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Mexicali

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Ciudad de Mexicali
City of Mexicali

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Coat of Arms

Motto: Tierra Cálida
(Warm Land)
Image:Baja mexicali.png
Municipality of Mexicali
Foundation date March 14, 1903
Population 855,966(2005)
Population Density 81.94 hab/km² (2000)
Altitude 10 meters
UTC −8 hours
Area code +52 686
Website: XVIII Ayuntamiento de Mexicali

Fuentes: INEGI, Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

Mexicali is the capital of the state of Baja California, Mexico as well as the capital of the municipality of Mexicali. Situated along the state's northern border with the U.S state of California, Mexicali is the northernmost city in Latin America, located at 32°40′0″N, 115°28′0″W. It has a population of approximately 856,000 inhabitants and is constantly growing due to the number of Maquiladoras in the area and migrational aspects. It is the 13th largest city in Mexico as of the Census 2005.

Founded on March 14 1903, Mexicali is adjacent to the city of Calexico, California, which lies directly across the US border. The link is emphasized by the way each city's name combines the words "California" and "Mexico."

Mexicali is bordered to the north with the United States (Imperial County, California), to the east with the states of Arizona (US) and Sonora (Mexico), to the west with the municipality of Tecate, and to the south with the municipality of Ensenada.

Mexicali has grown to be an important city in Mexico. Many immigrants who come from all over the country come to Mexicali in search of the American Dream and cross the border illegally, but many don't succeed and end up staying in Mexicali. Mexicali is also the only capital city which lies directly on the border with the United States.

The residents of Mexicali are from diverse backgrounds, and it is among the most racially diverse cities in Mexico, with people from various European, Arab and African origins. For example, many of the residents of Mexicali are of Asian descent, especially Chinese. In fact, Mexicali is home to the largest number of overseas Chinese in Mexico. Consequently, Mexicali has a large Chinatown, called La Chinesca. The city is noted for having one of the finest Chinese food cuisines on the entire North American continent, rivaling cities such as San Francisco, California. These Restaurants can be found all over the city, not just in Chinatown, but also in the main boulevards, such as Justo Sierra and Lazaro Cardenas Blvds. One can also explore the Chinese Pagoda in Plaza de la Amistad, along the border crossing, as well as the modern Civic Center, which is the administrative heart of the municipality.

Although not as popular among tourists as Tijuana, located a couple hours to the west, Mexicali has many sites where people from all over the country visit, as well as visitors from United States and Canada, such as the bullfighting arena, Plaza Calafia, where many bullfights ("corridas") are organized along the year. Mexicali has also a professional 18 hole Golf Course "Club Campestre" where both national and international championships take place regularly.

Still Mexicali, the city, is mainly a business place, with big manufacturing and agricultural industries, and a busy rail line into California. The strong cultural ties with the United States is well visible, as Mexicali got its urban planning from American other than traditional Mexican architecture and a high proportion of Mexicalense are fluent in the English language. The Mexican American majority of Imperial County, California make regular travels to the border town, sometimes to visit family and friends, and Americans of virtually all nationalities go to Mexicali to conduct business errands.

The citizens could say that one of main characteristics of this place, perhaps the most prominent, is its weather. Since the city was founded in the middle of the desert, mainly to avoid the dangers of the Colorado river spills, the area has very extreme weather, reaching very low temperatures in winter and extremely high temperatures in the summer. Visitors to Mexicali could witness the thermometer easily reaching levels of 40 degrees Celsius (104 on the Fahrenheit scale) in the shade, and even hitting 50°C (122°F) on the hottest days. However, the citizens are used to this, and some people take a very special pride in enduring such weather conditions — this is even the subject of recurring jokes amongst the population.

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Contents

[edit] History

In pre-Columbian times, the Río Colorado (Colorado River) delta was inhabited by a centuries-long succession of Yumano tribes. When the Spanish first stumbled upon the delta after traversing, with great difficulty, the Sonoran Desert's Camino del Diablo ("Devil's Road"), a sophisticated Río Colorado culture was cultivating squash, melons, peas, and five colors of corn: yellow, blue, white, red, and blue-white. The Native Americans also possessed an impressive knowledge of medicinal herbs and employed desert plants like mesquite and agave in a wide variety of uses. Like their neighbors the Kiliwas, the Cucapás' numbers were greatly reduced by Spanish evangelization in northwest Mexico.

Among the major Yumano groups in the region were the Cucapás, who navigated the difficult Río Colorado on reed rafts. Today Cucapá descendants inhabit a small government-protected corner of the delta near the junction of the Hardy and Colorado rivers. For the most part, the Indians work on agricultural ejidos or fish the rivers, although many have migrated to Mexicali. Few indigenous customs survived both the Spanish and Mexican eras; both the Kiliwas and the Cucapás continued to practice cremation rituals, for example, until they were banned by the Mexican government early this century.

[edit] The Building of an Agricultural Empire

After the Jesuits left, the Spanish and later the Mexicans had little to do with the northeastern corner of the Baja California peninsula, perceiving it as an untamable, flood-prone desert delta. Around the time of the U.S. Civil War, a Yale geologist, while surveying a route for the Southern Pacific Railroad, wandered into the delta and discovered what the dwindling population of Yumanos had known for centuries: the 2.5 km thick sediment was prime farming soil. The sediments extended far to the west of the river itself, accumulating in a shallow basin below the Sierra de Cucapá. All it needed was the addition of water to become an agricultural miracle.

In 1900 the U.S.-based California Land Company received permission from the Porfirio Díaz government to cut a canal through the delta's Arroyo Alamo, thus linking the dry basin with the Colorado River. To attract farmers to the area, the developers named the basin the Imperial Valley. In March 1903, the first 500 farmers arrived; by late 1904, 100,000 acres (405 km²) of valley were irrigated, with 10,000 people settled on the land and harvesting cotton, fruits, and vegetables. A collection of huts and ramadas that straddled the border was named Calexico on the U.S. side, Mexicali on the Mexican side.

Seeing that the equally fertile Valle de Mexicali lay undeveloped, another U.S. land syndicate, the Colorado River Land Company, moved in. Led by Harry Chandler, then publisher of the Los Angeles Times, the syndicate controlled some 800,000 acres (3200 km²) of northern Baja and in 1905 began constructing a Valle de Mexicali irrigation system. Instead of using Mexican labor, as the Imperial Valley developers had, Chandler imported thousands of Chinese coolies. After a major 1905 rainfall, the channel dug from Arroyo Alamo ended up diverting the entire outflow of the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley, taking Mexicali with it — unknowingly, the syndicate had tapped into one of the river's original routes. The Salton Sink, a dried-up remainder of the Sea of Cortez, became the Salton Sea virtually overnight.

Neither the U.S. nor Mexico wanted to take responsibility for the growing New River created by Chandler's mistake. As both valleys became increasingly inundated, the Southern Pacific Railroad stepped in and, to protect its tracks, dumped a sufficient amount of rock into the river to head the Colorado back into the Cortez, leaving a canal to the Valle de Mexicali. From then on, both valleys became highly productive agricultural centers.

Mexicali was born on 14 March 1903 with Manuel Vizcarra as the town's first authority and assistant judge (juez auxiliar). Mexicali is now the capital city of Baja California, the 29th state of Mexico. Shortly after the first irrigation canals were built, most of the land was bought by the Colorado River Land Company from the USA The company developed commercial crops and became almost a monopoly until it was decided to sell its land to Mexican farmers in 1936 and 1937.

The Mexicali Valley is the agricultural heart of the state, with more than 2,000 square kilometres of irrigated land. This valley is responsible for some of the biggest crops in Mexico, including wheat and cotton. With an ensured supply of water, Mexicali has become an important exporter of asparagus, broccoli, green onion and radish for the whole world.

Cotton became the most important crop of the Valley and it helped to develop the dressing and textile industries. In the early 1950s, the Mexicali Valley became the biggest cotton producing zone in the whole country. Production increased even more in the mid-1960s, reaching more than half a million parcels harvested in just one year.

[edit] Economy

In its beginnings Mexicali was an important center for cotton production for export until synthetic fabrics reduced the worldwide demand for the fiber.

Currently horticulture is the most successful agricultural activity with scallion, green onion and asparagus being among the most important crops. Cotton and wheat are still cultivated but with government price guarantees and subsidies making wheat farmer protests an annual event. There is an annual agribusiness fair in March drawing interested people from all over Mexico and the United States called Agrobaja.

The current prospects for economic growth in Mexicali rely on in-bond and assembly plants, mainly for export, including companies like Sony, Daewoo, Mitsubishi, Honeywell, Paccar, Vitro, Skyworks Solutions, Cardinal Health, Bosch.

Mexicali in addition to industry, Maquiladora is provided with companies of transformation and food as Factory of Paper of San Francisco. Grupo Diboga, Kenworth Mexicana, Nestle, Jumex, Sabritas, Siderurgica California, Vitro, Expo Cocinas, between others.

There are joint efforts on behalf of the Baja California government and the private sector to attract more companies to Mexicali based on a cluster strategy focusing on the regions' strengths of qualified labor, abundant energy and water supplies, a pro-business environment and its location on the California border.

Mexicali is considered among the most prosperous cities in Mexico, although American tourists can observe the level of poverty in rural villages surround a modern upper-middle class enclave of Mexicali proper. The North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994 that eliminated most trade restrictions between the two nations offers Mexicali an economic boom in the next decade.

[edit] Housing

Housing in Mexicali is plentiful and home ownership among its residents is the highest in Mexico (approximately 65% home ownership rate). The outskirts of the city are sprawling with new subdivisions that range from small 650 sq. ft homes to large 4,000+ sq. ft residences in exclusive gated communities. Despite the abundance of housing in Mexicali, housing is expensive relative to the rest of Mexico. A basic two-bedroom, one-bathroom 800 sq. ft. home on a 1,500 sq. ft. lot costs about $50,000 US. Hence, population density is high in Mexicali despite the fact that very few buildings throughout the city are over two-stories (due to seismic activity and the high shrink-swell potential of the soil in the area it is cost prohibitive to construct high buildings in this area). With a growing upper and upper-middle class in Mexicali exclusive gated communities are being built in the periphery of the city, particularly toward the eastern outskirts of the city. Most homes in San Pedro Residencial, a new gated community, are over $1,000,000 US despite being on lots with an average size of 7,500 sq. ft. Calexico, California has become a bedroom community for many of the Mexicali rich and new, exlusive communities such as Victoria Estates, where homes exceed $500,000 US, have been built to cater to this segment of the population. Example of new middle-class subdivision in Mexicali

[edit] Silicon Border

Also in Mexicali from this summer 2006, The Lookout will begin construction in the outskirts of the Cerro El Centinela an industrial park that will be called Silicon Border or Frontera del Silicio occupying in its first stage 1800 hectares, a place specializing in nanotechnology, which tries to be an enlargement of Silicon Valley that is located in California.

It is not a question of a simple service of multure, but of an industrial complex specializing in the development of the knowledge and products of high technology.

With the construction of this park, Mexico will be provided with approximately 100 thousand jobs in the next 20 years. It will be catapulted as well as one of the countries that manufacture technology and will turn into the origin of future industrial complexes along the country.

As part of the construction of the Border of Silicón, the government of California plans to construct four universities near the park, to stretch highways and infrastructures and operate direct flights between Silicon Valley and Silicon Border.


As part of the project also calls for residential developments in this zone, for whom they are employed at the new industrial park, with which the economy of this locality would be reactivated in an important way.

Many people are participating in this project like Ernst & Young, Luce Forward, Shelton, Best & Flanagan LLP, Sada and Associates, and the Secretary of Economy.

[edit] Natural Resources

In spite of his arid and desert sceneries, Mexicali is a municipality privileged by his big quantity of natural resources, emphasizing the existence of big cloaks acuíferos in his vale, consequence of the filtration of the waters of the River Colorado and his tributaries. Also to the skirts of the Volcano Blackish Hill one of the plants finds the biggest Geotérmicas of Latin America, same where there are extracted big quantities of natural gas and electrical energy.

[edit] Culture

In 2004, there were 7 theaters <ref>http://sic.conaculta.gob.mx/infraestructura/teatros/todo.php3?J=10</ref> in the city:

  1. Teatro del Estado.
  2. Teatro al Aire Libre del Centro Comunitario Estudiantil.
  3. Teatro de Casa de Cultura de Mexicali. Idem.
  4. Teatro del CREA
  5. Teatro Universitario de Mexicali, que se utiliza principalmente para ceremonias de la UABC y ocasionalmente para obras teatrales
  6. Teatro al Aire Libre de Rectoría
  7. Teatro del Seguro Social that was inaugurated in the 70's.
  8. Teatro al aire libre del Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior CETYS inagurado en septiembre del 2006.
  9. Teatro del Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior CETYS.
  10. IMAX Teatro in The Sol del Niño Museum

[edit] Sports

The City of Mexicali is provided in its credit with a Team of Basketball in Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP) of Mexico, the so-called Soles de Mexicali and its stadium is the "Auditorio del Estado" located in the Ciudad Deportiva de Mexicali. Where also the Soccer Stadium is located where the Cachanillas de Mexicali play team that plays in 3era Division of Mexican Federation of Football, Also in the Ciudad Deportiva one can find the stadium El Nido where the profesional baseball team "Aguilas de Mexicali" play every season. Mexicali is also home to a 2006 American Basketball Association franchise, the Centinelas de Mexicali (the Sentinels)

Mexicali possesses a diversity of shopping malls, the most visited being Plaza La Cachanilla, located just a few minutes away from the US border. The mall hosts a variety of shops, which sell a wide array of things, ranging from cheap Mexican curiosities to expensive imports. The Plaza La cachanilla also represents a common place for the people to socialize. Especially in summer when the weather is hot, a lot of families come and spend all the day inside the mall.

Just about everything one could find in the US can be found in Mexicali, including pool halls, bowling alleys, traditional cantinas, car clubs, museums, a zoo, a state college, a convention center, supermarkets, and fast food joints.

[edit] People from Mexicali

[edit] Sister Cities

[edit] External links

[edit] Schools

[edit] Other

  • [1] Jewish Community. Comunidad Judia
  • SWEET & SOUR TIMES ON THE BORDER - A review of chinese immigration to Mexico
  • Mexicali Activities, maps and general information
  • Mexicali’s Chinatown: Sharks fin Tacos and Barbecued Chow Mein
  • Manuel Vizcarra, Mexican judge, founded on March 14, 1903 the city of Mexicali, Baja California
  • Rudolph Valentino, Italian silent era motion picture Hollywood actor, married Natacha Rambova in Mexicali, Mexico on May 13, 1922, his second marriage
  • Barbara Stanwyck, American film and television actress, lead role in "Mexicali Rose" film during 1929
  • Gene Autry, American performer, "Mexicali Rose" one of his popular songs
  • Dolores del Rio, Mexican film actress, one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, a sex siren, but struggled against the "Mexicali Rose" image
  • Mexicali Shmoes, 1959 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, produced by John W. Barton of Warner Bros., has Jose and Manuel chasing Speedy Gonzales, and introduces Slowpoke Rodriguez, Speedy's cousin
  • The Coasters, American doo wop and early rock and roll group, evolving from The Robins, song "Down in Mexico (in a little town called Mexicali)" in The Very Best of the Coasters
  • Grateful Dead, American psychedelia-influenced rock band, song "Mexicali Blues" in Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead
  • Mexicali Musk, men's fragance by Coty, cologne spray and after shave splash, with plastic worm at the bottom of the bottle
  • Mexicali Brass, American popular music group, with hits like "Mexicali Jumping Bean," "Calexico Cocktail," "Tijuana Heartache," and "Spanish Flea"
  • Mexicali, many restaurants and cafes around the world with names like "Mexicali Restaurant," "Mexicali Cafe," "Mexicali Grill," "Mexicali Bar," "Mexicali Blues," or "Mexicali Rose," do a Google search on the city and country you are visiting
  • Aztec Brewing Company started in Mexicali before moving to San Diego, California.ca:Mexicali

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