DISCOVER MEXICO CITY
Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city. Greater Mexico City is the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and one of the largest in the world by population. Along with São Paulo it is the only Beta global city with 8 points in Latin America.
Mexico City is also the Federal District (Distrito Federal in Spanish, and hence the abbreviation D.F.). 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 ft). 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 Tenustitlán, and as of 1585 it is officially known as ciudad de México. As of 2008, Mexico City is the city with the highest population in the world.
 PREHISPANIC ERA AND SPANISH COLONIAN PERIOS
Mexico (in Spanish pronounced "Me-hee-co") City was founded as Mexico-Tenochtitlan on 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 with 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-Columbian civilization, the Spanish conquistador (conqueror) 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 center 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 Basilica of Guadalupe.
INDEPENDENCE
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 Santa Fe de Nuevo México 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 (the 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 à 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 ("The Tragic Ten Days") 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
The city hosted the 1968 Summer 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 weeks before the inauguration ceremony. Two other sporting events 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) and 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 an 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 remodelled 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 with Guadalajara, which ranked 5th place.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encycopedia
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