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Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México) is the federal capital of and largest city in Mexico. It geographically spans the Distrito Federal ("D.F.") and part of the state of México to the north of the Federal District. Mexico City is the largest city in North America and second most populous conurbation in the world, after Tokyo, with approximately 26 million people. Some consider the population to be as high as 35 million depending on where greater Mexico City division lines are drawn. Mexico City is centered at latitude 19°24'N, longitude 99°09'W in south central Mexico. Greater Mexico City forms a rough ellipse 40 km (24.9 mi.) east to west and 60 km (37.3 mi.) north to south and has a total area of approximately 5,000 km² (1,391 mi.²), making the urban area one of the largest in the world. The city's average elevation is 2,240 metres (7,349 feet) above sea level.
History For the Pre-Columbian history of the city, see: Tenochtitlan. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés first arrived in the area, then the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, in 1519, but did not succeed in conquering the city until August 13, 1521, after long fierce fighting that destroyed most of the old Aztec city. The city served as the capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain from c. 1525 to 1821, of the various Mexican states afterwards. Most of Mexico City's growth in population occurred in the late 20th century. In 1950 the city had about 3 million inhabitants. By 2000 the estimated population for the city proper was around 18 million. The city hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics. 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 (http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/world/1985_09_19.html) Modern Mexico City AttractionsFamous in Mexico City include the Zócalo, the main central square with its Spanish Cathedral and Aztec ruins; the wide elegant avenues of Paseo de la Reforma and Insurgentes; Chapultepec, a hill with a palace museum on top surrounded by a park with many attractions; the National Museum of Anthropology, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Plaza of the Three Cultures in the neighborhood of Tlatelolco, 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, there are murals by Diego Rivera. He and his wife Frida Kahlo lived in the southern suburb of Coyoacán. Nearby was the house of Leon Trotsky, where he was murdered. TransportationMexico City is served by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro, an extensive metro system (207 km), the first portions of which were opened in the 1960s. 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) and Tokyo's (5.9 million). It is heavily subsidized, and it is the cheapest in the world, each trip costing around USD 0.20. 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. This are mostly managed by private companies whish are allowed to operate buses as long as they adhere to service quality standards, which many foreign visitors consider low. The city goverment also operates a network of large buses, in contrast with the privately operated microbuses, with fares equal to that of the Metro and superior service. Electric transport apart from the subway also exists, in the form of trolleybuses and light rail. A new project is under construction to create the first dedicated lane bus, on the Insurgente Avenue, in order to reduce pollution and decrease transit time for passangers. There are plenty of lime-green colored taxi cabs, which are sometimes unsafe, despite being economical. Mexico City is served by Benito Juárez 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 (passenger city-to-city trains are virtually non-existent in Mexico). Urban ProblemsAs one of the largest urban areas in the world, Mexico City suffers from no shortage of the problems common of many large cities, including traffic, poverty, and pollution. This is perhaps exacerbated by the Mexico's developing country status. This city has a high number of street children. The mountains surrounding the city trap polluted air in the city and contribute to the city's serious problem with poor air quality. PoliticsDue to its special situation as the home of the federal government of Mexico, the local government of Mexico City has gone through several incarnations. Since Mexico's independence, the city has sometimes had an independent local government and other times (the greater part of the 20th century) has been 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 Regente ("Regent" in English). 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 people from Mexico City clearly voted for opposition candidates, despite which they were ruled for six years by the party that won the federal presidency. Under these circumstances, political reform became inevitable. First a local congress was established, and people were able to elect their mayor (jefe de gobierno or "head of government") for the first time (both institutions still had limited powers dependent on the federal congress and president). The first democratically elected chief 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 City 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 (with former members of the Communist Party among its numbers), while at the same time the federal government has a conservative president. DistrictsMexico City is divided into 16 boroughs called delegaciones, which are further divided into colonias or neighborhoods. The delegaciones are:
See also: Boroughs of the Mexican Federal District External links
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