Mexico City
| Mexico City Ciudad de México |
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| Nickname(s): Ciudad de los Palacios (City of Palaces) (given by Alexander von Humboldt), Ciudad de la Esperanza (City of Hope) (given by Andrés Manuel López Obrador) | |||
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| Coordinates: 19°24′N 99°7′W / 19.4, -99.117 | |||
| Country | Mexico | ||
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| Federal entity | Federal District | ||
| Boroughs | The 16 delegaciones | ||
| Founded | c. March 18, 1325 (as Tenochtitlan) |
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| Municipality of New Spain | 1524 | ||
| Federal District | 1824 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Republic | ||
| - Head of Government | Marcelo Ebrard (PRD) | ||
| Area 1 | |||
| - City | 1,485 km² (573.36 sq mi) | ||
| - Metro | 7,854 km² (3,032.4 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 2,240 m (7,349 ft) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| - City | 8,836,045 | ||
| - Density | 5,950/km² (15,410.4/sq mi) | ||
| - Metro | 19,826,918 | ||
| - Metro Density | 2,524/km² (6,537.1/sq mi) | ||
| - Demonym | capitalino (formal), defeño (informal), chilango (colloquial) | ||
| Time zone | Central Standard Time (UTC-6) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | Central Daylight Time (UTC-5) | ||
| 1 Area of the Federal District that includes non-urban areas at the south. | |||
| Website: http://www.df.gob.mx | |||
Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México, D.F., México or simply Méjico)[1] 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 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008.[2] Greater Mexico City (Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México) incorporates 59 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.[3] In the last national census (2005) Greater Mexico City had a population of 19.2 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the third largest in the world by population. The estimated population for the Metropolitan Area is 19,826,918 as of 2008.[4] In 2005, it ranked the eighth in terms of GDP (PPP) among urban agglomerations in the world.[5] Aside from São Paulo it is the only Beta global city with 8 points in Latin America.
Mexico City comprehends 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.[6]
According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Greater Mexico City (with a population of 19.2 million) had a GDP of $315 billion in 2005 (at purchasing power parity), ranking as the eighth-richest urban agglomeration in the world after the greater areas of Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London and Osaka/Kobe, and the richest in Latin America; in 2020 it is expected to rank seventh with a $608 billion GDP, displacing Osaka/Kobe.
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,[7] and as of 1585 it is officially known as ciudad de México.[7]
Contents |
History
- For a detailed treatment of the topic, see History of Mexico City.
Pre-conquest Tenochtitlan
The Valley of Mexico had been inhabited for thousands of years, but the civilizations that predate the founding of what is now Mexico City developed outside of the valley. The Teotihuacan civilization developed to the northeast but mysteriously was abandoned around 750 AD. After that, the Toltecs ruled the area until about 1200 AD.[8] After the fall of the Toltec capital of Tollan, large migrations of people moved into the Valley of Mexico. This led to the founding of a number of semi-autonomous urban centers around Lake Texcoco. By the early 1500s, at least a dozen of these city-states had reached 10,000 in population with Tenochtitlan by far the largest at 150,000.[9]
The Mexica who would found Tenochtitlan (and then be known as Aztecs) were part of the last wave of migration of Nahuatl-speaking peoples into the valley. Their presence was resisted; however, taking advantage of the nearly-constant conflict among the city-states along the lakeshores, the Mexica were able to establish their city on an islet. Continuing to take advantage, they conquered the Valley of Mexico, exacting tribute from the same powers that resisted their migration.[10]
The Mexica story is based on this history, but it is embellished with divine trappings. This story states that the god Huitzilopochtli told them to leave their original home Aztlan and look for a place promised to them. The tribe wandered more than 500 years, fighting a number of peoples and fleeing from others until they finally saw the sign promised, an eagle perched on a nopal plant on a small island in Lake Texcoco in 1325. Later versions of the story have a snake in the eagle’s beak. This remains the coat-of-arms of Mexico today.[11] Despite internal strife and constant warfare with lakeside cities, from 1325 to 1521, the Mexica or Aztec city of Tenochtitlan became the center of a vast empire, ruling much of Mesoamerica.[11] With a vast income of tribute, Tenochtitlan grew to become one of the largest and richest urban areas in the world at that time. The city had services and infrastructure that was unheard of in the rest of the world: potable water brought in by aqueducts, drainage systems and wide, paved streets. Their markets boasted of products from nearly every part of Mesoamerica.[10]
Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan
After landing in Veracruz, Hernan Cortes heard about the great city and also learned of long-standing rivalries and grievances against it. Although Cortes came to Mexico with a very small army, he was able to persuade many of the other Indian peoples to help him destroy Tenochtitlan.[10]
Cortes first saw Tenochtitlan on 8 November 1519.[11] Upon viewing it for the first time, Cortes and his men were stunned by its beauty and size. The Spaniards marched along the causeway leading into the city from Iztapalapa. Moctezuma came out from the center of Tenochtitlan onto the causeway to greet them, exchanging gifts and friendly words. But the camaraderie did not last long.[12] Cortes put Moctezuma under house arrest, hoping to rule through him.[13] Tensions increased until the Aztec revolted against the Spanish intrusion and managed to capture or drive out the Europeans.[14] Cortes regrouped at Tlaxcala. The Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone. They elected a new king, Cuauhtemoc. [15] Cortes decided to lay siege to Tenochtitlan in May of 1521. For three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of disease brought by the Europeans.[10] Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island and fought their way through the city, street by street, and house by house.[16] Finally, Cuauhtemoc had to surrender in August of 1521.[10]
City's rebuilding as Mexico City
The Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan to the ground. Cortes first settled in Coyoacan, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site in order to erase all traces of the old order.[11] Cortes did not establish an independent, conquered territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown. The first viceroy of the new domain arrived in Mexico City fourteen years later. By that time, the city had again become a city-state, having power that extended far beyond the city’s established borders.[17] Physically, the Spanish rebuilt the city with the same basic layout as the old city, but placing a church over the old temples and Cortes taking the old imperial palaces for himself. [17] Tenochtitlan was renamed “Mixico,” its alternative name, as the Spanish found this easier to say.[11]
Growth of the colonial city
The city grew as the population did, coming up against the lake’s waters. The 15th century saw a proliferation of churches, many of which can still be seen today in the historic center.[17] However, flooding was a constant problem, and in the 17th century projects to drain and fill in parts of the lake were begun in earnest. This process would continue for most of the city’s history until the lakes disappeared.[18] Economically, Mexico City prospered as a result of trade. Unlike Brazil or Peru, Mexico had easy contact with both the Atlantic and Pacific worlds. Although the Spanish crown tried to completely regulate all commerce in the city, it had only partial success. [9] One way the Spanish tried to completely rule was religion, but even here success was not complete. Native practices survived incorporated in the indigenous’ practice of Roman Catholicism. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which originated with the vision at Tepeyac Hill to the north of the city’s borders in 1531, representing a post-Conquest adaption of the Aztec cult of Tonantzin, a mother goddess.[9]
The concept of nobility transferred to New Spain in a way not seen in other parts of the Americas. A noble title here did not mean one exercised great political power as one’s power was limited even if the accumulation of wealth was not.[19] The concept of nobility in Mexico was not political but rather a very conservative Spanish social one, based on proving the worthiness of the family. Most of these families proved their worth by making fortunes in New Spain outside of the city itself, then spending the revenues in the capital, building churches, supporting charities and building extravagant palatial homes. The craze to build the most opulent home possible reached its height in the last half of the 18th century. Many of these homes can still be seen today, leading to Mexico City’s nickname of “The city of palaces”. [19][17][11]
Independence period
Independence for Mexico was declared by Agustin de Iturbide in 1821 after he and his army marched into the city. While Iturbide’s regime tried to keep as much as the old order as possible, he soon had to abdicate and Mexico was declared a republic in 1824, with Mexico City as its capital.[20]Unrest followed for the next several decades, as different factions fought for control of Mexico.[18] 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.[21] 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.[22] During the Mexican-American War, American forces marched toward Mexico City itself after capturing Veracruz. [23] The invasion culminated with the storming of Chapultepec Castle in the city itself.[24] The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in what is now the far north of the city. [25] Events such as the Reform War left the city relatively untouched and it continued to grow, especially during the rule of President Porfirio Díaz. During this time, the city developed modern infrastructure, such as roads, schools, transportation, and communication systems. However, the regime concentrated resources and wealth into the city while the rest languished in poverty. This eventually led to Mexican Revolution.[18] The most significant episode of this period for the city was the La decena trágica ("The Ten Tragic Days"), a coup against President Francisco I. Madero and his vice president, José María Pino Suárez. Victoriano Huerta, chief general of the Federal Army saw a chance to take power, forcing Madero and Pino Suarez to sign resignations. The two were murdered later while on their way to prison.[26]
20th century to present
The history of the rest of the 20th century to the present focuses on the phenomenal growth of the city and its environmental and political consequences. In 1900, the population of Mexico City was about 500,000.[27] The city began to grow rapidly westward in the early part of the 20th century[17] and then began to grow upwards in the 1950’s, with the Torre Latinoamericana as the first skyscraper.[10] The 1968 Olympic Games brought about the construction of large sporting facilities.[17] In 1969, the Metro system was inaugurated.[10] Explosive growth in the population of the city started from the 1960’s, with the population overflowing the boundaries of the Federal District into neighboring state of Mexico, especially to the north, northwest and northeast. Between 1960 and 1980 the city’s population more than doubled to 8,831,079.[17]Under relentless growth, the Mexico City government could barely keep up with services. Villagers from the countryside who continued to pour into the city to escape poverty only compounded the city's problems. With no housing available, they took over lands surrounding the city, creating huge shantytowns that extended for many miles.[18] This situation continues today with a population that is approaching 20 million people. This has caused serious air and water pollution problems, as well as a sinking city due to overextraction of groundwater.[28]
The autocratic government that ruled Mexico City since the Revolution was tolerated, mostly because of the continued economic expansion since World War II. This was the case even though this government could not handle the population and pollution problems adequately. However, discontent and protests began in the 1960’s leading to the massacre of an unknown number of protesting students in Tlatelolco.[18]
However, the last straw may have been the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. On Thursday, 19 September 1985, at 7:19 AM local time, Mexico City was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 8.1[29] on the Richter scale. While this earthquake was not as deadly or destructive as many similar events in Asia and other parts of Latin America[30] it proved to be a disaster politically for the one-party government. The government was paralyzed by its own bureaucracy and corruption, forcing ordinary citizens to not only create and direct their own rescue efforts but efforts to reconstruct much of the housing that was lost as well. [31] This discontent eventually led to Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a member of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, becoming the first elected mayor of Mexico City in 1997. Cárdenas promised a more democratic government, and his party claimed some victories against crime, pollution, and other major problems. He resigned in 1999 to run for the presidency. Rosario Robles Berlanga, the first woman to hold the mayoral post, promised she would continue to reverse the city's decline.[18]
Geography
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). Three of Mexico's tallest peaks are located within 100 miles of the city, those being Popocatépetl at 5,426 m (17,802 ft), Iztaccíhuatl at 5,230 m (17,159 ft), and Nevado de Toluca at 4,680 m (15,354 ft), respectively.
Climate
| Climate chart for Mexico City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: [2] |
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Imperial conversion
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The region of the Valley of Mexico receives anti-cyclonic systems, whose weak winds 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 operating in or around the metropolitan area.[32]
Mexico City has a temperate highland climate (Koppen Cwb), due to its tropical location and high elevation. 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). Overall precipitation is heavily concentrated in the summer months, including dense hail. The central valley of Mexico rarely gets precipitation in the form of snow during winter; the two last recorded instances of such an event were on March 5, 1940 and January 12, 1967.
| Geophysical maps of the Federal District | |||
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| Topography | Hydrology | Climate patterns | |
Environment
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 municipality of Atenco, State of Mexico. In recent years, architects Teodoro González de León and Alberto Kalach, along with a group of Mexican urbanists, engineers and biologists, have developed the project plan for Recovering the City of Lakes. The project, if approved by the government, will contribute to the supply of water from natural sources to the Valley of Mexico, the creation of new natural spaces, a great improvement in air quality, and greater population establishment planning.
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, 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.
Politics
Federal District
The Acta Constitutive de la Federación of 31 January 1824 and the Federal Constitution of 4 October 1824 fixed the political and administrative organization of the United States of Mexico after the Mexican War of Independence. In addition, Section XXVIII of Article 50 gave the new Congress the right to choose where the federal government would be located. This location would then be appropriated as federal land, with the federal government acting as the local authority. The two main candidates to become the capital were Mexico City and Querétaro. However, due much to the persuasion of representative Servando Teresa de Mier, Mexico City was chosen because it was the center of the country’s population and history, even though Querétaro was closer to the center geographically. The choice was official on 18 November 1824, and Congress delineated a surface area with a radius of two leagues (8,800 km) from the Zocalo. This circular area was then separated from the State of Mexico, forcing that state’s government to move from the Palace of the Inquisition (now Museum of Mexican Medicine) in the city to Texcoco. This radius did not include the population centers of the towns of Coyoacan, Xochimilco, Mexicaltzingo and Tlalpan, all of which remained as part of the State of Mexico.[33]
The district was incorporated into the federal government as the Department of Mexico officially on 29 November 1836. The District was redefined by President Santa Anna shortly after the Mexican American War, outward to areas bordering Ecatepec, Tlalnepantla and other hilly areas to make the District more defensible. He also divided the District into eight prefectures. In 1898, some other, minor modifications were made to its borders with the State of Mexico and the State of Morelos, bringing them to the current borders. In 1899, the District was divided into the municipality of Mexico and six prefectures. In 1903, this was changed thirteen municipalities. In 1916, then head of the District, Venustiano Carranza tried to annex a number of the communities in what is now the eastern “arm” of the state of Mexico, but did not succeed. In 1941, the organization changed to the City of Mexia and twelve boroughs. In 1978, the 1898 borders were reaffirmed and the current system of sixteen boroughs was instituted.[33]
The government of the District is housed in two buildings on the south side of the Zocalo. One has served as the seat of government for the city almost since the arrival of Hernan Cortes. The other was constructed in the 1940’s for the expanding government, and created to fit in with the architecture of the area.[33]
Political structure
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 dramatic increase in population of the previous decades, the inherent political inconsistencies of the system—like in 1988, when the opposition candidate had received the majority of votes in the Federal District, but the president, however designated a governor form the party in power at the federal level—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.
In response to the demands, in 1987 the Federal District received a greater degree of autonomy, with the elaboration the first Statute of Government (Estatuto de Gobierno), and the creation of an Assembly of Representatives. In the 1990s this autonomy was further expanded and, starting from 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, Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez being designated by the Legislative Assembly to finish the term. In 2006, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon was elected for the 2006–2012 period.
The Federal District does not have a constitution, like the states of the Union, but rather a Statute of Government, and as part of its recent changes in autonomy, the budget is administered locally: it is 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.[34]
According to the 44th article of the Mexican Constitution, in case 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 now Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, 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.[35]
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 open-party lists, locally called "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 leftist 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 (left): 34 FPP representatives
PAN (right): 17 representatives (4 FFP, 13 PR)
PRI (centrist): 4 PR representatives
PNA (right): 4 PR representatives
PVEM (right): 3 PR representatives
PSD (left): 2 PR representatives
PT (left): 1 FFP representative
CON (left): 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 recently approved by the Legislative Assembly. 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[36] 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.[37]
Boroughs
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:
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1. Álvaro Obregón |
9. Iztapalapa |
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: Historic Center is the oldest quarter in the city, some of the buildings dating back to the 16th century; la Condesa is known for its Art Deco architecture, and for being the newest artistic center of the city; Santa Fe is a growing business and financial district (built over old landfills); Roma is a beaux arts neighborhood and probably one of the oldest in the city; Polanco is an important commercial and economic center known for its large Jewish community, and Tepito and La Lagunilla are known for its impressively large flea market.
Economy
Mexico City is the most important economic hub in Latin America. The city proper (Federal District) produces 21.8% of the country's gross domestic product.[38] According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Greater Mexico City (with a population of 18.3 million) had a GDP of $315 billion in 2005 (at purchasing power parity), ranking as the eighth-richest urban agglomeration in the world after the greater areas of Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London and Osaka/Kobe, and the richest in Latin America.[39] In 2020 it is predicted to displace Osaka/Kobe to rank seventh.[5][40] Mexico City alone would be the 30th largest economy in the world.[41] 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.[38] Mexico City has one of the world's fastest-growing economies outside China and its GDP is set to double by 2020.[42]
The Federal District is the country’s richest region. Although only 9.2% of total Mexican households are located there, it accounts for 21.1% of total household expenditure. Average household spending in the city was US$52,389 in 2006, up to five times of some of the provinces and twenty percent higher then the next-highest spending region (Nuevo Leon). This level of expenditure is close to that of an average household in Italy or France. Households in the capital have fewer members –(3.7 compared to the national average of 4.0) and have better access to employment than those in the rest of the country. They spend comparatively more on education, hotels and catering and transport than outside the capital accounting for almost one third of total national consumption in these categories.[43] The city’s GDP per capita is $22,696, the highest of any city in Latin America.[44] However, this number is skewed by the small number of extremely rich households that shift the mean income upwards. The top decile of households in the entire country had a mean disposable income of US $98,517 in 2007, most of these are located in Mexico City. Their extremely high spending power makes the city attractive for luxury goods companies. The growth of luxury stores established in Mexico D.F. has been impressive since 2003, especially those dealing in luxury cars, designer clothes and expensive jewellery.[43]
The economic reforms of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari had a tremendous effect on the city, privatizing banks and with the government selling off many of the businesses it owned. He also signed NAFTA. This led to the decentralization[42] and a shift in Mexico City’s economic base, from manufacturing to services, as many factories moved to the State of Mexico and to the northern border. The government also encouraged this with tax incentives and new environmental regulations for manufacturing within the Federal District.[45]
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).
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 59 municipalities of the state of Mexico and 1 in the state of Hidalgo.[3] With a population of approximately 19.8 million inhabitants (2008),[4] 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,[46] 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.[47]
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. Náhuatl, Otomí, Mixteco, Zapoteco, and Mazahua are the indigenous languages with the greatest number of speakers in Mexico City.[48]
On the other hand, Mexico City is home to large communities of expatriates, most notably from South America (mainly from Argentina, but also from Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela), from Europe (mainly from Spain and Germany, but also from France, Italy, Poland and Romania),[49][50] the Middle East (mainly from Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria),[51] and recently from Asia (mainly from China and South Korea).[52] 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 U.S. Americans living outside the United States. Some estimates are as high as 600,000 U.S. 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.[53][54]
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.[55] However, many other religions and philosophies are also practiced in the city: many different types of Protestant groups, different types of Jewish communities, Buddhist and other philosophical groups, as well as atheism.
Landmarks
| Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
 |
|
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii, iv, v |
| Reference | 412 |
| Region** | Latin America and the Caribbean |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1987 (11th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO. |
|
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 Center include the Plaza de la Constitución (Zócalo), the main central square with its time clashing Spanish-era Metropolitan Cathedral and National Palace, and ancient Aztec temple ruins Templo Mayor ("Major Temple") 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 over Americas' oldest passage in the XIX Century 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 Exchange as several corporate headquarters are 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. 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, all of which maintain a constant cultural activity during the whole year. It has the fourth highest number of theatres in the world after New York, London and Toronto, and it is the city with the highest number of museums in the world. In many locales (Palacio Nacional and the Instituto Nacional de Cardiología, to name a few), there are murals painted by Diego Rivera. He and his wife Frida Kahlo lived in the southern suburb of Coyoacán, where several of their homes, studios, and art collections are open to the public. The house where Leon Trotsky was initially granted asylum and finally murdered in 1940 is also in Coyoacán.
In addition, there are several restored haciendas that are now restaurants, such as the San Ángel Inn, the Hacienda de Tlalpan and the Hacienda de los Morales, all of which are stunning remnants of Mexican history and house some of the best food in the world.
Transportation
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Main article: Transportation in Mexico City