Ciudad Juarez? What the hell?!
The time has come for me to finally share some info about the city in which I was born and raised (and burrently still live in). This might look like some sort of wikipedia entry because I am actually using some of the information in there, but I will also be adding some of the facts I know or think I know. (like the fact that one out of three people in Juarez smokes).
Lets start with the basics, Ciudad Juarez can also be called Juarez, but its official name is Ciudad Juarez and should appear like that on the maps. People in here may also call it Juaritos. The city is part of Chihuahua (I will share some info on chihuahua later), the biggest state in Mexico. Ciudad juárez previously had the name El Paso del Norte but it was changed(I will discuss that when we get to history).
Ciudad Juarez is the biggest and most populated city in the northern border of Mexico, even if some people may argue that Tijuana could be it, they are only close. The city stands on the Rio Bravo (also known as Rio Grande) and across the border we have our sister city of El Paso, Texas. Juarez on its own has a population of 1,512,354 according to the last poll of 2005. Together with El Paso it forms a metropolitan area of 2,280,782 people. I mention this because we basically populated El Paso =P thus most people in there speak spanish too.
Ciudad Juarez hold about 40% percent of Chihuahua's population. Because of its size, it should be more populated, but most of it being a desert, it is surprising that it is habitated at all. Also the best statistic I could find is one that says that 75% of Juarez's population is under 35 years of age. Then again, there are truth, there are lies and then there are statistics.
Juarez is one of Mexico's top five cities in importance (I really can't put my finger on why) with the big three being Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Our main employment source is...guess what? ... assembly plants! Also called Maquiladoras or maquilas, which is a very common term for us. So basically Ciudad Juárez is an industrial city with not much to see...or is it?
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