultepec Castle and other urban planning that was said to have been modeled after the Champs-Élysées to help his consort Empress Carlota adjust to the city.

A three decade long dictatorship under Porfirio Díaz left a French influence upon Mexico City. The stunning, bronze 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. Following the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution whereby president Díaz was forced to resign and a new president was elected, Mexico City suffered from what has been called La decena trágica in February 1913. La decena Trágica was a coup d'état orchestrated by Victoriano Huerta in complicity with the United States Ambassador to Mexico Henry Lane Wilson.

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.

Recent history

Angel of Independence, from Torre Mayor, showing a winged victory at the top.

Torre Mayor, largest skyscraper in Latin America

In 1968, the city hosted the Olympic Games, an event marred by the massacre of hundreds of students in what came to be known as the Tlatelolco Massacre, which occurred only a couple of days before the inauguration ceremony. Two other sporting event hosted by the city were the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the 1986 FIFA World Cup, the final matches of which took place in the Estadio Azteca.

At 07:19 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. When Mexico City hosted the FIFA World Cup again in 1986, the event was seen as evidence of its rapid recovery.

During the 1990s, Mexico City continued to grow as an economic and cultural center of international importance, which has spurred the construction of new skyscrapers such as Latin America's tallest building, the Torre Mayor (a literal translation of which is Greater Tower) and a remodeled World Trade Center México, originally the Hotel de México built during the 1960s and early 70's.

Mexico City is ranked 8th among North America’s Top Ten Major Cities of the Future 2007-2008. It is ranked 4th in Economic Potential and 4th as Most Cost Effective. Mexico City was the one of the two Mexican cities that made the top ten, along Guadalajara which ranked 5th place.

Geography

Mexico City
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     13     19 6     5     21 6     10     24 8     20     25 10     53     26 12     119     24 13     170     23 12     152     23 12     130     23 12     51     21 10     18     20 8     8     19 6 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: [1]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.5     66 43     0.2     70 43     0.4     75 46     0.8     77 50     2.1     79 54     4.7     75 55     6.7     73 54     6     73 54     5.1     73 54     2     70 50     0.7     68 46     0.3     66 43 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Iztaccíhuatl volcano to the east of the city.

The Federal District is located in central-South Mexico. It is bounded by the state of Mexico on the west, north and east, and by the state of Morelos on the south. Mexico City and its metropolitan area which extends over the state of Mexico, are located in the Valley of Mexico or Anáhuac a 9,560 km² (3,691 sq mi) valley that lies at an average of 2,240 m (7,349 ft) above sea level. This valley is a basin surrounded by mountains on all four sides, with only one small opening at the north. At the southern part of the basin the mountain range reaches an altitude of 3,952 m (12,966 ft) above sea level; and to the east the volcanoes reach an altitude of more than 5,000 m (16,000 ft). The region receives anti-cyclonic systems, whose weak winds that do not allow for the dispersion outside the basin of the air pollutants which are produced by the 50,000 industries and 4 million vehicles operated in the metropolitan area. The federal and local governments have implemented numerous plans to alleviate the problem of air pollution, including the constant monitoring and reporting of environmental conditions, such as ozone and nitrogen oxides. If the levels of these two pollutants reach critical levels, contingency actions are implemented which may include closing factories, a changing school hours, and extending the A day without a car program to two days of the week. To control air pollution the government has instituted industrial technology improvements, a strict biannual vehicle emission inspection and the reformulation of gasoline and diesel fuels).

In 1986, the non-urban forest areas of the southern boroughs were declared National Ecological Reserves by president de la Madrid. Other areas of the Federal District became protected in the following years.

The lower region of the valley receives less rainfall than the upper regions of the south; the lower boroughs of Iztapalapa, Iztacalco, Venustiano Carranza and the west portion of Gustavo A. Madero are usually drier and warmer than the upper southern boroughs of Tlalpan and Milpa Alta, a mountainous region of pine and oak trees known as the range of Ajusco. The average annual temperature varies from 12 to 16 °C (53 to 60 °F) depending on the altitude of the borough. Lowest temperatures, usually registered during January and February may reach -2 to -5 °C (28 to 23 °F), usually accompanied by snow showers on the southern regions of Ajusco, and the maximum temperatures of late spring and summer may reach up to 32 °C (90 °F).

Originally much of the valley lay beneath the waters of Lake of Texcoco, a system of interconnected saline and freshwater lakes. The Aztecs built dikes to separate the fresh water used to raise crops in chinampas and to prevent recurrent floods. These dikes were destroyed during the siege of Tenochtitlan, and during colonial times the Spanish regularly drained the lake to prevent floods. Only a small section of the original lake remains, located outside the Federal District, in the State of Mexico in the municipality of Atenco.

Politics

Federal District

In 1824, when the United Mexican States were born as a federation, the Congress of the Union decided to create a Federal District containing the capital of the federation, Mexico City. Mexico City and the surrounding territories that became the Federal District originally belonged to the state of Mexico, and the city was also the capital of the state. Being now the capital of the federation, and not of a single state, the city had to be administered directly by all the states through the power vested upon the powers of the Union. The Federal District was thus created on November 18, 1824 as a perfect circle with its center at the Central Square (Plaza de la Constitución) and a radius of 8.38 km (5.21 mi). The Federal District was constituted by the municipality of Mexico City, and six additional municipalities Tacuba, Tacubaya, Azcapotzalco, Mixcoac, Ixtacalco, and Villa de Guadalupe.

In 1854, president Antonio López de Santa Anna, enlarged the area of the Federal District almost eightfold from the original 220 km² (80 sq mi) to 1,700 km² (660 sq mi) annexing the rural and mountainous areas in order to secure the strategic mountain passes to the south and southwest to protect the city should a foreign invasion occur again. (The Mexican-American War had just been fought). The last changes to the limits of the Federal District were made between 1898 and 1902, reducing the area to the current 1,479 km² (571 sq mi) by adjusting the southern border with the state of Morelos. By that time, the total number of municipalities within the Federal District was twenty-two.

While the Federal District was ruled by the federal government through an appointed governor, the municipalities were autonomous, and this duality of powers created constant tensions between the municipalities and the federal government for more than a century. In 1903 already, Porfirio Díaz largely reduced the powers of the municipalities within the Federal District. Eventually, in December 1928, the federal government decided to abolish all the municipalities of the Federal District. In place of the municipalities, the Federal District was divided into one "Central Department" and 13 delegaciones (boroughs) administered directly by the government of the Federal District. The Central Department was integrated by the former municipalities of Mexico City, Tacuba, Tacubaya and Mixcoac.

In 1941, the General Anaya borough was merged to the Central Department, which was then renamed "Mexico City" (thus reviving the name, but not the autonomous municipality). From 1941 to 1970, the Federal District was comprised by 12 delegaciones and Mexico City. In 1970 Mexico City was split into four different delegaciones Cuauhtémoc, Miguel Hidalgo, Venustiano Carranza and Benito Juárez, thus increasing the number of delegaciones to sixteen. Since then, in a de facto manner, the whole Federal District, whose delegaciones had by then almost formed a single urban area, began to be considered a synonym of Mexico City, however, the lack of a de jure stipulation left a legal vacuum that led to a number of sterile discussions about whether one concept had engulfed the other or if the latter had ceased to exist altogether. In 1993 this situation was solved by an amendment to the 44th article of the Constitution whereby Mexico City and the Federal District were set to be the same entity. This amendment was later introduced into the second article of the Statute of Government of the Federal District.

Political structure

National Palace, former seat of the Executive power of the Union.

Mexico City, being the seat of the powers of the Union, did not belong to any particular state but to all. Therefore, it was the president, representing the federation, who used to designate the head of government of the Federal District, a position which is sometimes presented outside Mexico as the "Mayor" of Mexico City. In the 1980s, given the size of the city, the inherent political inconsistencies of the system –like that occurred in 1988 when the opposition candidate had won the majority of votes in the Federal District, yet the head of government designated was a member of the party in power–, as well as the dissatisfaction with the inadequate response of the federal government to assist the city after the 1985 earthquake, the residents began to request political and administrative autonomy in order to manage their own local affairs. Some political groups even proposed that the Federal District be converted into the 32nd state of the federation.

File:ASAMBLEA LEGISLATIVA DEL DISTRITO FEDERAL.jpg

Legislative Assembly of the Federal District.

In response to the demands, in 1987 the Federal District received a greater degree of autonomy, with the elaboration the first Statute of Government and the creation of an Assembly of Representatives. In the 1990s this autonomy was further expanded and since 1997 residents can directly elect the head of government of the Federal District and the representatives of a unicameral Legislative Assembly (which succeeded the previous Assembly) by popular vote. The first elected head of government was Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. Cárdenas resigned in 1999 in order to run in the 2000 presidential elections and designated Rosario Robles to succeed him, who became the first woman (elected or otherwise) to govern Mexico City. In 2000 Andrés Manuel López Obrador was elected, and resigned in 2005 to run in the 2006 presidential elections.

The Federal District does not have a constitution, like the states of the Union, but a Statute of Government, and as part of its recent changes in autonomy, the budget is administered locally: proposed by the head of government and approved by the Legislative Assembly. Nonetheless, it is the Congress of the Union that sets the ceiling to internal and external public debt issued by the Federal District.

According to the 44th article of the Mexican Constitution, if the powers of the Union move to another city, the Federal District will be transformed into a new state, which will be called "State of the Valley of Mexico" with the new limits set by the Congress of the Union.

Elections and government

In 2006, elections were held for the post of head of government and the representatives of the Legislative Assembly. The elected and incumbent head of government is Marcelo Ebrard, candidate of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Heads of government are elected for a 6-year period without the possibility of reelection. Traditionally, this position has been considered as the second most important executive office in the country.

The Legislative Assembly of the Federal District is formed, as it is the case in all legislatures in Mexico, by both single-seat and proportional seats, making it a system of parallel voting. The Federal District is divided into 40 electoral constituencies of similar population which elect one representative by first-past-the-post plurality (FPP), locally called uninominal deputies. The Federal District as a whole constitutes a single constituency for the parallel election of 26 representatives by proportionality (PR) with closed-party lists, locally called as plurinominal deputies. Even though proportionality is only confined to the proportional seats, to prevent a part from being overrepresented, several restrictions apply in the assignation of the seats; namely, that no party can have more than 63% of all seats, both uninominal and plurinominal. In the 2006 elections PRD got the absolute majority in the direct uninominal elections, securing 34 of the 40 FPP seats. As such, PRD was not assigned any plurinominal seat to comply with the law that prevents overrepresentation. The overall composition of the Legislative Assembly is:

• PRD: 34 FPP representatives
•  PAN: 17 representatives (4 FFP, 13 PR)
•  PRI: 4 PR representatives
• PANAL: 4 PR representatives
• PVEM: 3 PR representatives
• PASD: 2 PR representatives
• PT: 1 FFP representative
• MC: 1 FFP representative

The politics pursued by the administrations of heads of government in Mexico City since the second half of the 20th century, have usually been more liberal than those of the rest of the country, whether with the support of the federal government -as was the case with the approval of several comprehensive environmental laws in the 1980s- or through laws approved by the Legislative Assembly itself. In 2007 the Federal District became the second federal entity in the country, after the state of Coahuila, to approve same-sex unions, and the first to allow conjugal visits for homosexual prisoners In April of the same year, the Legislative Assembly expanded provisions on abortions, becoming the first federal entity to expand abortion in Mexico beyond cases of rape and economic reasons, to permit it regardless of the reason should the mother request it before the twelfth week of pregnancy.

Boroughs

See also: Boroughs of the Mexican Federal District and Colonias of Mexico City

For administrative purposes, the Federal District is divided into 16 "delegaciones" or boroughs. While not fully equivalent to a municipality, the 16 boroughs have gained significant autonomy, and since 2000 their heads of government are elected directly by plurality (they were previously appointed by the head of government of the Federal District). Given that Mexico City is organized entirely as a Federal District, most of the city services are provided or organized by the Government of the Federal District and not by the boroughs themselves, while in the constituent states these services would be provided by the municipalities. The 16 boroughs of the Federal District are:

The 16 boroughs of Mexico City.

1. Álvaro Obregón 2. Azcapotzalco 3. Benito Juárez 4. Coyoacán 5. Cuajimalpa 6. Cuauhtémoc 7. Gustavo A. Madero 8. Iztacalco

9. Iztapalapa 10. Magdalena Contreras 11. Miguel Hidalgo 12. Milpa Alta 13. Tláhuac 14. Tlalpan 15. Venustiano Carranza 16. Xochimilco

The boroughs are composed by hundreds of colonias or neighborhoods, which have no jurisdictional autonomy or representation. It is plausible that the name, which literally means colony, arose in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, when one of the first urban developments outside the city's core was inhabited by a French colony in the city. Some colonias have identifiable attributes: la Condesa is known for its Art Deco architecture, and for being the artistic center of the city; Santa Fe is the business and financial district, Roma is a beaux arts neighborhood and probably one of the oldest in the city, Polanco and Bosques de las Lomas are important commercial and economic centers known for their large and powerful Jewish communities, and Tepito and La Lagunilla are known for its impressively large flea market.

Economy

World Trade Center, Mexico City.

"Angel de la Independencia" in Mexico city´s Reforma financial district

Mexico City is also one of the most important economic hubs of Latin America. The city proper (Federal District) produces 21.8% of the country's gross domestic product. According to a study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Greater Mexico City (19.2 million people) had a GDP of $315 billion in 2005 (at purchasing power parity), ranking as the eighth-richest urban agglomeration in GDP in the world after the greater areas of Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London and Osaka/Kobe respectively and the richest in Latin America, in 2020 it will climb to the seventh-largest with a $608 billion placing Osaka/Kobe in the eighth position. Mexico City alone would be the 30th largest economy in the world with a higher GDP than whole countries like Sweden and Switzerland.

File:Santa fe3mx.jpg

Santa Fe business district

The city proper (Federal District) accounts for 21.8% of the country's GPD. In terms of GDP per sector, the Federal District is the greatest contributor to the country's industrial GDP (15.8%) and also the greatest contributor to the country's GDP in the service sector (25.3%). Due to the limited non-urbanized space at the south -most of which is protected through environmental laws- the contribution of the Federal District in agriculture is the smallest of all federal entities in the country. The city proper's nominal GDP per capita is $17,696, the highest of any city in Latin America. Mexico City's Human Development Index (HDI) is the highest in the country at 0.8830, higher than the national average. Amongst other welfare indicators 50% of the habitants of Mexico City have access to the Internet, 58% own a cell phone, with virtually each household having a phone line, and while 36% of Mexicans nationwide live in poverty, 15% of the residents of Mexico City do.

Mexico is also one of the largest financial and commercial hubs in Latin America. The Mexican stock exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores) and the country's largest banks and insurers as well as many international financial services conglomerates for Latin America are headquartered in the city. Amongst them Banamex (acquired by Citigroup) is the largest, which generates almost three times as much revenues than all 16 Citigroup's branches in the rest of Latin America. Most of the conglomerates are headquartered at Santa Fe, one of the business districts of the city.

Over the last two decades the economic base has shifted strongly, as the manufacturing activities move to the state of Mexico (Mexico city suburbs) and even to other states, partly due to an environmental program of tax incentives offered by the government to manufacturers: existing companies could be eligible to tax-certificates if they installed pollution control equipment. New plants, on the other hand, were only eligible to the same benefits if they were to be located outside Mexico City.

Demographics

Historically, and since pre-Hispanic times, the valley of Anáhuac has been one of the most densely populated areas in Mexico. When the Federal District was created in 1824, the urban area of Mexico City extended approximately to the area of today's Cuauhtémoc borough. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the elites began migrating to the south and west and soon the small towns of Mixcoac and San Ángel were incorporated by the growing conurbation. Today the city could be clearly divided into a middle and high-class area (south and west, including Polanco, Chapultepec and Santa Fe), and a lower class area to the east (Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Pantitlán, Chalco and Moctezuma).

Greater Mexico City, extending to the states of Mexico and Hidalgo.

Up to the 1980s, the Federal District was the most populated federal entity in Mexico, but since then its population has remained stable at around 8.7 million. The growth of the city has extended beyond the limits of the Federal District to 58 municipalities of the state of Mexico and one of the state of Hidalgo, and with a population of approx. 28.5 million it is one of the most populated conurbations in the world. Nonetheless, the annual rate of growth of the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City is much lower than that of other large urban agglomerations in Mexico, a phenomenon most likely attributable to the environmental policy of decentralization. The net migration rate of the Federal District from 1995 to 2000 was negative.

While they represent around 1.3% of the city's population, indigenous peoples from different regions of Mexico have immigrated to the capital in search of better economic opportunities. There are hundreds of different indigenous communities in the country, each of them with its own language, but Náhuatl, Otomí, Mixteco, Zapoteco and Mazahua are the indigenous languages with the greatest number of speakers in Mexico City.. Since many years ago and looking for better conditions (their life in their birth places lacks many basic conditions: water, food, and their income is very low), a great number of members of indigenous peoples of both Mexico City (and also from many other entities, mainly the State of Puebla, the State of Oaxaca and the State of Hidalgo) have been migrating to the United States (for example, to places such as New York, where there are lots of people coming from the State of Puebla). They represent a great proportion of population in the United States, contributing also to the United States' economy.

On the other hand, Mexico City is home to large communities of expatriots, most notably from South America (mainly from Argentina, but also from Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela), from Europe (mainly from Spain but also Germany, Italy, France and Poland), the Middle East (mainly from Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria) and recently from Asia (mainly from China and South Korea). While no official figures have been reported, population estimates of each of these communities are quite significant. Mexico City is home to the largest population of Americans living outside the United States. Some estimates are as high as 600,000 Americans living in Mexico City, while in 1999 the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs estimates over 440,000 Americans lived in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area.

There is still a clear separation between these two communities in Mexico City, since there is still a great problem of discrimination and racism, mostly tacit but very explicit in many cases.

The majority (90.5%) of the residents in Mexico City are Roman Catholic, higher than the national percentage, even though it has been decreasing over the last decades. However, many other religions and philosophies are also practiced in the city: different types of Protestant groups, different types of Jewish communities, as well as Buddhist and other philosophical groups.

Landmarks

Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco

UNESCO World Heritage Site
National Museum of Art
Criteria	Cultural: ii, iii, iv, v
Reference	412
Inscription	1987 (11th Session)

Xochimilco Floating Gardens.

The Historic Centre (Centro Histórico) and the "floating gardens" of Xochimilco in the southern borough have been declared World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO. Famous landmarks in the Historic Centre include the Plaza de la Constitución(Zocalo), the main central square with its time clashing Spanish-era Metropolitan Cathedral and Palacio Nacional, and ancient Aztec temple ruins Templo Mayor are all within a few steps of one another. (The Templo Mayor was discovered in 1978 while workers were digging to place underground electric cables.)

The most recognizable icon of Mexico City is the 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. This avenue was designed to connect the National Palace (seat of government) with the Castle of Chapultepec, the imperial residence. Today, this avenue is an important financial district in which the Mexican Stock Market is located. Another important avenue, is the Avenida de los Insurgentes, which extends 28.8 km (18 miles), and is one of the longest single avenues in the world.

The Chapultepec park houses the Castle of Chapultepec now a museum on a hill that overlooks the park and its numerous museums, monuments and the national zoo and the National Museum of Anthropology (which houses the Aztec Calendar Stone). Another magnificent piece of architecture is the Fine Arts Palace, a stunning white marble theatre/museum whose weight is such that it has gradually been sinking into the soft ground below. Its construction began during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz and ended, after being interrupted by the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s. The Plaza of the Three Cultures in the Tlatelolco neighbourhood, and the shrine and Basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe are also important sites to visit. There is a double decker bus known as the "Turibus" that circles most of these sites, and has timed audio describing the sites in multiple languages as they are passed.

In addition, the city has around 160 museums, over 100 art galleries, and some 30 concert halls. It has the fourth highest number of theatres in the world after New York, London and Toronto and the city with the most amount of museums in the world. 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.

In addition there are several restored Haciendas that are now restaurants such as the San Angel Inn, Hacienda de Tlalpan and the Hacienda de los Morales, all of which are stunning remnants of Mexican glory and house some of the best food in the world.

Sports

Aztec Stadium (Estadio Azteca), fourth largest football (soccer) stadium in the world.

Soccer is Mexico's most televised sport. Several first division teams, including Club América and its Primera División A youth team Socio Aguila, Cruz Azul and Pumas, are based in Mexico City. The Aztec Stadium (Estadio Azteca), has capacity to seat approximately 126,000 fans. Mexico City also has an Olympic Stadium in Ciudad Universitaria, which is home of the Pumas football team. Cruz Azul plays in the Estadio Azul, which is located within Mexico City as well.

The country hosted the Football World Cup in 1970 and 1986 and Azteca is the only stadium in the world to host the final match of the Football World Cup twice. Mexico City also hosted the 1968 Olympic Games, winning bids against Buenos Aires, Lyon and Detroit, and being the only Latin American city to host such an event. Mexico City hosted the 1955 Pan American Games and then the 1975 Pan American Games after Santiago and São Paulo withdrew.

File:Forosol1.JPG

Foro Sol Ballpark.

Baseball is also another popular sport with a growing fan base. Mexico City is home to the Diablos Rojos del México (Red Devils) of the Mexican Baseball League, with the team playing their home games at the Foro Sol Stadium. The Red Devils used to share the stadium with the baseball club "Tigres" until the club moved to Puebla, where they were known as the "Tigres de la Angelópolis", right now they play in Cancún, Quintana Roo and are known as Quintana Roo Tigres. Also in Mexico City are located around 10 little leagues for young baseball players.

Starting with the 2005 season, NASCAR will hold annual Busch Series races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Drivers Carlos Contreras, Michel Jourdain Jr., Jose Luis Ramírez, and Adrian Fernandez enjoy a homecoming with the race; all are from Mexico City originally.

In 2005, Mexico City became the first city to host a NFL regular season game outside of the United States, and has also hosted several NBA pre-season exhibition games along with exhibition matches among MLB teams at the Foro Sol.

Other sports facilities in Mexico City are the Palacio de los Deportes indoor arena, Francisco Márquez Olympic Swimming Pool, the Hipodromo de Las Americas horse-race track, ice hockey, American football, and basketball.

Bullfighting takes place every Sunday during bullfighting season at the 50,000-seat Plaza de Toros, the largest bullring in the world.

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Mexico City

Mexico City's Metro, Chabacano station.

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. The system has 11 lines in 175 stations and a 12th line is planned to be constructed in the year 2008 along with a suburban rail system (currently under construction) similar to the French RER system. One of the busiest in the world, the metro transports approximately 4 million people every day, surpassed only by Moscow's (7.5 million), Tokyo's (5.9 million), and New York City's (4.9 million). It is heavily subsidized, and has the lowest fares in the world, each trip costing MXN 2 (around EUR 0.13 or USD 0.19). A number of stations display Pre-Columbian artifacts and architecture that were discovered during the metro's construction. However, the Metro does not extend outside the limits of the Federal District 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.

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Metrobús at Avenida Insurgentes.

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. Since late 2002, the white and green taxis have been joined by red and white ones as part of a program to replace older vehicles with new ones.

Mexico City is served by Mexico City International Airport (IATA Airport Code: MEX). This airport is the largest in Latin America in traffic, transporting close to 25 million passengers per year. This traffic exceeds the capacity of the airport, which had historically centralized the majority of air traffic. The government has recently engaged in an extensive restructuring that includes the building of a second adjacent terminal and the enlargement of four other airports (at the nearby cities of Toluca, Querétaro, Puebla and Cuernavaca) that, along with Mexico City's airport comprise the Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México, distributing traffic to different regions in Mexico. Mexico City's airport is the main hub for 10 of the 12 national airline firms.

The city has four major bus stations (North, South, Observatorio, TAPO), with bus service to cities across the country, and one train station, used for commercial and industrial purposes (interstate passenger trains are now virtually non-existent in Mexico). It was recently announced that a Tren Suburbano (suburban rail) will be built to serve the metropolitan area. There are also several toll expressways which connect Mexico City with several other major cities.

Elevated section of Periférico ring road

In the late 70's many arterial roads were redesigned as ejes viales; high-volume one-way roads that cross, in theory, Mexico City proper from side to side. The eje vial network is based on a quasi-Cartesian grid, with the ejes themselves being called Eje 1 Poniente, Eje Central, and Eje 1 Oriente for the east-west roads, and Eje 2 Sur, and Eje 3 Norte for north-south roads. Two freeway ring-roads serve to connect points within the city and the metropolitan area: Circuito Interior (the inner ring) and Periférico, which connect to one straight freeway: the Viaducto (Viaduct) (connecting west with east, from Observatorio to the Airport and vice versa). Traffic in this system is so dense that an elevated highway that runs on top and parallel to a part of the main ring road, the Periférico, had to be constructed and finished in 2007. This elevated highway is colloquially called segundo piso ("second level") of the Periférico); it is the largest and most secure in Latin America and directly connects colonia Molino del Rey with colonia San Ángel.

There is also an environmental program, called Hoy No Circula ("Not To Run Today," or "One Day without a Car"), whereby only vehicles with certain ending numbers on their license plates are allowed to circulate on certain days, in an attempt to cut down on pollution and traffic congestion. The program groups vehicles by their ending license plate digits, and every weekday vehicles having any of the day's two "Hoy No Circula" digits are banned from circulating. For instance, on Fridays, vehicles with plates ending in 9 or 0 may not drive. This program is controversial, since it has resulted in many better-off households buying extra cars, reducing the program's benefits; also, newer vehicles are exempt from complying with the program, a move said to have been pushed by auto makers to boost sales of new vehicles.

Culture

The main library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Education

Mexico City is the location of National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). UNAM is the oldest university in the Americas (established in 1551) and the largest with 269,000 students. Three Nobel laureates and most of Mexico's modern-day presidents are among its former students. UNAM conducts 50% of Mexico's scientific research and has presence all across the country with satellite campuses and research centers. The National Autonomous University of Mexico ranks 74th in the Top 200 World University Ranking published by The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2006, making it the highest ranked Spanish-speaking university in the world. The sprawling main campus of the university, known as Ciudad Universitaria, was named a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2007.

The second largest university is the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN). Other major universities in the city include the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM), ITAM, ITESM (3 campi), Universidad Panamericana (UP), Universidad La Salle, the Universidad del Valle de Mexico (UVM), Universidad Anáhuac,Alliant International University, Universidad Iberoamericana, El Colegio de México, and the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica (CIDE).

Contrary to what it is in the constituent states of the Mexican federation, the curriculum of Mexico City's public schools is managed by the federal level Secretary of Public Education. Funding is allocated by the government of Mexico City.

Media

Mexico City is the country's most important center for the television, advertising, music, newspaper and book publishing industries. Two national newspapers are published here, El Universal and Excélsior, as well as important regional newspapers such as Reforma and La Jornada. Other major papers include Milenio, Crónica, El Economista and El Financiero.

The two largest media companies in the Spanish-speaking world, Televisa and TV Azteca, are headquartered in Mexico City. Other local television networks include Canal 11, Canal 22, Cadena Tres, Teveunam and 11 free-access channels.

There are 60 radio stations operating in the city.

Art

Aztec sculpture of Coatlicue.

Mexico City is one of the most important cultural centers in the world boasting more museums than any other city. It is also the fourth city in number of theaters after New York City, London and Toronto.

Having been capital of a vast pre-Hispanic empire, the richest viceroyalty within the Spanish Empire, and capital of the Mexican federation, Mexico City has a rich history of artistic expressions. Since the Mesoamerican pre-Classical period the inhabitants of the settlements around Lake Texcoco produced many works of arts, some of which are today displayed at the world-renown National Museum of Anthropology and the Templo Mayor Museum. While many pieces of pottery and stone-engraving have survived, the great majority of the Amerindian iconography was destroyed during the Conquest of Mexico.

El Caballito, equestrian sculpture of King Charles IV of Spain.

During colonial times the first art produced was that of the codices produced to preserve or recuperate Amerindian iconography and history. From then, artistic expressions in Mexico were mostly religious in theme. The Metropolitan Cathedral still displays works of Juan de Rojas, Juan Correa and an oil painting whose authorship has been attributed to Murillo. Secular works of art of this period include the equestrian sculpture of Charles IV of Spain, locally known as El Caballito ("The little horse"). This piece, in bronze, was the work of Manuel Tolsá and it has been placed at the Plaza Tolsá in front of the Palacio de Minería. Directly in front of Minería Palace is the National Museum of Art (Museo Nacional de Arte).

During the 19th century, an important producer of art was the San Carlos Academy, founded during colonial times, and which later became the National School of Visual Arts. Many of the works produced by the students and faculty of that time are now displayed in the National Museum of San Carlos. One of the students, José María Velasco, is considered one of the greatest Mexican landscape painters of the 19th century. It was during Porfirio Diaz's regime that the government sponsored arts, especially those that followed the French school. In spite of that, popular arts in the form of cartoons and illustrations flourished like those of José Guadalupe Posada and Manuel Manilla. The permanent collection of the San Carlos Museum also includes paintings by European masters such as Rembrandt, Velázquez, Murillo, and Rubens.

After the Mexican Revolution, an avant-garde artistic movement originated in Mexico City: muralism. Many of the works of muralists José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera are displayed in numerous buildings in the city, most notably at the National Palace and the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Frida Kahlo, wife of Rivera, with a strong nationalist expression, was also one of the most renowned of Mexican painters. Her house has become a museum that displays many of her works.

During the 20th century, many artists immigrated to Mexico City from different regions of Mexico, like Leopoldo Méndez, an engraver from Veracruz, who supported the creation of the socialist Popular Graphics Workshop, designed to help blue-collar workers find a venue to express their art. Other painters came from abroad, like Catalan painter Remedios Varo and other Spanish exiles. It was in the second half of the 20th century that the artistic movement began to drift apart from the Revolutionary theme. José Luis Cuevas opted for a modernist style in contrast to the muralist movement associated with social politics.

Mexico City has numerous museums dedicated to modern and contemporary art. The Museo Tamayo was opened in the mid-1980's to house the collection of international contemporary art donated by famed Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo. The Museo de Arte Moderno is a repository of Mexican artists from the 20th century, and also regularly hosts temporary exhibits of international modern art. In southern Mexico City, the Museo Carrillo Gil showcases avant-garde artists. The Museo Soumaya, named after the wife of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, has the largest private collection of Rodin sculptures outside Paris. La Colección Jumex is a museum housed on the grounds of the Jumex juice company in the northern industrial suburb of Ecatepec. It shows pieces from its permanent collection and hosts traveling exhibits by leading contemporary artists.

Music and entertainment

Mexico City is a mecca of classical music, with a number of orchestras offering season programming. These include the Mexico City Philharmonic, which performs at the Sala Ollin Yoliztli; the National Symphony Orchestra whose home base is the Palacio de Bellas Artes, a masterpiece of art nouveau and art decó styles; the Philharmonic Orchestra of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (OFUNAM) and the Minería Symphony Orchestra, both of which perform at the acoustically renown Sala Nezahualcóyotl , which was the first wrap-around concert hall in the Western Hemisphere when inaugurated in 1976. There are also many smaller ensembles that enrich the city's musical scene, including the Carlos Chávez Youth Symphony, the New World Orchestra (Orquesta del Nuevo Mundo), the National Polytechnical Symphony and the Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra (Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes).

The city is also a leading center of popular culture and music. There are a multitude of venues hosting the top Spanish and English-language performers. These include the 10,000-seat National Auditorium that regularly schedules pop and rock artists, as well as many of the world's leading performing arts ensembles. Other popular sites for pop-artist performances include the Teatro Metropolitano, the 15,000-seat Palacio de los Deportes, and the larger Foro Sol Stadium where top-name international artists perform on a regular basis. The Cirque du Soleil has held several seasons at the Carpa Santa Fé, in the Santa Fé district in the western part of the city.

It is said that Mexico City has more theaters than any other city in the Spanish-speaking world. At any given time, plays being staged run the gamut from Spanish versions of Broadway shows, such as Beauty and the Beast and Chicago, to mainstream Spanish-language originals and alternative theatre.

The National Center for the Arts, in southern Mexico City, has several venues for music, theatre, dance. The National Autonmous University's main campus, also in the southern part of the city, is home to the Centro Cultural Universitario (CCU), which includes the Sala Nezahualcóyotl (music), the Sala Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (theatre), Sala Miguel Covarrubias (dance), Sala Carlos Chávez (chamber music), as well as the Salas Julio Bracho and José Revueltas, that regularly show a mix of non-commercial films. The CCU also houses the National Library, the interactive Universum, Museo de las Ciencias and slated to open in 2008, the new University Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC). A branch of the National University's CCU cultural center was inaugurated in 2007 in the facilities of the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known as Tlatelolco, in north-central Mexico City.

The Biblioteca José Vasconcelos, also a national library, is located on the grounds of the former Balbuena railroad station in the northern part of the city.

The Papalote children's museum is located in Chapultepec Park, near the Museo Tecnológico, and the La Feria amusement park. The Six Flags amusement park is located in the Ajusco neighborhood in the south of the city.

The Cineteca Nacional, near the Coyoacán suburb, shows a wide variety of films, and stages many film festivals, including the annual International Film Festival, and many smaller ones ranging from Scandinavian and Uruguayan cinema, to Jewish and GLBT-themed films.

Other names

Mexico City was traditionally known as la Ciudad de los Palacios ("the City of Palaces"), a nickname attributed to Baron Alexander von Humboldt when visiting the city in the 19th century.

During López Obrador's administration a new nickname was introduced: la Ciudad de la Esperanza, or "The City of Hope". It has been replaced by Capital en Movimiento, "Capital in Movement" by the recently elected administration headed by Marcelo Ebrard.

The city is colloquially known as Chilangolandia after the locals' nickname chilangos.

Residents of Mexico City are properly called capitalinos (in reference to the city being the capital of the country) or, more recently defeños (in reference to the postal abbreviation of the Federal District in Spanish: D.F.).

See also

• 1985 Mexico City earthquake
• 2006 Mexico City earthquake
• Boroughs of the Mexican Federal District
• Large Cities Climate Leadership Group
• World largest cities

External links

• Template:Es icon Federal District Government
• Template:Wikitravel
• Mexico City Seen from a Helicopter
• Images of Mexico City by zones