Colonia (Mexico)
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In general, colonias are neighborhoods in Mexican cities, 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 Mexico City's core was inhabited by a French colony in the city. Usually colonias are assigned a specific postal code; nonetheless, in recent urban developments, gated communities are also defined as colonias and share the postal code with adjacent neighborhoods. In spite of this, the name of the colonia must be specified when writing an address in large urban areas in Mexico. Colonias, sometimes also known as barrios, used to have their own identity. Until major urbanization started, people used to live all their lives in one colonia and all the neighbors knew each other like in a town. A middle-class colonia usually has a "tiendita" or "miscelanea" (grocery store), a butchery, a barber, and a church. Nowadays, many people live in apartment buildings (an area with multiple apartment buildings is called "Unidad Habitacional") which are located in specific colonias, but as the rhythm of life has changed a lot in the last years, now people are not so dedicated in establishing friendship with their neighbors. Although if something important happens in a colonia, the news are widely spread rapidly through the neighborhood.
In the United States, a colonia can either refer to a settlement along the US-Mexico border or an apartment complex that houses a large number of Mexican immigrants.
