Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez (US: /sjuːˌdɑːd ˈhwɑːrɛz/ syoo-DAHD HWAR-ez, Spanish: [sjuˈðað ˈxwaɾes] ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan: Tsé Táhú'ayá), is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.[4] It was known until 1888 as El Paso del Norte ("The North Pass").[5] It is the seat of the Juárez Municipality with an estimated population of 2.5 million people.[6] Juárez lies on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte) river, south of El Paso, Texas, United States. Together with the surrounding areas, the cities form El Paso–Juárez, the second largest binational metropolitan area on the Mexico–U.S. border (after San Diego–Tijuana), with a combined population of over 3.4 million people.[7]
"Juárez, Mexico" redirects here. For other places, see Juárez (disambiguation) § Mexico.Four international points of entry connect Ciudad Juárez and El Paso: the Bridge of the Americas, the Ysleta–Zaragoza International Bridge, the Paso del Norte Bridge, and the Stanton Street Bridge. Combined, these bridges allowed 22,958,472 crossings in 2008,[8] making Ciudad Juárez a major point of entry and transportation into the U.S. for all of central northern Mexico. The city has a growing industrial center, which in large part is made up by more than 300 maquiladoras (assembly plants) located in and around the city. According to a 2007 New York Times article, Ciudad Juárez was "absorbing more new industrial real estate space than any other North American city".[6] In 2008, fDi Magazine designated Ciudad Juárez "The City of the Future".[9]
Export exchange[edit]
Juárez is known for being a leading export city. International sales of Juárez in 2020 were US$54.9B, 13.7 percent more than the previous year. The products with the highest level of international sales in 2020 were data processing machines and data processing units, not elsewhere specified or included elsewhere (US$22.8B), electrical wires and cables (US$3.89B), and instruments and appliances used in medical sciences (US$2.78B).[24] International purchases of Juárez in 2020 were US$48.3B, 16.7 percent more than the previous year. The products with the highest level of international purchases in 2020 were Electronic Integrated Circuits (US$9.96B), Parts and Accessories of Machines (US$8B), and data processing machines and data processing units, not elsewhere specified or included elsewhere (US$4.51B).[24]
Geography[edit]
Climate[edit]
Due to its location in the Chihuahuan Desert and high altitude, Ciudad Juárez has a cold desert climate (Köppen: BWk). Seasons are distinct, with hot summers, mild springs and autumns, and cold winters. Summer average high is 35 °C (95 °F) with lows of 21 °C (70 °F). Winter highs average 14 °C (57 °F) with lows of 0 °C (32 °F). Rainfall is scarce and greater in summer. Snowfalls occur occasionally (about 4 times a year), between November and March. On December 26/27, 2015, parts of the city received 40 cm (16 in) of snow within a 24-hour period beating the previous record of 28 cm (11 in) set in 1951.[25] The record high is 49 °C (120 °F) and the record low is −23 °C (−9 °F).
Economy[edit]
The El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation indicated that Ciudad Juárez is the metropolis absorbing "more new industrial real estate space than any other North American city."[69] The Financial Times Group through its publication The Foreign Direct Investment Magazine ranked Ciudad Juárez as the "City of the Future" for 2007–2008.[70] The El Paso–Juárez area is a major manufacturing center. CommScope, Electrolux, Bosch, Foxconn, Flextronics, Lexmark, Delphi, Visteon, Johnson Controls, Toro, Lear, Boeing, Cardinal Health, Yazaki, Sumitomo, and Siemens are some of the foreign companies that have chosen Ciudad Juárez for business operations.[71][72]
The Mexican state of Chihuahua is frequently among the top five states in Mexico with the most foreign investment.[73] Many foreign retail, banking, and fast-food businesses have locations within Juárez.
In the 1990s, traditional brick kilns made up a big part of the economic informal sector. These were typically located in the poorer regions of Juárez. The kilns used open-air fires, where certain materials that were burned generated a lot of air pollution. Along with rapid industrialization, small brick kilns have been a big contributor to the high amount of air pollution in Ciudad Juárez.[74] While the Ciudad Juárez economy has largely been dependent on Maquiladora program, business leaders have undertaken initiatives to upskill and secure the city are larger stake in the global manufacturing economy.[75] Technology Hub is a business incubator that works with regionally based companies, on programs in skill development, and the transition into automation and industry 4.0.[76]
Media[edit]
Print Newspapers[edit]
Juárez has four local newspapers: El Diario, El Mexicano, El PM and Hoy. El Diario de Juárez,[77] is the founder of El Diario de El Paso. El Norte was a fifth, but it ceased operations on April 2, 2017, following the murder of journalist Miroslava Breach,[78] the paper explained, the recent killings of several Mexican journalists made the job too dangerous.[79]
Transportation[edit]
Public bus system[edit]
The main public transportation system in the city is the public bus system. The public buses run the main streets of Ciudad Juárez throughout the day, costing eight pesos (less than 40 cents) to ride one. Due to the aging current bus fleet being considered potentially outdated, the municipal government is working on replacing the buses with new ones, along with improving the bus stops, by equipping them with shade.
The ViveBus bus rapid transit (BRT) system opened to the public in November 2013 with the first route of five planned. The project was made a reality with the collaboration of the local municipal government, the private enterprise of Integradora de Transporte de Juárez (INTRA) as well as other city government agencies. Studies have shown that the current bus system averages 13 km/h (8 mph) while the new system is projected to average 26 km/h (16 mph). The BRT system studies conducted by the Instituto Municipal de Investigacion Y Planeacion project a daily ridership of 40,000.
The first of the five routes opened to users in late 2013 and is officially named Presidencia-Tierra Nueva and has 34 stations distributed along the north to south corridor. The route starts at Avenida Francisco Villa, follows north to Eje Vial Norte-Sur then veers left at Zaragoza Blvd. and ends at Avenida Independencia and the elevated Carretera Federal 2.
Airport[edit]
The city is served by Abraham González International Airport, with flights to several Mexican cities. It accommodates national and international air traffic for the city. Nearby El Paso International Airport handles flights to cities within the United States.
