History
Mexico City is perhaps the oldest city in the Americas. Aztecs and other Indians lived in the area long before the founding of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco. By the time the Spanish arrived in 1519 it was a city of at least several hundred thousand inhabitants clustered around a great ceremonial center with pyramids and temples. Hernando Cortez, conqueror of Mexico, nearly destroyed the city during a three-month-long siege in 1521. What remained was ruthlessly razed, and on the site rose Mexico City.
Mexico, then called New Spain, was made a viceroyalty in 1535, with Mexico City the capital. It soon became a city of wealth and the chief center of Spanish culture in the New World. Palaces and churches were built, the first printing press in the Western Hemisphere was established, a university was founded, and the draining of Lake Texcoco was begun. Periodic floods were among the chief scourges of the city during the 300 years of Spanish rule, when Mexico City was still confined to the island.
An independent Mexico came into existence in 1821 after an army led by AgustĂn de Iturbide took Mexico City. Nearly a century of anarchy, corruption, and frequent revolution followed. There were also brief periods of foreign domination. In 1847, during the Mexican War, Mexico City was occupied by United States forces. It was under the rule of Austrian-born Emperor Maximilian and the French Army, 1865-67. Major city improvements and expansions were undertaken between the 1860's and the early 20th century. Among them were the construction of the Paseo de la Reforma and the completion of a tunnel system draining Lake Texcoco.
Following years of revolution with much fighting in the city, rapid growth began in the 1930's. Mexico City opened its first expressway in the 1960's and its subway system in the 1970's. It was the site of the 1968 Olympics. The city and the federal district were made coextensive in 1972, more than doubling the city's population. A major earthquake hit the city in 1985, killing more than 8,000 people; minor quakes struck in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
Population: 8,591,309.
