Chihuahua, Chihuahua

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chihuahua is the name of both a state in Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the City of Chihuahua. For the state of Chihuahua, see Chihuahua. For the dog see Chihuahua (dog). For other meanings of Chihuahua, see Chihuahua (disambiguation).

City of Chihuahua
Ciudad de Chihuahua

Metropolitan Cathedral and Plaza de Armas

Flag

Seal

Motto: "Bravery, Loyalty, Hospitality"

City of Chihuahua

Coordinates: 28°6′3″N 106°0′8″W / 28.10083, -106.00222

Foundation

Government

- Mayor

Carlos Borruel Baquera
(PAN)

Elevation

1,415 m (4,642 ft)

Population (2006)

- City

748,551

- Metro

800,000

- Demonym

Chihuahuense

Time zone

Mountain Standard Time (UTC-7)

- Summer (DST)

Mountain Daylight Time (UTC-6)

Area code(s)

+52 614

Website: http://www.municipiochihuahua.gob.mx

The city of Chihuahua is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It has a population of about 748,551. The predominant activity is light industry, in the form of maquiladoras.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Colonias
4 Geography
5 Transportation
6 Contemporary life
- 6.1 Sports
7 Landmarks
8 Tourism
9 Notable people who are natives, or who lived in Chihuahua
10 Sister Cities
11 Gallery
12 References
13 External links

[edit] History

Miguel Hidalgo being executed, represented in one of the panels of Aarón Piña Mora's mural at the Government Palace of Chihuahua

It has been said that the name derives from the Tarahumara language, meaning "between two waters", other accepted definitions are "place of the holed-rock" or "dry and sandy place".^[1] The name itself is older than the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The city was founded on October 12, 1709, by Antonio Deza y Ulloa, a Spanish explorer, as El Real de Minas de San Francisco el Cuellar.^[2] The town was erected a Villa in 1718 with the name of San Felipe el Real de Chihuahua, and the name was shortened in 1823. The location was chosen because it is the intersection of the rivers Chuviscar and Sacramento. It is also the midpoint between the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) and the then-important mining city of Hidalgo del Parral.

Just as in other parts of Northern Mexico, Roman Catholic missionaries were an important influence during the colonial era, and the city became a meeting point for missionaries heading to and from the 'sierra', the mountainous region in western Chihuahua State where the native Tarahumara still live.

During the War of Independence, the city saw little action. However, it was in Chihuahua where Miguel Hidalgo, considered the Father of the Country, was held prisoner in the Federal Palace of Chihuahua and executed in 1811 at the nearby Government Palace by the Spaniards.

Panel of Piña mural in the Government Palace, honouring the liberators Abraham Lincoln, Benito Juárez and Simón Bolivar

During the French invasion, President Benito Juárez García made the city the seat of his government-in-exile from 1864 to 1867. During the presidency of Porfirio Diaz the city experienced explosive growth and became one of the most important cities in Mexico. The city became the seat for important banks and wealthy families.

The city was more involved during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917), for it became at times the operations base for the División del Norte, the army led by Pancho Villa. Many sites and memories remain of the Revolutionary era; the most important of these is the Historical Museum of the Mexican Revolution at Villa's former estate house near downtown Chihuahua. La Quinta Luz (which could very well fit into a 'western' movie scene), was turned into a museum by his widow, Sra. María Luz Corral de Villa, and is now managed by the Mexican government.

During the 20th century, the city grew in population and learned to take advantage of its proximity with the U.S. border. Until the establishment of foreign manufacturing plants in the 1970s, the city was largely a trade post for cattle and agricultural products. During the 1990s the city grew dramatically economically, becoming the third wealthiest municipality (Per Capita) in the republic, after Benito Juarez Delegation in the Mexican Federal District(Mexico City), and San Pedro Garza García in Nuevo Leon State.

Pancho Villa's bullet-ridden Dodge in the Historical Museum of the Mexican Revolution

In 2002, Mayor Jorge Barousse Moreno from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) died and was succeeded by Alejandro Cano Ricaud. During Cano's administration, the city experienced dramatic growth in the security sector when the Police Department was certified by the ISO and surveillance aircraft bought.

Between 2002 and 2005, the city experimented with the introduction of certain new commercial innovations, like the first large mall in the city, Plaza del Sol, and the rise of the commercial Zone of the Sun, all along the Périferico de la Juventud, one of the main thoroughfares in the city.

In 2004 Juan Blanco Zaldivar, of the National Action Party (Mexico) (PAN), won the election for mayor (municipal president) of the city for the term 2004-2007. Since 2005, the International Festivals of Chihuahua have been celebrated by both the state and city governments during the months of September/October with art shows, plays, stage presentations and concerts by such bands as America, Foreigner, Creedence and Los Lobos being held at venues throughout the city.

Elections for mayor for the term 2007-2010 were held at the beginning of July; Carlos Borruel Baquera of the PAN defeated former mayor Alejandro Cano Ricaud(PRI) by less than one-quarter of a percentage point of almost 200,000 votes cast. The turnout of registered voters, at about 41%, was the lowest in years.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2005, there were 748,551 people living in the city of Chihuahua, calculations tend to establish that in 2007 there were almost 800,000 people living in Chihuahua. The racial makeup of the city was 53% White/European, 40% Mestizo, 4% Amerindian, and 3% other.

The majority of the population practices Catholicism, but other religious faiths are represented, including Methodists, Baptists and other Christian groups, as well as a small Jewish community.

The literacy rate in the city is among the highest in the republic at 98%; more than 60% of the population is age 30 or below, and population increase runs about 1.49% per annum.

Sculpture at the southern entrance to the city by sculptor and native son, Sebastian, called "La Puerta a Chihuahua"('The Gate to Chihuahua').

[edit] Colonias

Main article: Colonias of Chihuahua, Chihuahua

The City of Chihuahua is subdivided into Colonias (neighborhoods). The primary function of the colonias range in function between residential, commercial, industrial, and educational. There are many colonias in Chihuahua; among the better known are Centro (City Centre), Santa Rosa, San Felipe, Santo Niño, Lomas del Santuario and Rosario.

In recent years, new residential zones called "fraccionamientos", rather than colonias, have been erected, some examples of which are Los Huertos, Campobello, Puerta de Hierro and Las Fuentes. The fraccionamientos function in the same way as residential developments in the U.S., with some upscale ones being gated, with controlled access such as Club Campestre de Chihuahua, San Francisco Country Club, Rincon de las Lomas, Arcadas and Haciendas de Santa Fe among others. The growing construction industry is creating many new fraccionamientos in order to try to solve the overwhelming demand for new homes in the city, extending them at an ever-increasing rate every year.

[edit] Geography

Climate chart for Chihuahua

108

107

105

temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm
source: [1]

Imperial conversion

Chihuahua is on the western side of the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion and as such has a fairly arid climate (476.7 mm of precipitation annually) but not as hot as most of the lower elevated portions of the desert to the east owing to altitude of almost 1500 m ASL (the average temperature is 17.8 °C). The National Weather Service of Mexico (Servicio Meteorologico Nacional) states that for the period of 1971 to 2000 the warmest temperature recorded is 40 °C on June 21, 1981 and the coldest -10 °C on December 9, 1978. July 1973 is the record wettest month, with 242.5 mm. For a single day the record is 81 mm on September 25, 1978

Chihuahua is best described as shaped as a gigantic letter`L', with plains to the north and hills on both sides, as well as the south; crossed east-and-west by Teofilo Borunda Avenue, which follows the natural flow of the Chuviscar River. Borunda is crossed in the west by the Periferico de la Juventud, a major limited-access highway running north-and-south. The main entrance to the city from the north (from the direction of Ciudad Juarez) is Tecnològico Avenue, which is also the Pan-American Highway. A city map is available on the internet at Mapquest.com and other mapping sites.

The geography of the city is dominated by three main hills: Cerro Grande, Cerro Coronel and Santa Rosa, the last of which is fully covered by the city; these three hills appear in the Coat of Arms. The Cerro Grande has a monumental cross that is lighted each Christmas.

To the east and northeast, one finds the Sierra Nombre de Dios across the Sacramento River from the city. Contained therin, off of H. Colegio Militar Ave, are the Nombre de Dios Caverns, a beautiful natural display of minerals and underground formations. To the far east, and south, there's the airport and the highway to the town of Aldama.

Bridges being built in the city, circa September 2005. The growing traffic in the city caused a massive construction plan for more and better roads.

[edit] Transportation

Chihuahua is served by Roberto Fierro Villalobos International Airport (IATA Airport Code: CUU). It is the starting point for the Chihuahua–Pacific Railroad, and is also served by Ferromex, a private Mexican railroad. Urban transportation is provided by a network of buses, widely regarded as inefficient. There is also a large central depot for intercity buses in the south side of the city. The system of avenues and main streets in the city is being constantly revamped, with the construction of new roads and bridges to handle the ever-increasing traffic.

[edit] Contemporary life

The city's most important feature is its collection of industrial zones, in which foreign companies have manufacturing facilities, called maquiladoras, which employ thousands of people. This light industry also requires professionals, both for manufacturing and for management; this training is provided by universities such as the Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua (also referred as "the premier education institution") and the Instituto Tecnologico de Chihuahua Campus I and II. A number of private colleges also exist, among them the ITESM, which is preferred by the middle and upper classes, and considered among the best universities in Latin America.

The city's commercial sector has also been boosted by the growth of the middle-class. The wages paid by industries to management and high-level technical employees provide a cash flow unlike that of most Mexican cities.

The nightlife is lively, especially in the city centre, where some of the large, pre-revolutionary estate houses have been turned into nightclubs and dance halls, many featuring the best of Chihuahua's live bands.

Most U.S. franchise restaurants and fast-food establishments will be found in Chihuahua, mostly on the Periferico de la Juventud, north of downtown on Universidad Avenue, or on Libertad Street Pedestrian Way in the city centre, and are patronised by the city's youth and young professionals.

Unfortunately, the city has a serious problem with property crime, especially theft and graffiti by taggers. This situation has exploded in recent years. Also, drug-related murders, including murders of law-enforcement officers by narco-traffickers(38 in the last year according to a March 2008 issue of the newspaper Diario de Chihuahua) have, unfortunately, been on the rise.

Urban blight, a common problem in the past, has been attacked with gusto since the mid-1990s with the demolition of abandoned buildings and the creation of green spaces, such as the Plaza Mayor and the Central Park "El Palomar"; once one of the city's worst slums, now a patch of green in the middle of Chihuahua. Going hand-in-hand with the urban renewal is the movement of those living in the shantytowns of the city into new housing being built by the government in the northern sector. These homes, ranging from 300 to 600 square feet (56 m²) in area, have been designed to help instill pride-of-ownership into those who never had a fixed abode. The jury is still out as to whether the experiment will work in the end, although city fathers remain optimistic.

[edit] Sports

The city is home to the Dorados de Chihuahua of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, or National Professional Basketball League of Mexico. The city has a baseball franchise in the Mexican League(AAA), also known as the Dorados.

[edit] Landmarks

Even though Chihuahua suffered a massive destruction of colonial buildings (During the 1970s) in order to widen the main streets and avenues in the downtown, it stills preserves some valuable monuments from the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of the more interesting sites in the city are listed below:

Temple of San Francisco-The original burial place of Fr Miguel Hidalgo
Federal Palace of Chihuahua, now a museum, and the jail cell of Fr Hidalgo
Central Park "El Palomar"-Once one of the worst slums in the city, now the largest city park.
Mansion Creel
Mansion Terrazas
Mansion 'Quinta Carolina' (Former summer estate of Don Luis Terrazas; see Creel-Terrazas Family.)-Now in semi-ruined condition, in process of restoration.
Torre Legislativa de Chihuahua (Legislative tower of Chihuahua-state legislators office building) -Fronts on the Plaza de Armas
The Government Palace (The State House)
City Hall
Dancing Fountains north of the Federal Palace
Mansion 'Quinta Gameros' (City Museum for the Decorative Arts)
Church of Santa Rita (1731). St Rita of Cascia is the patroness of the city.
Ave. Zarco Residential Area (Some of the most impressive pre-revolutionary residences in the city are situated along this street)

[edit] Tourism

The Cathedral fronts on the Plaza de Armas in the centre of Chihuahua

The city of Chihuahua offers many places of interest for the tourist, especially the history buff, including the baroque Metropolitan Cathedral, seat of the Archdiocese (and the resting place of St Peter of Jesus Maldonado, a Cristero martyr of the 1930s), dating from the 18th century, the Government Palace from the early 19th century, and the City Hall from the turn of the 20th century, on the Plaza de Armas across from the Cathedral.

During the French invasion and the Second Empire, which ended with the execution of the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian in 1867, the constitutional president, Benito Juárez García traveled the country, searching for support wherever he could. He found it in 1864 when he settled his cabinet and government-in-exile here in the city at the address now known as Ave. Juárez 321, and incidentally, making Chihuahua the only city, aside from Mexico City, to be the capital of the Republic. The Casa Juárez, now known as the Museum of Republican Loyalty, has been faithfully restored to the appearance it had when President Juárez lived here from 1864 to 1866.

The city offers the service of the touristic "Trolley el Tarahumara" which is a special bus that goes around to all the main museums and monuments in the City Centre(starting its route at the Plaza de Armas), including parks like the Central Park "El Palomar", a large park that has a collection of sculptures, including one depicting three doves (palomas, hence the park's name) and a monumental flagpole, flying one of the largest flags in the Republic, as well as a statue of one of Chihuahua's favourite sons, the late actor Anthony Quinn, in his famous role as 'Zorba the Greek', as well as many others. The city is renowned for its classical and modern sculpture, as seen on any main boulevard or avenue. Included are works by Espino, Baltazar, Ponzanelli and Sebastian, the latter being a native of Chihuahua.

The Angel of Liberty with the Government Palace in background.

Panel from mural in the Paraninfo depicting the Mexican-American War(Artist: Leandro Carreón Nájera, 1937-39)

Particularly noteworthy are the murals in the Government Palace and the Paraninfo, or University Auditorium (in the Literary and Scientific Institute building) both depicting the history of the State of Chihuahua, and both fronting upon the Plaza Hidalgo in the city centre, and catter-cornered from the Plaza Mayor (listed below). Also of note is the Quinta Gameros, one of the largest estate houses in pre-revolutionary Chihuahua City, now the state museum for the decorative arts, and the former Federal Palace of Chihuahua on Venustiano Carranza Street, north of the Government Palace, which is now a museum and contains the cell in which Miguel Hidalgo spent his final days, and is a national shrine.

The Mammoth Museum, at Gomez Morin (also Calle 27a) and Ave. Juarez, is the city natural history museum and contains 13 halls detailing prehistoric life from the dinosaurs through the reign of the mammals, or the Cenozoic Era. It also has exhibits of prehistoric art. The Semilla Museo Centro de Ciencia y Tecnología, or Seed Centre Museum of Science and Technology, on Teofilo Borunda and Lisboa in the City Centre, is a creative learning centre and interactive science museum for children.

The Feria (Fair) of Santa Rita, known throughout the Republic, is held during the last two weeks of May and features internationally known recording artists in concert. The fair has been held annually for decades. In addition, the University Symphony performs at the Paraninfo weekly during the summer months, and features international guest artists in classical and pops concerts.

The Dorados de Chihuahua, the local baseball team in the Mexican League(AAA), plays in a new stadium in the southside of the city during the summer months. The Plaza de Toros, or bull fighting ring, 'La Esperanza' is located on Teofilo Borunda on the north side of the river, and features Corridas (Bullfights) during the summer and fall.

The Plaza Mayor is an important square in the city centre that displays fountains, green spaces and a collection of monuments depicting local heroes. The main monument in the Plaza Mayor is the "Ángel de la Libertad" that was built in 2003 representing the freedom of all Mexicans, especially Chihuahua's people. It was inaugurated during the Independence Day festivities on September 15 of that same year. The angel has a sword with a laser light at the tip, and is capable of rotating 360° over its axis.

[edit] Notable people who are natives, or who lived in Chihuahua

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, considered the Father of the Country as well as the 'Father of Mexican Independence', held here by the Spanish during the last months of his life and executed in 1811.
Benito Juarez, President of the Republic, during the French invasion, 1864-67.
Eduardo Najera, a reserve forward for the Denver Nuggets of the NBA.
Sebastián, sculptor and native son.
Pancho Villa, revolutionary leader, sometime bandit and Governor of Chihuahua.
Luis Terrazas, leader of the Cientificos, governor and one of the richest men in Mexico.
Anthony Quinn, Oscar-winning actor.
Aarón Piña Mora, renowned muralist and painter.
Aracely Arámbula, singer and actress.
Allison Lozz, actress and singer.
Omar Chaparro, comedian.
Miguel Aceves Mejía, famous ranchera singer.
Adrián Terrazas-González, member of the musical group, Mars Volta.
Ever Magallanes, major league baseball player

[edit] Sister Cities

Chihuahua has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

[edit] Gallery

The restoration of the Federal Palace, February 2006	The Angel of Liberty on a cloudy day	Revolution Square in downtown displays a fine equestrian statue of Pancho Villa.	The tower of the massive Church of the Sacred Heart on 20 de Noviembre St.
The Dome and Lantern of the Church of the Sacred Heart.	The sculpture "La Fuerza Indomita" in a park on Cuauhtemoc Street in the city centre.	A sculpture by Sebastian, at the northern entrance to the city. It is called "El Arbol de la Vida"('The Tree of Life').	The City Convention Centre on Tecnológico Ave.
Interior Shot of the Metropolitan Cathedral, showing unusual double altar.	Mission Santa Ana de Chinarras, founded in 1716, on highway to Aldama.	La Torre Legislativa, or State Legislators Office Building on the Plaza de Armas.	El Santuario de Guadalupe(Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe).
Statue of Deza y Ulloa, the founder of Chihuahua, in the Plaza de Armas.	The City Hall also fronts onto the Plaza de Armas.	Tomb of Gov. Luis Terrazas at the Santuario de Guadalupe.	1874 image of Cathedral and Plaza de la Constitucion(now Plaza de Armas).