A Wonderful Place...
Mexico City
The city currently known as Mexico City was founded by the Mexica people, later known as the Aztecs, in 1325. The old Mexica city is now referred to as Tenochtitlan.
Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico, sometimes called the Basin of Mexico. It has a minimum altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that reach elevations of over 5,000 meters. This valley has no natural drainage , making the city vulnerable to flooding. Seismic activity is frequent here. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the city has sunk as much as nine meters in some areas.
Mexico City has a subtropical highland climate, 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 average annual temperature varies from 12 to 16 °C, depending on the altitude of the borough. The lowest temperatures, may reach -2 to -5 °C , and are usually accompanied by snow showers. The maximum temperatures of late spring and summer may reach up to 32 °C .
Overall precipitation is heavily concentrated in the summer months, and includes dense hail.
The area receives about 820 millimetres of annual rainfall. The area has two main seasons. The rainy season runs from June to October when winds bring in tropical moisture from the sea. The dry season runs from November to May, when the air is relatively drier.
The federal and local governments have implemented numerous plans to alleviate the problem of air pollution (such as carbon monoxide). 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 1990, Patricia Saad Sotomayor reported in the Mexico City daily Excélsior that "100,000 children die every year as a result of pollution in the Mexico City metropolitan area, 250,000 people suffer from eye diseases..and life expectancy has been reduced by up to ten years".
In 1986, the non-urban forest areas of the southern boroughs were declared National Ecological Reserves.
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.
Boroughs:
1. Álvaro Obregón
2. Azcapotzalco
3. Benito Juárez
4. Coyoacán
5. Cuajimalpa
6. Cuauhtémoc
7. Gustavo A. Madero
8. Iztacalco
9. Iztapalapa
10. Magdalena Contreras
11. Miguel Hidalgo
12. Milpa Alta
13. Tláhuac
14. Tlalpan
15. Venustiano Carranza
16. Xochimilco
The Historic center of Mexico City (Centro Histórico) and the "floating gardens" of Xochimilco in the southern borough have been declared World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO.
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.
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.
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, and it is the city with the highest number of museums in the world.
Air and water pollution has been contained and improved in several areas due to government programs, the renovation of vehicles and the modernization of public transportation.
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
The door to a good land: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSfstybTlgM
