Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, México D.F.) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Mexico. The "Distrito Federal" is also commonly just referred to as the "D.F." It is one of the largest cities in the world and is classed as a megalopolis as it encompasses one large city that has slowly engulfed other, smaller ones. It is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, about 7,349 feet above sea-level, surrounded on most sides by volcanoes towering at 13,000 to 18,000 feet above sea-level. Mexico City was traditionally known as la Ciudad de los Palacios ("the City of Palaces"), a nickname attributed to baron Alexander von Humboldt when visiting the city in the 18th Century. Since 2000 the newly democratically elected local administrations of the PRD have introduced a new nickname: la Ciudad de la Esperanza, or "The City of Hope". Acceptance or rejection of this new sobriquet is largely determined by one's political preferences. Famous landmarks in Mexico City include the Zócalo, the main central square with its time clashing Spanish-era Metropolitan Cathedral and Palacio Nacional, and ancient Aztec temple ruins Templo Mayor are all within a few steps of one another. The trademark 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. The Avenida de los Insurgentes, locally said to be the longest street in the world, goes 28.8 km (18 miles) from end to end of the city. The official sport Fútbol" (soccer) is Mexico's most popular sport and has a wide following in Mexico City. Three very well known teams, Club America, Cruz Azul and Pumas, are based in Mexico City. The Aztec Stadium, home of Club America is one of the world's largest stadiums with capacity to seat approximately 110,000 fans. Mexico City also has an Olympic Stadium in Ciudad Universitaria, which is home of the Pumas soccer team. Transportation in Mexico City is served by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro, an extensive metro system, the largest in the western hemisphere. One of the busiest in the world, the metro transports more than 4 million people every day, surpassed only by Moscow's (7.5 million), Tokyo's (5.9 million) and Seoul's (4.4 million). A number of stations display Pre-Columbian artifacts and architecture that was discovered during the metro's construction. However, the Metro reaches only a fraction of the total inhabited area of the city, and therefore an extensive network of bus routes has been implemented. These are mostly managed by private companies which are allowed to operate buses as long as they adhere to certain minimal service quality standards.
The breaking down of demographics of Mexico City is divided like this. Mexico City is home to a large community of immigrants, especially Europeans (5 million) the largest European group are Spaniards that consist in (2.5 million), Jews (50,000), East Asian (600,000), Americans (500,000), Central American and Caribbean (1 million), and South American (800,000), especially Argentines (470,000). There is also a large community of Arabs (especially from Lebanon). Mexico City is among the five most populated metropolitan areas in the world on par with New York City, Seoul and São Paulo. |
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